Citation

Živković V, Nikolić S. Med. Sci. Law 2014; 54(3): 177-180.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, British Academy of Forensic Sciences, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0025802413502331

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We present a case of two brothers who died simultaneously, where their deaths could be considered to be a form of a Philemon and Baucis death; they also showed signs of Diogenes syndrome and syllogomania. The two brothers had been living in a socially isolated state and had not left their flat for months. They were found dead during the winter, in a flat with no heating. Taking the poor condition of the flat into consideration, it can be assumed that a draught existed and, therefore, the bodies were exposed to convection, that is, ventilation and low humidity, which is what caused partial mummification to the exposed areas of the body. The exact cause of death could not be determined due to the postmortem changes; however, there was very little to point to homicide or suicide as the manner of death. Despite these postmortem changes, the Wischnewski spots remained clearly visible, whose presence, in addition to the overall circumstances of the case, indicate that hypothermia could be a possible or at least contributing cause of death in both cases. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Aged; Male; Middle Aged; literature; human; male; Hypothermia; hypothermia; Gastric Mucosa; aged; Metaphor; Postmortem Changes; Cold Temperature; cold; alcoholism; case report; complication; Alcoholism; middle aged; pathology; stomach mucosa; Mummies; postmortem change; Diogenes syndrome; mummification; paleopathology; putrefaction; syllogomania; Wischnewski spots