Over the years, and more generally, in the forensic science community, deaths caused by crossbows have continued to generate intense interest, because of the unique characteristics of the weapon, its historical allure, and the severity of injuries it can inflict. Additionally, crossbows are involved in accidental deaths, homicides, and suicides, and require careful and thorough interpretive evaluation to determine the correct manner of death. From a review of the relevant literature, crossbows have indeed been implicated in some cases of suicide, although self-inflicted injury with this weapon may not be straightforward because of its size and the need to remotely activate the trigger for bolt release. Consequently, in cases where a body is struck by a crossbow bolt, the study of the scene and reconstruction of the crossbow firing mechanism are crucial for correct case assessment. Considering the case under observation, it was deemed appropriate and interesting to conduct a review of the forensic literature on suicides involving crossbows (Table 1). From 1993 to 2023, only 14 relevant reports were published [1, 4, 5, 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. It is noteworthy that all cases involved males ranging in age from 18 to 65 years, with four cases having a documented history of depression (this information was not available for three cases). A particular pattern of target sites emerged, with the head struck in eight cases and the chest in six cases. Thus, a clear preference for highly lethal body regions was observed. Specifically, regarding the head, the main target sites were the temple, eye, mouth, and submental region (this information was not retrievable in two cases), with retained or not retained bolts observed. Regarding the chest, in five cases, the affected region was close to the heart, and only one case involved the right chest. Again, some cases exhibited not retained injuries. Overall, each case involved a single fatal shot, except for one instance in which the individual managed to release two shots successively at the head [7].

Regarding trigger activation mechanisms, we observed that in almost all cases, the victims pulled the trigger with a finger. However, this type of trigger activation mechanism received relatively little attention in the reports, with vague explanations of the body discovery site and a lack of dynamic reconstruction. At the same time, to determine the nature of the cases, significant importance was given to circumstantial and medical data of the victims, particularly the presence of psychiatric disorders in their medical histories. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one reported case in which crossbow trigger activation occurred indirectly using a modified rod to pull the trigger, resulting in a chest-penetrating injury [15]. This current case differs in that it involved clear premeditation, unlike the other cases in which the deceased individuals personally held the crossbow, aimed at themselves, and directly pulled the trigger with their finger, despite the crossbow being a weapon that is not easily manoeuvred. The current case stands out as a unique finding owing to the distinctive method of carrying out the suicide. It was characterized by meticulous planning to target a specific body location, namely, the center of the forehead. This aspect represents a new finding in the field, as no similar cases involving a crossbow have been recorded. One possible explanation is that the forehead is a small target and it is difficult to hit with a crossbow bolt directly released by the victim. A peculiarity of our case is that the victim used a guiding tube to channel the bolt and ensure that the target was hit. Simultaneously, as the victim was too far from the crossbow trigger to reach it with his hand, a hooked metal rod was used to pull the trigger. Overall, the setup of the equipment and the indirect activation mechanism proved to be extremely effective in carrying out the suicide. This case has also proven to be interesting from a forensic pathological perspective as it provided an opportunity to observe crossbow bolt injuries, which are infrequent. In this case, the short shooting distance resulted in the target being hit at a velocity slightly below the maximum, transferring significant kinetic energy to the body structures, resulting in cranial fracture and extensive brain destruction. The distinctive cranial fracture was noteworthy, as it exhibited notches corresponding to the vanes of the bolthead. These findings can be valuable for forensic pathologists to accurately diagnose similar complex cranial bone injuries, such as when skeletal remains are discovered without the presence of weapons.

Having established that the reported case was based on an indirectly triggered crossbow bolt mechanism for suicidal purposes, we assessed whether there were any reports of similar triggering mechanisms associated with different types of weapons in the forensic field. Overall, suicides planned through indirect activation mechanisms were confirmed to be very rare, particularly those involving sharp force trauma. In this context, the reports were mainly on the use of guillotine-like systems [16,17,18], activated using ropes. One report describes the use of a speargun triggered by a wooden shaft [19]. More frequently, indirect triggering mechanisms for suicidal purposes have been observed in association with firearm injuries. In this context, they often used homemade weapons triggered by hammer strikes or other types of percussion to launch the projectile [20, 21]. In one case, an artisan-modified trap gun was used, in which a manual and battery-operated illegal ignition device was used to ignite the gunpowder [22]. In another case, a metal tube was used as a cannon for more accurate targeting of the heart, as well as activating the propulsion mechanism [23]. Finally, in one case, a rifle was placed on a wooden support and tied to a nearby tree. Facing the rifle barrel, the victim was positioned, exposing the chest, and the trigger was activated using a lever system pulling a rope [24]. Overall, in these cases, the victim was a middle-aged male, often suffering from a psychiatric disorder, who devised a system aimed at targeting a body site with high lethality [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. Specifically, in cases of sharp-force trauma, the head-neck region was mainly targeted [16,17,18,19], in contrast to firearm injuries that involved the head and chest, particularly the heart region [20,21,22,23,24]. Consequently, characteristics very similar to those observed in victims of suicide by crossbow were identified, confirming the requirement for a thorough examination of the body discovery scene to reconstruct event dynamics.

In conclusion, the presented case adds to the limited number of reports in the literature on suicides by crossbow, confirming the typical injury characteristics associated with crossbow bolt wounds and the high potential for harm of this weapon. It also introduces important novelty elements of owing to the uniqueness of the organized system used to precisely target the predetermined location and carry out the suicide. Considering the range of possible fatal suicide scenarios involving a crossbow, it is crucial for forensic pathologists to be prepared to manage these cases in an optimal manner, starting with a careful analysis of the body discovery scene and the triggering mechanism.