[Homicidal alcoholic intoxation versus manual neck compression].

A case of homicide involving a 49-year-old man is reported. In the course of a booze-up he was forced to excessive consumption of alcohol and was pushed back into a sofa by repeated grasping his neck which finally left him dead. The postmortem examination revealed a small abrasion in the right mandibular region, a contusion of the subcutaneous tissue above the left clavicle, a haemorrhage in the deep muscles of the neck at the right side of the cervical spine, a fatty tissue haemorrhage between the left cornus of hyoid and thyroid cartilage as well as petechiae of the eyelids and conjunctivae. The blood alcohol concentration amounted to 4.00@1000, the urine alcohol concentration to 5.26@1000. Thus, a manual strangulation of the neck versus a lethal alcohol intoxication had to be taken into consideration as cause of death. The morphological findings of the postmortem examination and the pathophysiological concepts of the underlying mechanisms of death in manual strangulation versus lethal alcohol intoxication are discussed with regard to their significance for the juridical assessment.