How to Determine a Drowning Suicide

Determining whether a drowning is a case of suicide has legal, religious and social consequences, making a correct determination of the cause and motivation of death critical. While there are some methods for determining a drowning is a suicide or not, it is a relatively difficult procedure. Follow these steps to determine a drowning suicide.

Instructions

• 1

  Determine the actual cause of death. Just because a body is found in a pool of water does not necessarily mean that drowning was the cause of death. In fact, it is likely that if a body is found in water and the cause of death is not drowning that murder, rather than suicide, might have played a role. So, to determine a drowning suicide get an autopsy first to determine the exact cause of death.

• 2

  Look for a suicide note. If you find one, verify that the handwriting, style and language, including the use of grammar and syntax, of the note matches that of the deceased. You can do this by comparing the note to other pieces of writing from the deceased and showing it to people who knew the victim.

• 3

  Consider where the body is found. Most drowning victims are found in bathtubs or swimming pools. If this is the case, investigate the victim's personal habits and routines to see if there was reason for them to be taking a bath (instead of showering) or swimming. If the victim is found in a distant body of water such as a lake, swamp or ocean then you need to start thinking about foul play.

• 4

  Search the body for marks. If the drowning was a homicide, there will often wounds or marks from the struggle. Check for bruising on the victim's neck and for marks on the forearms. Also look under the victim's fingernails for tissue or skin from a potential assailant who might have been scratched if there had been a struggle. Determining if the drowning was a homicide rules out suicide.

• 5

  Check for drugs and alcohol. One of the biggest factors in drowning cases is drugs and alcohol. To use drugs and alcohol as a determining factor, screen the victim's blood for toxins and then compare any results with the victim's lifestyle and reports of past drug use. For instance, if the victim had drugs or alcohol in his system and was not a drinker or user, then suicide is a possibility.