Self-inflicted gunshot wound mimicking assault: A rare variant of factitious disorder

Abstract 

This paper presents the case of a 52-year-old man who died in an attempt to prove factitious allegations of persecution. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other reported cases of a self-inflicted, long-distance gunshot injury causing death. We discuss other cases of crime-scene “staging” and review the literature on factitious disorders and malingering in our search for a motive, and stress again the importance of crime scene analysis and investigation of circumstances in determining the manner of death.

Keywords: Gunshot wound, Malingering, Factitious disorder, Crime-scene staging, Accidental suicide

• 1 Affiliated to the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.