NCJ Number
192049
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 46 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2001 Pages: 1504-1506
Date Published
November 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This study reports on a case of suicide by ingestion of sodium nitroprusside, which resulted in acute cyanide poisoning.
Abstract
The decedent was a 41-year-old white woman found dead in her kitchen. Near the body was a brown glass that contained 5 grams of a solid reddish-brown material; a handwritten note on the kitchen table was a statement of suicidal intent. The trash can contained a brown glass tube that contained 0.120 grams of a similar substance. The woman had family problems, and she worked as a technician in a chemical laboratory where she had free access to chemical reagents. Biological fluids (blood and stomach contents) were collected during autopsy, and their analysis yielded the quantitation of total (5.00 mg/L) and free (3.30 mg/L) cyanide in the blood, along with the quantitation of methemoglobin (blood = 10.5 percent). Toxicological analysis of the contents of the glass tube found at the scene showed a contents of sodium nitroprusside. Approximately 9 grams of the same substance was identified in stomach contents. The detection and quantification of cyanide and methemoglobin in biological samples from the case indicated that the lethal effect was due to both metabolic products (cyanide and methemoglobin). 2 tables and 24 references