Open revolver cylinder at the suicide death scene

Revolvers with an open cylinder were found at three death scenes of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds. All three handguns were Smith & Wesson.38 or.357 revolvers. Investigation revealed that firing the gun with the thumb on the cylinder release latch could disengage the cylinder. A combination of gravity and recoil impact against the thumb would open the cylinder and even allow the casing and the unspent cartridges to fall from the gun, creating a confusing death scene.     

Forensic-medical significance of the characteristics of gunshot perforating fractures of the skull bones

The study was made of gunshot perforating fractures of calvarial bones in cases of lethal perforating head wounds in long distance shots from a 9-mm Makarov gun. Morphological characteristics of inlet and outlet perforating fractures and bone fragments were found to differ. Gunshot fractures in calvarial bones inflicted by bullets from a 9-mm Makarov gun were studied in experiments with different kinetic energy. In low kinetic energy, bullets make oval holes on the outer table of the skull and round holes on the inner table with radial prominences on the walls of bullet channels, large bone fragments; in moderate kinetic energy--make round holes in the outer table and oval on the inner table with skew prominences on the walls of the outlet part of the channels, large and middle-sized flat bone fragments; in high kinetic energy injuries on both tables were round, prominences were cross, bone fragments were flat, small and middle-sized.     

Forensic medical characteristics of Glock 19 pistol-shot wounds

An experimental study was made of gun-shot wounds inflicted by shots from a modern stub-barrelled pistol 9mm Glock 19. The study has ascertain characteristics differentiating injuries inflicted by shots from this pistol: specific recoil injury, specific topography, intensity and distribution of begrime, gunpowder and metal particles and relevant lesions. It was found that depth of penetration under the skin depends both on shooting distance and the position of the particle from the inlet.     

Mechanism and morphological characteristics of injuries made by elastic bullets of traumatic action

Mechanism and morphology of the injuries inflicted by shots with elastic bullets of traumatic action for self-defense are characterized. Experimental data are provided on the damage caused by elastic 9-mm bullets of traumatic cartridges from the pistols IZH-79-9T (Makarych), Walther P22T and revolvers NA-GAN p-1, RTD-1 PS (Viking).     

Use of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDXA) in identification of foreign material on bullets

The authors report two cases in which examination of foreign material embedded in or adherent to bullets provided critical information in the reconstruction of a crime scene. Analysis of small particles by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) can be accomplished without destruction or injury of the particles. In one case, the detection and identification of mineral fragments embedded near the nose of a bullet provided conclusive evidence that the bullet had ricocheted from a fireplace before striking the victim. In the second case, analysis of particles from two bullets identified them as them as bone fragments, thus proving which shots fired from a police officer's gun had killed a suspected burglar. SEM-EDXA has not been widely used to identify such material on bullets, but should be considered a potentially powerful tool in forensic science.     

Suicide with multiple graze shots

A 77-year-old man was found in his flat with a shot to the right temple. In spite of hospital treatment he died from the head injury the next day. The weapon at the scene used for committing the suicide was a pistol, make Kaba Special (calibre 6.35 mm). At autopsy, the right temporal region showed a surgically treated, originally stellate gunshot entrance wound with a powder cavity. Close to this penetrating gunshot wound there were 3 parallel graze shot injuries of the scalp. The autopsy findings were consistent with the assumption that all the shots had been fired by the victim himself with suicidal intent. The injury pattern is presented and discussed in relation to the results of the technical investigation of the weapon and the findings at the scene.     

Multiple suicidal gunshots to the head

We report two cases of suicide by multiple gunshots to the head. The first victim (of two shots) fired the first shot, which was observed, into his mouth, leading to damage to the left optic nerve and frontal lobe. The man still was able to drive his car home, where he shot himself in his right temple. He died 2 days later. The second victim (of three shots) was a 58-year-old man who was found dead on his bed. Reconstruction of the case disclosed that the first shot had passed through his tongue and slightly damaged the second cervical vertebral body. He then shot himself in his right temple, leading to damage of the temporal lobe. Finally, he shot himself in his left temple, resulting in destruction of the pons. In the first case, an amateurishly modified 8-mm blank revolver firing 6.35-mm- (.25)-caliber ammunition was used; in the second case, a rifle firing 5.6-mm (.22)-caliber ammunition with a reduced charge was used. In both cases, low-energy transfer to brain tissue by the initial bullets was due to low bullet energy or due to the bullets' missing the brain or vital centers.     

