[Surprising discovery: dismembered body found in a commercial laundry--medicolegal differentiation between infanticide, corpse dismemberment and stillbirth].

The discovery of a dismembered corpse, especially that of a newborn, represents a significant challenge for forensic investigators. The cause of the dismemberment, be it natural, accidental, or criminal, must be determined. Another important question to distinguish between neonaticide and stillbirth is whether the infant was alive after birth. The present case - a dismembered infant corpse discovered in the washing at a commercial laundry - describes a forensic investigation which could avoid premature or wrong conclusions by identifying the corpse as a stillbirth that was accidentally disposed of in the laundry after an autopsy had been performed.