An unusual grazing gunshot

Report on a grazing shot with multiples wounds on both hands by a single bullet.     

An unusual penetrating head wound by a yard broom and its medicolegal aspects

A fatal case of a homicidal penetrating head injury by a blunt object (yard broom) is described. A piece of wood penetrated the skull and remained in the intracranial cavity resulting in infection. The need of careful examination of the head injury is emphasized.     

Early post-mortem animal bites after suicidal gunshot wound to the head of a police dog handler]

A 41-year-old police officer committed suicide in his office by firing a contact shot to the left temple. When the body was found 12 hours later, the German shepherd dog the officer had been in charge of had caused considerable damage on the lower half of the face and the adjacent parts of the neck. The clothing of the suicide was undamaged. Blood traces in the shape of paws were found at the place of death. The wound margins of the postmortem animal injury were nicked and jagged by the canine teeth. The entrance and exit wounds were not affected by the soft tissue defect. The findings gathered are discussed in reference to the relevant literature.     

Homicide-suicide by a single gunshot to the head

Apart from typical suicides, there are sometimes unusual deaths from gunshots to the head. The presented case is a double death from the autopsy material of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Berlin. The report deals with a murder-suicide of a man, who killed himself and his 2-year-old daughter by a single gunshot. After having administered a tranquilizer to the child, he held her head to his own and fired a contact shot to his right temple so that the bullet passed through both heads.     

Homicide by gunshot. An evaluation of 50 homicides with reference to gunshot wound site]

In this paper the homicides committed in the region of Ulm with firearms over a period of 17 years were studied. These included 50 deaths caused by gunshot wounds, 33 males and 17 females. Homicides by firearms accounted for 44 percent, which was slightly higher than in other German regions. Homicide victims were found in all age groups with a markedly higher number up to the 20th year and in the fourth decade of life. In most cases small arms were used, and in many cases multiple shots were fired primarily hitting the head and the left side of the trunk: but injuries in the region of the extremities were also seen.     

An atypical gunshot wound from a home-made zip gun--the value of a thorough scene investigation

Zip guns and the atypical gunshot wounds they produce are rare in forensic pathology. Because of this, investigators and forensic pathologists may be unfamiliar with their construction, appearance, and the wounds associated with them. A 43-year-old mechanic, with a history of depression was found dead in a washroom stall at work with an atypical gunshot wound of the head. Upon initial investigation, no weapon was found at the scene. Due to the nature of the scene, and the unusual characteristics of the wound, the manner of death was at first thought to be a homicide. Subsequently, a simple zip gun, which had been overlooked during the scene investigation, was discovered by a co-worker while he was cleaning the stall. Examination of the wound revealed evidence of contact range firing. A markedly deformed bullet was recovered from the head, consistent with the use of the home-made gun. These findings, along with further police investigation and review of the past medical history, indicated that the manner of death was a suicide.     

The morphology of the gunshot entry wound

The main signs of inlet gunshot wound inflicted from non-close shot distance are the following: central defect of the tissue, presence of abrasion and rub zones along the margins. During experimental study high variability of these signs was stated and new morphologic characteristics of inlet gunshot wound were detected.     

Suicide by double bolt gunshot wound to the head: case report and review of the literature

Suicidal gunshot wounds from a livestock stunner with infliction of two shots against the head are extremely rare events. A case with these characteristics is presented and the corresponding literature is reviewed. A 61-year-old butcher was found dead with two entry wounds of the forehead on the right side and in the centre being typical for captive bolt pistols (symmetrically localized powder burns). The issues of the sequence of shots and the capacity of action are discussed on the basis of morphological findings and pathophysiological considerations. A literature review revealed only 4 case reports with double gunshot wounds of the skull caused by "humane killers" (Tovo 1956, Wolff and Laufer 1965, Schiermeyer 1973, Pollak 1977).     

Suicidal contact gunshot wounds to the head with .38 Special Glaser Safety Slug ammunition

Glaser Safety Slug TM ammunition is a uniquely designed, essentially prefragmented ammunition. Tests performed by the U.S. Justice Department demonstrated that the ammunition possesses high kinetic energy, high relative incapacitation index (RII) and poses a very low risk to bystanders because of its total loss of kinetic energy in the target. Despite having been manufactured since 1974, no deaths from this ammunition have been previously reported. The authors herein describe the first three reported human deaths.     

An unusual pattern of gunshot injury linking two homicides to the same assailant

This case report describes an unusual pattern of gunshot firing that proved useful in convicting one assailant of two murders. The assailant fired into the first victim, successively through the same entrance hole at contact range. This technique of firing twice through the same hole was also demonstrable on his second victim in the bare skull of the decomposed body. This unusual pattern noted in two homicides found two weeks apart, in concert with other circumstantial evidence, led to the successful conviction of the man for both murders.     

Perforating gunshot to the head with a power-actuated tool

The article describes a shortly survived suicide with a powder-actuated tool. A 51-year-old man shot all through his head from the right to the left temple. The pin produced an extensive area of destruction in the brain tissue, but neither in the hospital nor during the autopsy was any projectile found. Finally the pin was detected in a metal fitting of the bed in which the man had killed himself. The suicide instrument was a powder-actuated tool firing a metal pin after igniting a cartridge. Unlike a nail gun using compressed air, pins fired by means of a propellant reach a velocity of up to 150 m/s thus developing a higher destructive potential.     

Suicidal gunshot to the head while driving a car

A severe traffic accident occurred on the German autobahn. According to eye witnesses, the car had changed from the left to the right lane at 160 km/h before crashing into a thicket at full speed. In the car, a sports pistol was found in the footwell of the driver's side. The emergency doctor who performed the external examination of the victim's body found a gunshot wound in the region of the driver's right lower jaw. As the prosecutor released the body without further examination, the family of the suicide asked for an autopsy, which demonstrated a lethal suicidal gunshot to the head; toxicological tests proved a previous consumption of cocaine.     

An unusual entrance wound associated with rimfire rifles.

In many cases of self-inflicted contact wounds of the head with rimfire rifles, we have noted that the entrance wound appears unusual: in 50% of cases studied, a pencil-like extension or zone of blackened and seared skin extends downward from the entrance. The most probable cause for the appearance of this wound is a momentary break in contact between the muzzle and skin as the victim reaches for the trigger with resultant escape of a jet of hot sooty gas. Whereas not unique for rimfire rifles, such a wound from a handgun is uncommon.