Suicide or homicide? Forensic evaluation of fatal bolt gun injuries

BackgroundNecropsies of injuries caused by captive bolt guns are very rare, even for forensic pathologists, and require special knowledge of specific wound morphology, etiology and surrounding circumstances.AimThe aim of the study was to provide acurrent, lucid and synoptic overview of all captive bolt gun-related fatalities and the accompanying circumstances in comparison to the relevant literature.Material and methodsAll post-mortem examination reports between 1980-2017 in the Institutes of Legal Medicine in Leipzig and Chemnitz were retrospectively analyzed. The case details were processed and descriptively assessed.ResultsOver atime period of approximately 40years, the incidence of casualties due to fatal captive bolt gun injuries did not significantly differ. All suicides were conducted by males, each done by firing the bolt into the head. In approximately half of the cases experience with captive bolt devices was known. Isolated cases of suicide showed rare localizations of shot wounds. There were three murder victims who each exhibited two captive bolt gun injuries. Accidents at work showed bolt gun injuries remote from the head. Depending on the individual pattern of injury, prolonged survival time periods with secondary causes of death were registered.ConclusionThe first murder-suicide as well as the first double homicide by a captive bolt gun so far are presented. Multiple shot wounds and an occipital/nuchal wound localization to the head occurred more frequently when the crime was committed by a third person.