Backstabbing--a report of an unusual case.

A case of a 25-year-old male with a deep knife stab injury in the back is reported. The stab wound penetrated the left thorax and the left lung was injured, a thoracotomy was performed and the patient survived. The injured man could not remember what had happened, his bag was missing and the incident was therefore considered to be due to a robbery. Further results of the police investigations and the forensic pathology inspection revealed an extremely unusual accident constellation.