Citation

Oesterhelweg L, Lorenzen M, Braun C, Rohwedder D, Adam G, Puschel K. Rechtsmedizin 2007; 17(1): 44-47.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00194-006-0420-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Extended suicides with firearms can often be reconstructed by careful analysis of the scene. In the case presented here a 38-year-old woman was found lying in a supine position on the bed in the bedroom. There was a small circular-shaped gunshot wound in the left breast. Next to the bed a firearm was found. In the adjacent living room a 40-year-old man was found lying in a prone position on the floor with a large amount of blood around his head. An unfinished farewell letter addressed to the female's parents was found on the table in the living room. After the external examination of the bodies a computed tomographic examination was performed. In the female a slightly descending shot canal from the left front side of the chest through the apex of the heart was visible. The projectile could be located in the intercostal space near the vertebral column. In the male a gunshot wound through the mouth was detectable and the bullet was found inside the skull without exiting the cranial cavity. This was not in line with the gunshot path and a ricochet shot was diagnosed. All findings could be confirmed by the autopsies. The bullets found during autopsy could be assigned to the firearm found at the scene. © 2006 Springer Medizin Verlag.

Language: de

Keywords

adult; human; suicide; female; male; autopsy; case report; Forensic imaging; forensic medicine; firearm; article; gunshot injury; bullet; human tissue; Extended suicide; computer assisted tomography; Computed tomography; breast; Gunshot injury