Once again: risk of injury caused by blank pistols

The nature and extent of the use of blank pistols in Hamburg (according to the Hamburg crime statistics about 300 to 400 such cases per year; 34 cases involving head and neck wounds from 1989 to 1999 were investigated at our institute; among these 8 suicides, no homicide) as well as patterns of injuries caused by close distance blank pistol shots were analysed. 7 of these cases are described in detail. The results of our studies corroborate the warning statements made by many criminological and medico-legal experts regarding the danger inherent in these allegedly harmless weapons. Blank cartridge pistols can, when shot from a close distance, cause most severe injuries involving penetration into body cavities and bodily organs (especially in the head and neck), and even perforation of the skull. Therefore, we call for a much stricter control of weapons of this kind.     

Wounds caused by contact with muzzle-lift relief ports (Mag-Na-Port).

Fan-shaped stippled burns were produced on the skin when a revolver whose barrel had been modified by the Mag-Na-Port process was fired twice with the side of the muzzle in contact. A grazing wound was produced by one bullet, and an oblique entry was produced by the other. The characteristics of Mag-Na-Port wounds and test shots are described, and these are compared with test shots from two other higher power revolvers.     

常见洗手方式对92式手枪射击残留物检出率的影响

目的研究常见洗手方式对92式手枪射击残留物检出率的影响,为确定犯罪嫌疑人射击与否的推断提供依据。方法实验人员使用92式手枪分别射击1枪和3枪,射击后0．5h内,射击人员的手分别用清水、肥皂和洗手液清洗3遍（对照组为未清洗）,对实验人员的手部进行射击残留物的提取,利用扫描电镜和能谱仪对射击残留物进行检验。结果持枪射击后,射击人的手部会附着大量的射击残留物,用常见的洗手方式进行清洗后,仍然能检测到射击残留物,且不同的洗手方式对射击残留物的检出率的影响差异显著。结论常见洗手方式不能完全清除手部的射击残留物,对涉枪案件犯罪嫌疑人的判定有一定的参考价值。     

Characteristics of Backspatter on the Firearm and Shooting Hand—An Experimental Analysis of Close‐range Gunshots

Contact and close‐range gunshot injuries can produce bloodstains on the shooting hand and weapon. In this study, backspatter was analyzed in experimental horizontal pistol shots into blood‐filled sponges. The shooting distances were set between 0 and 45 cm. With increasing shooting distance, there was a significant decrease in the degree of backspatter. Microspatter could be detected on the weapon and shooting hand up to a shooting distance of 40 cm. They were predominantly located on thumb and index finger as well as the radial dorsal aspects of the hand. Fine spray of microspatter combined with elongated droplets in the shape of exclamation marks was found at contact and 2‐cm distance shots. An angular calculation based on the shape of the bloodstains was possible up to a shooting distance of 2 cm. No bloodstains were detected beyond 45 cm.     

Fatalities from black powder percussion handguns

Three suicides and one homicide from black powder muzzle loading handguns are reported and the muzzle velocities of two weapons are recorded. The fatal head shots caused wide wound tracts traversing the brains and intracerebral haemorrhages remote from the tract were present in every case. The skulls showed considerable fractures which were pronounced in the cases of contact shots but were also present when the range of fire was 5 m. These extensive injuries from soft lead spheres with muzzle velocities of only ∼200 m/s are attributed to the expansion of the spheres. The regularly occurring deformation resulted in 13–16 mm calibre missiles in the cases of .44 spheres. The special features of black powder such as incomplete and slow combustion resulted in intense soot deposits in the vicinity of the entrance wound and in long ranges the gunshot residues travelled. In contact shots, large pocket-like underminings even in deeper tissue layers, abundant soot along the trajectory and skin burns were observed.     

A shot through the window

At issue in this case was whether an unusual window defect seen in two of the crime scene photographs was due to a bullet and if so, if that same bullet fatally wounded the victim. The window appeared to have been cracked prior to the apparent shot through it. A .22 bullet recovered from autopsy, when examined only by light microscopy, failed to show associated glass fragments. A previously cracked test window was shot a number of times with .22 caliber bullets near the cracks in an effort to simulate the window defect seen in the crime scene photographs. Several of the defects produced by the test window shots appeared similar to the crime scene window defect. The .22 bullet taken from the victim and several of the test bullets (collected by a cotton box) were examined by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The test bullets showed glass particles on and embedded in their surfaces. Particles of similar size and composition were found embedded in the surface of the bullet from the victim. The bullet likely struck the window prior to hitting the victim. It was apparent by the morphology of some of the mushroomed test .22 bullets that they hit the window crack. These bullets showed that the glass on one side of a crack often fails before the other side during the strike. Aggregations of powdered glass on many of the mushroomed surfaces of the .22 bullets suggest that as the bullet mushrooms during impact on the window surface, the glass in contact with the bullet powderizes and coats the mushroomed surface of the bullet with a layer of fine glass particles.     

