A man was suspected of murdering his girlfriend until a post-mortem discovered a toothpick had punctured her throat.
Doctors had dismissed the unnamed woman as having a cold when she had visited complaining of something jammed in her throat.
The 50-year-old, who lived in Coimbra, Portugal, had even been sent for psychiatric testing in case the pain was 'all in her head'.
Just a day after being given antibiotics for her suspected cold, she was found dead in the bathroom of her and her six-year partner's home. Her pyjamas were soaked with blood and a wound to her head.
After the family threw around accusations of foul pay, doctors concluded that a toothpick had caused inflammation and the heart to stop.
A 3.5 centimetre (1.3inch) wooden tooth pick fragment was found which punctured the woman's throat and interfered with vital nerves - causing the heart to stop
A man was suspected of murdering his 50-year-old girlfriend, from Portugal, until a post mortem investigated green colouring on her neck and discovered a toothpick
Dr César Lares do Santos, a pathologist at the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Portugal, released the report.
Writing in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, he revealed the woman had complained of having something lodged after eating some bread and salami.
She visited the casualty unit of her local hospital twice but X-rays and a closer examination of her throat hadn't found any significant results.
Dr Lares do Santos said: 'Due to the victim's medical history, she was evaluated by a psychiatrist.'
The woman had suffered with a psychiatric disorder after becoming a widow in the past.
Dr Lares do Santos suggested the doctor probably thought the woman had globus pharingeus, the sensation of feeling a lump in the throat.
But after the psychiatrist found the woman to be mentally stable, she was diagnosed with a common cold.
The woman was told to return to the doctor if her symptoms didn't clear up. But a day later, she was dead.
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