Mechanism of death (Image: Charles Gullung/Getty)
WHAT happens when someone hangs themself, and how quickly do they die? The results of this grisly area of research could be significant in court cases where prison officers are accused of negligence or foul play.
Judicial hangings are designed to snap the condemned person’s neck, severing the spinal cord and causing immediate death. Suicide by hanging usually follows a different course: the victim dies of asphyxia – a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Exactly what it is that stops oxygen reaching the brain and how long it takes to die have been the …