Injury potential of soft-air pistols

Report on a case in which an 8-year-old girl was injured on the left anterior thoracic wall by two shots fired by her 14-year-old cousin from a soft-air pistol (replica of mod. 17 make Glock, cal. 6 mm, solid plastic bullets); the projectiles caused two skin lesions, both reaching into the subcutis. The results of our own shooting tests with 2 different soft-air pistols and the injuries seen in our case confirm that soft-air pistols may cause penetrating soft-tissue injuries when fired from a short distance.     

A gun silencer of a special kind

The authors report about a small bore pistol with silencer. In addition, the silencer can be sealed up by a rubber plate. This leads to a false estimation of the shooting distance. Also at close range shots the shot with the silencer and the rubber seal leaves hardly gunshot residues. The bullet wipe persists but microradiography shows his changed morphological composition. The use of the rubber seal leads predominantly to atypical bullet holes.     

Appearance of chemical burns resulting from the washing of a deceased body with bleach

The authors report on a case of postmortem washing of a body with bleach. An adult female victim was found nude in an alleyway with both hands removed in the City of Westminster, CO. Cause of death was attributed to severe blunt force trauma to the head. The victim had been dumped in the alleyway within 7 h of discovery. Evidence discovered at the crime scene and autopsy indicated that the murder and subsequent washing of the body with bleach occurred at a secondary location(s). The victim was wet to the touch, presenting a strong odor of bleach. Several "ribbon"-like burn patterns were observed on the victim's back and upper thighs. These burn marks were replicated by dowsing a deceased pig with an over-the-counter concentration of bleach.     

Effect of clothes on the size of gunshot wounds made by long-distance shots with small-calibre bullets

An experimental study was made on estimation distance of shots made from far distance through clothes with 5.6-mm jacket-free lead bullets. Textile obstructions imitating human clothes were modeled. Contact velocity of the wounding bullet was measured. Almost complete forensic-medical characteristics of inlet gunshot wounds of the body allowing for clothes properties, anatomic structure of the affected body area, deformation of the hitting bullets were obtained.     

Characteristics of firearms and gunshot wounds as markers of suicide.

Data from a total of 1,200 cases that the Medical Examiner of Dallas County, Texas, ruled as suicide with a firearm have been compared with the results of forensic laboratory examinations and tests; 75% are with handguns and 25% are with long guns. The incidence of suicides by gender yields 82% males and 18% females, with the most common entrance site being the head. With regard to racial distribution of persons committing suicide, > 88% are white in the study population group, which is 76% white. Data are presented for the incidence of blood detected inside and on the muzzle end of the barrel of the firearm, and for the persistence of blood inside the barrel even after the weapon was discharged to obtain test bullets. The analysis of handwipings for primer residues shows that "positive" results are obtained for approximately 50% of the revolvers and approximately 32% of the pistols when the caliber is > 22. Other projects such as transfer of gunshot residues to the hand by simply handling the weapon, the incidence of single-contact wounds in homicide versus suicide cases, and the percent of positive identification of bullets with weapons submitted are described.     

Gunpowder particles as a factor in a gunshot from up close

Existence of different opinions on the role of gunpowder particles in determining close shot distance promoted the experiments with pistol "PM" and sporting fowling piece in vertical and horizontal directions at different distances from 0.5 up to 2.5 m using targets made of pasteboard and moistened photographic paper. The quantities of gunpowder particles on the targets which were calculated by stereoscopic microscope increased distinctly in vertical shot direction (from above downwards), especially at distances 2 and 2.5 m and particle flight distance rose; in horizontal shot direction distances of gunpowder particle flight didn't exceed 2-3 m.     

Magazine Influence on Cartridge Case Ejection Patterns with Glock Pistols

In this study, the cartridge case ejection patterns of six different Glock model pistols (one specimen per model) were compared under three conditions: firing with a loaded magazine, an empty magazine, and without magazine. The distances, covered by the ejected cartridge cases given these three conditions, were compared for each of the six models. A significant difference was found between the groups of data for each of the tested specimens. This indicates that it is important that, to reconstruct a shooting scene incident based on the ejection patterns of a pistol, test shots are fired with the same pistol type and under the correct magazine condition.