Citation

Van Landeghem AA, De Letter EA, Lambert WE, Van Peteghem CH, Piette MH. Int. J. Legal Med. 2007; 121(3): 214-219.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00414-006-0119-5

PMID

17021898

Abstract

We describe a homicide complicated by an aconitine poisoning, which was initially thought to be a strangulation case. Routine toxicological analyses demonstrated only a small amount of alcohol in the blood and the urine. The case could not be clarified until 5 years after the event. A new element in the investigation made the wife the prime suspect, and finally, after thorough interrogation, she confessed her crime. She had mixed a decoction of three plants of Aconitum with red wine. Additional toxicological analyses, using the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) technique demonstrated 810 ng/ml of aconitine in urine, 6.5 ng/g in liver and 1.3 ng/g in the kidneys. Even though aconitine poisoning is still rare in Europe, it should be taken into account in suicides and homicides, particularly in unclarified cases.

Language: en