Citation

Tsuboi A, Satoh F, Seto Y, Osawa M. Leg. Med. (Elsevier) 2014; 16(2): 81-83.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan. Electronic address: osawa@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Japanese Society of Legal Medicine, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.legalmed.2013.11.006

PMID

24398035

Abstract

A case of suicide, a male shot in the abdomen using a homemade weapon, is described herein. Postmortem examination revealed bleeding into the thoracic and abdominal cavities, a collapsed liver and other organs with numerous pellets. The contact-shot wound was not noticed during the initial investigation at the scene, but it was elucidated during autopsy. A simple launcher had been assembled from pipes of a clothes rack frame made for home use. The deceased had once owned a shotgun, but his firearm license had been relinquished 5 years prior. A shotgun shell that he had kept was used. Presumably, the injuries from the homemade weapon were not noticed initially because of strict gun control rules in Japan.

Language: en