4.3 Manner of Death in Asphyxia

The manner's determination (the exam's forensic core):1. The hanging's manner: the suicide's typical (the scene's: the note, the access, the hesitation's faces) vs the homicides-disguised-as-hanging (the post-mortem suspension — the ligature's differential: the furrow's depth-and-direction; the victim's lifting); the accidental hangings (the auto-erotic's tragic faces).2. The strangulation's manner: the homicide's typical (the manual: the neck's gripping — the strength's questions); the rare suicides (the ligature's device); the accidental (the infants' entanglement).3. The drowning's manner: the accident's typical (the waters' frequency) vs the suicide (the bridges'-and-depths) vs the homicide (the drowning's disguise of the earlier violence — the injuries' presence on the body: the antemortem-vs-postmortem's crucial differential); the body's recovery (the post-mortem submersion's interval signs).4. The smothering-and-suffocation's manner: the infanticide's-and-elder-abuse's silent method (the signs' absence — the hardest diagnosis); the accident's beds-and-plastics (the infants' tragedies). The manner's synthesis (the autopsy + the scene + the history — the three-legged determination).