no article in subsequent two issues (october and November)

For September 2002 issue

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-110

DEATH FROM A FIREARM: SUICIDAL OR HOMICIDAL?

‑Dr. Anil Aggrawal

Many times police personnel come to me with a dead body, which has been found with a firearm near it. A shot has gone through its head. The question often asked by the police is, “Doctor, can you tell us if this was a case of suicide or homicide?”

This is indeed a very commonly asked question, and in this piece, I hope to dwell on this issue at length. Some general observations may be made on suicidal gunshot wounds. By far, the majority of them are inflicted in the head. Most of such wounds are inflicted in the right temple, usually at a point just above and in front of the ear. In these cases, the gun is usually held directly against the skin or practically so. If the weapon happens to be an automatic pistol, sometimes the imprint of the muzzle and the front sight will be left on the skin, due to the impact from the recoil. Occasionally a person will shoot himself twice in this region. These wounds are not always immediately fatal. It is not at all uncommon for a person to live for several hours or even days after a wound of this kind, and occasionally they will even recover. One should always look with great suspicion on wounds of entrance on other parts of the heed, because they are much more likely to be due to murder.

The next most common type of gunshot wound of the head is caused by placing the muzzle of the gun directly in the mouth. If the lips have been closed over the gun, there will usually be excessive tearing of the cheeks. If the bullet has passed through the back part of the brain and skull, it is likely to be fatal much more rapidly than where the front part of the brain has been penetrated.

It is amazing how frequently bullet wounds of the head go unrecognized. The hair may be long and matted and if a careful examination is not made, a bullet wound may be overlooked. There is the case of a dying man who had been shot two days before in the left shoulder with a .22 caliber rifle. This man was in a hospital and had been there since the time of the shooting. From the wound which he had received, it was hard to understand why he should be dying in such a manner. Another injury was suspected, and a careful examination of the scalp revealed that he had also been shot behind the right ear. For two days that wound had been unrecognized and unknown. The mere fact that the man had been shot twice instead of once, as had been published in the papers, led to the capture of the murderer a few days later.

So the general rule is: If things don't look quite right about a gunshot death, be sure that a bullet wound in the head has not been overlooked.

Probably the next most common site where a suicide tries to shoot himself is through the heart. However, when a revolver or pistol is held in the natural manner, it is difficult for a person to shoot himself through the heart. The bullet often ricochets and glances off the breast bone or ribs. In such a case, it does not penetrate the chest at all, but follows around under the skin and comes out in back. Others often miss the heart entirely and penetrate a lung or the upper abdomen. Of the attempts at suicide in this manner, probably one half are unsuccessful.

Rifles and shotguns are too long to be well adapted to suicidal purposes; however, they are so used. Nearly always a stick or a string tied to the trigger, which goes around the trigger guard, is used to discharge the weapon. In these cases, the muzzle of the gun is nearly always in direct contact with the body, and the device used for firing the piece makes suicide obvious. Occasionally, some other method may be used to discharge a firearm such as pushing the trigger with a toe. Some rifles, principally .22 caliber, have a barrel short enough to allow it to be fired by hand. However, it is almost impossible for a person to shoot himself in such a manner except in the head.

A peculiarity about suicidal gunshot wounds is the reluctance on the part of suicides to shoot themselves through clothing. Particularly when a shotgun has been employed, it is common to find that the clothing has been loosened to permit the muzzle to be placed against the bare skin.

Another point, previously mentioned, is the finding of a gun in the dead person's hand. One should not be in a hurry to snatch this gun away, but should examine carefully to see if it is grasped tightly by the dead hand. If it is, one can be certain that it was there at the time of death. It is impossible to place a gun in the hands of a dead man so that it will be grasped tightly after death.

Double-barreled shotguns which are in faulty condition will occasionally discharge both barrels when only one trigger is pulled. This fact has been used to explain two widely separated shotgun wounds in a body in an endeavor to establish the cause of death as accidental or suicidal. This explanation is erroneous because if both barrels discharge when only one trigger is pulled, the two explosions are practically simultaneous and the wounds produced are side by side.

Hesitation Shots

An investigating officer is sometimes confused at finding a body which is apparently a suicide from a bullet wound, where only one bullet has entered the body. When he examines the room he finds evidences of several shots having been fired and an examination of the gun may show it was discharged several times. He may draw the erroneous conclusion that there has been a gun fight and that the man was murdered. It has been pointed out that these are usually suicides and these extra shots have been called hesitation shots. The victim, when he points the gun at his head, subconsciously pulls away from it at the moment of discharge, with the result that the bullet misses him completely. This may be repeated two or three times before he finally turns the gun directly upon himself and fires. Evidence of hesitation is found in some other forms of suicide such as the marks or hesitation strokes found on the neck of a person who has cut his throat.

Split Bullets

When a lead bullet is fired into the skull at an angle, it will sometimes fracture the skull bone in such a way that a sharp edge of bone is presented to the bullet. As a result, the bullet is cut in two lengthwise - one half entering the skull and the other half glancing off. These are nearly all suicidal wounds and are generally produced by the gun being held at an upward angle to the head. It is not likely to happen if jacketed ammunition is used.

