Articulo Biologia

articuloForensic Science International 221 (2012) e1–e3

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Forensic Science International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint

Case report

Homicide by methane gas
Fabio De-Giorgio a,*, Vincenzo M. Grassi a, Giuseppe Vetrugno a, Riccardo Rossi a, Nadia Fucci a,
Ernesto d’Aloja b, Vincenzo L. Pascali a
a
b

Instituteof Legal Medicine, Catholic University, Medical School, Rome, Italy
Department of Public Health, Forensic Medicine Section, Cagliari University, Cagliari, Italy

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Article history:
Received 18 February 2011
Received in revised form 13 December 2011
Accepted 4 January 2012
Available online 19 June 2012

Methane is a suffocating gas, and ‘‘methane deaths’’ arelargely the result of suffocation by gas–air
displacement after accidental or deliberate exposure. Neither methane gas nor other suffocating gases
are a common means of homicide, with the potential exception of the use of gas in chemical weapons or
gas chambers. Here, we report the case of a 53-year-old woman who was killed by her husband with
methane gas. The man had given his wife a dose ofLorazepam before setting up a hose that conveyed
methane from the kitchen into the apartment’s bedroom. The man subsequently faked his own suicide,
which was later discovered.
ß 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Homicide–suicide
Homicide
Methane
Asphyxia
Oxygen deficiency
Forensic autopsy

1. Introduction
In forensic pathology, methane is classified as asuffocating gas
on the basis of its mechanism of action [1]. Methane gas is capable
of displacing oxygen from inspired air, making respiration
impossible at cellular level. Methane is both odourless and
colourless and therefore may cause death through accidental
exposure [2–4]. Another potential fatal consequence of methane
exposure is an explosion due to the flammability of methane [5].
Rarely,exposure to methane gas is chosen as a suicide method
[6,7], and even more infrequently, methane gas is used to fake
suicide [8]. To the best of our knowledge, based on a survey of the
relevant literature, methane gas has never been reported as a
weapon used to commit murder.
2. Case report
A 53-year-old woman was found dead in her bed at home with
her husband lying near her. The relatives ofthe couple had alerted
the police when they could not get in touch with the couple.
Relatives had been unable to enter the couple’s apartment, which
was locked from the inside with the key still in the lock. The police
were able to access the crime scene only after the fire brigade

* Corresponding author at: Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University, Largo
F. Vito, 1, 00168 Rome,Italy. Tel.: +39 06 35507031; fax: +39 06 35507033.
E-mail address: fabio.degiorgio@rm.unicatt.it (F. De-Giorgio).
0379-0738/$ – see front matter ß 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.01.012

forced open the apartment door. The distinctive smell of domestic
gas was noticed emanating from the apartment; accordingly, the
police immediately opened thewindows. The police also noticed a
gas hose running from the kitchen to another room. A hole had
been made at the bottom of the door to force the hose through. In
addition, the window in the room had been carefully sealed with
packaging tape. Within the room, the man was lying on his right
side on the floor behind the door, and the woman’s body was
supine on the bed under a duvet. The man was stillalive and was
transferred to the nearest hospital. Messages written in red paint
were on the apartment’s walls, the floor and the furniture. Upon
calling the police, the relatives had implied that the victim was
chronically ill and convalescing from a surgical intervention. This
report, combined with the available first-sight evidence, prompted
the initial classification of the incident as a...