Abstract

In 2009 a couple died within a short time interval at home. The cause of death was poisoning with selenium (Se). According to literature data, acute poisonings with Se, occur extremely rarely in humans and have never been diagnosed in Estonia. Severe stomach ache, diarrhoea, vomiting and garlic breath smell are the main symptoms of acute Se poisoning. To determine the cause of death, autopsy was performed and Se was determined from the biological material.

The man´s histology revealed cirrhosis and hepatitis, blood alcohol concentration was 2.07 mg/g. The woman who died one day later had liver steatosis and steatohepatitis, her blood alcohol concentration was 0.43 mg/g. At autopsy, they had similar macroscopic findings: oral mucosa covered with orange-reddish oily substance, presence of similar substance in the stomach and duodenum, dehydrated appearance and an orange colour of the internal organs. High concentration of Se was found from both blood samples and the gastric content of the male.

Because of insufficient police investigation, it remained unknown what Se containing substance had been ingested. According to the prosecutor´s conclusion, it was a homicide of the man followed by a suicide of the wife. The only fact to prove it was the phone call that the wife had made to her friend, in which she confessed killing her husband.