Assessing Fatal Stab Wounds

Whenever a crime such as a stabbing occurs and authorities are called to investigate, it is up to an experienced detective to make important assessments at the scene of the crime.

Wounds inflicted by a cutting object such as knife or some other sharp tool may indicate stab wounds resulting from slashing or thrusting. Given the angle, location, and the number of wounds on the victim, one can determine the height and strength of the attacker and possibly his frame of mind at the time of the offense. He may have been calm and collected, efficient, panicky, or filled with rage. The presence or absence of defensive wounds on the victim may indicate the relationship of the victim to the attacker. Lack of defensive wounds may indicate that the attack was sudden giving the victim no time to put up any resistance or that the victim knew and trusted the attacker before the offense took place.

Stab wounds are rarely self-inflicted. Cutting wounds on the other hand are many times associated with suicide especially if the criminal scientist noticed hesitation wounds on the victim. Hesitation wounds refer to less severe cuts caused by repeated attempts to build up the courage to make the fatal cutting wound.

Like gunshot wounds, knife wounds can paint a picture for the crime scene investigator. For example, knife wounds found underneath clothing and not through clothing, cutting wounds in the neck or wrists, and the presence of hesitation wounds all indicate a suicide especially if the cutting object is present. Stab wounds through clothing, wounds inflicted in vital organs such as the heart or kidneys, and the presence of defensive wounds are clues that point to homicide.

The cause of death in a victim is not entirely absolute based on these findings. Subsequently, a medical examiner will conduct his own medical investigation. Both his findings and that of crime scene investigators will paint the entire picture of how a person died at the scene.