Unexplained Bullet in the Body

Occasionally police officers are confused about finding more bullets in a body than there are bullet wounds of entrance. A case was once brought where a body which had two bullet holes was autopsied. During the examination three bullets were found in the body, and the question arose as to where the extra bullet came from. The explanation is that often firearms used for suicides or murders have laid unused for several years. They have been loaded all this time but have never been fired. The barrel of the gun is rusty and very dirty, and likewise, the ammunition has seriously deteriorated. Consequently, when the weapon is first fired, the bullet fails to emerge from the barrel. When the trigger is pulled again, the second bullet may go off with considerably more force, carrying the lodged bullet with it and both bullets enter the body through the same bullet hole. The gun may be fired a third time and the bullet emerges in the normal manner, making a second wound of entrance in the body. Finding such a set of circumstances is simply an indication that the weapon used had not been fired for a long time and that the ammunition was defective.

Noise Produced by Discharge of Firearm

The amount of noise produced by the firing of a gun depends upon many factors such as the type of powder, the size of the powder load, the length of the barrel, and the velocity of the bullet. A fact that is commonly overlooked however, is that when a firearm is discharged with the muzzle pressed tightly against the skin, little or no noise front the blast may be produced. Instances are known where a person shot himself in his home and members of his family in the adjoining room with the door open did not hear the report of the gun. The reason for this is that if the muzzle is pressed firmly enough an effective seal is produced between the muzzle and the skin so that the entire blast of the discharge is expended within the body tissues.

The Dermal Nitrate Test

The dermal nitrate test is a procedure for determining whether or not a person has fired a revolver or pistol recently. Following sporadic experimentation in Europe, Doctor Gonzalo Iturrioz of Cuba, in 1914 first used paraffin for the purpose of collecting residues from discharged firearms. Other Cuban scientists have also contributed much to the development of the test. In 1931, T. Gonzalez of Mexico City improved the technique of applying the paraffin and first demonstrated the test in the United States in 1933. Later Israel Castellanos, Director of the Cuban National Bureau of Identification at Havana, and R. Pasencia added further refinements to the technique.

At the instant of discharge, there is a certain amount of escape of gases and burning powder around the breech of the weapon. These particles of unburned powder strike the hand that is holding the weapon and become implanted into the skin. This leakage of powder and gases is more apt to occur when the gun fired was an old weapon of cheap manufacture. In a new, well-made firearm, the breech mechanism is better fitted. Consequently, the discharge of these substances is greatly lessened or entirely absent.

The test is performed by making a paraffin cast of the back of the person's hand. If particles of unburned powder are present, the paraffin penetrates the minute crevices of the skin and when the cast is peeled off, some of them will be extracted. A reagent which will determine the presence of nitrate particles is then applied in the laboratory and, if found, the technician can determine whether they were due to powder granules. If there is a question as to whether the deceased may have fired the gun himself, the hands should be protected until such a time as the laboratory technician can make the cast and run this test. The hands are best protected by covering each with a paper bag and tying the opening around the wrist. In this way they can be safeguarded as long as necessary.

Other substances such as fertilizer or cigarette ashes may give a bluish reaction to the reagent which is interpreted erroneously as a positive test; therefore it is unwise and hazardous for anyone but a laboratory expert to attempt the procedure. If a person is found who is suspected of having fired the bullets, the test should be applied even though a day or two has elapsed and he has had an opportunity to wash his hands between times. In some instances I have found the test positive three days after the shots had been fired even though the hands had been washed many times in the interim. Negative findings do not rule out the possibility that a certain individual may have fired the shots, but positive findings may add greatly to the weight of evidence against him.

Several articles have been written in recent years discrediting the dermal nitrate test and even suggesting that it be abolished. It is my belief that in most of these instances the technician has not been trained properly in conducting the test, as originally demonstrated by Gonzalez, and in interpretating discolorations produced by the reagent when applied to the paraffin cast. In investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, the Warren Commission was informed that the dermal nitrate test had no value. In view of the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald had fired both a rifle and revolver several times shortly before his arrest, it is very possible and even probable that a dermal nitrate test, properly conducted, would have revealed very valuable information. Several forensic scientists have used the test with satisfaction since observing the first demonstration by Gonzalez in 1933.

Examination of Paraffin Cast by Neutron Activation Analysis

If reasonably available, neutron activation analysis of the paraffin cast of the hand will probably give more accurate information than that obtained by subjecting the cast to a chemical test for nitrates. It is a very complicated technique, and we will not go into its details. Suffice it to say that it is a very accurate technique and can detect the gunpowder traces on hands much more authentically than can the previously mentioned dermal nitrate test.

There are certain disadvantages, however, in that there are only a few laboratories in North America that have the equipment and personnel to carry out this test and, in addition, it is expensive. If the time required in transporting the cast and conducting the test is no factor and the case important enough to justify any expense, this method of procedure should be seriously considered.

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Dr. Anil Aggrawal, M.D.

Professor of Forensic Medicine

Maulana Azad Medical College

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