THIS STUDY IS PROMPTED BY A CASE IN WHICH A MAN PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED OF HOMICIDE COINCIDENTLY FOUND HIS FEMALE NEIGHBOR MURDERED AND IN WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS A STATE OF PANIC, DISMEMBERED AND DISPOSED OF THE BODY. A SURVEY OF 36 INSTITUTIONS FOR FORENSIC MEDICINE IN THE GERMAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC, SWITZERLAND, AND AUSTRIA SHOWS 15 CASES OF OFFENSIVE DISMEMBERMENT, 64 CASES OF DEFENSIVE DISMEMBERMENT, AND 5 CASES IN WHICH THE PERSON PERSON CARRYING OUT THE DISMEMBERMENT WAS NOT PARTY TO THE DEATH OF THE VICTIM. SEPARATE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FIVE CASES INDICATE THAT THE OSTENSIBLE MOTIVES FOR DISMEMBERMENT ARE SIMILAR IN ALL CASES: FEAR OF DISCOVERY AND OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS. SUCH CASES SEEM TO HAVE OCCURRED WITH EQUAL FREQUENCY IN THE THREE COUNTRIES, AND NO STRIKING REGIONAL DIFFERENCES ARE EVIDENT. CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION MAKES IT APPEAR UNLIKELY THAT THE OSTENSIBLE STATE OF PANIC AND CONFUSION IN WHICH THE ACCUSED DISMEMBERED THE BODY IS SUPPORTABLE, AS THE DISMEMBERMENT PROCESS IS A LABOR OF HOURS, DEMANDING TREMENDOUS PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRENGTH, CAREFUL PLANNING, AND DETERMINATION. A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ONE TABLE ARE FURNISHED. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)