QI have a character who has looped a steel cello string around his victim’s neck as he stands behind her. He likes to prolong this act so he applies just enough tension to scare her, and then when he’s ready, he gives a good jerk and finishes things. So what happens? Would a cello string sever something vital in the neck or simply cause asphyxiation? I’d like to have blood spurting but only if it is realistic. Could the ME determine the weapon used? Maybe find bow rosin in the wound?
P.J. Parrish
Shamus, Thriller, Anthony award—winning
author and Edgar nominee
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Petoskey, Michigan
AA cello wire would function as a garrote rather than a ligature such as a cord. A garrote wire is typically wrapped around gloved hands or handles made of wood or metal or whatever. It works differently than a ligature in that it cuts into the flesh where a rope or cord would not. The bruises and cuts left on the victim’s neck would be horizontal and deeper in the front than the back, and this would tell the medical examiner that the killer was standing behind her.
Since he tortured her by strangling her a few times before killing her, each of these episodes would leave a bruise line that would roughly match the thickness of the string. When he delivered his final pull on each handle, the string could cut into the flesh and sever the carotid arteries and/or jugular veins. At least it could. If an artery was cut, the bleeding would be massive and pulsatile with blood spraying several feet. If the vein was cut, the bleeding would be profuse but not pulsatile. He could cut one artery and one vein and not the other or any combination you want.
The medical examiner could determine the size of the garrote used by looking at the width of the bruises and cuts. If a suspected murder weapon was found, he could then determine whether it was consistent with the wounds or not. If the widths matched, he could not say that this particular garrote was the murder weapon but rather that it was this one or one similar. On the other hand, if he found traces of the victim’s blood on the string and DNA matched it to the victim, he could say that this weapon was indeed the murder weapon.
Yes, it is possible that the ME might find a foreign substance on and in the wound, test it, and determine that it was bow rosin.