Citation

Karger B, Banaschak S. Int. J. Legal Med. 1997; 110(6): 323-325.

Affiliation

Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9387015

Abstract

A case of extended suicide resulted in two fatalities due to craniocerebral gunshots from a 12-gauge shotgun firing Brenneke shotgun slugs. In each case, the gunshot shattered the skull and the brain and in one case, large parts of the brain including a complete hemisphere were ejected similar to a "Krönlein shot". The location of the trajectory close to the base of the skull, the muzzle gases and the ballistic characteristics of the missile contributed to this rare form of head injury. The high mass and the large diameter of the lead missile do not necessitate a high muzzle velocity to crush large amounts of tissue or to produce an explosive type of head injury. The wadding material and the metal screw attached to the Brenneke slug can be of forensic significance.

Language: en