Citation

Hejna P, Safr M. J. Forensic Sci. 2010; 55(1): 254-257.

Affiliation

Institute of Legal Medicine, Charles University, Simkova 870, 500 01 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01202.x

PMID

19818107

Abstract

Home-made guns are imitations of typical firearms and usually have handgun characteristics. This article presents an unusual case of a suicide carried out by means of a fatal gunshot wound to the head using a home-made zip gun. A 49-year-old male, with a history of paranoid psychosis was found dead in the dwelling place of a family house. The investigation at the crime scene did not lead to suspicion of a gunshot wound because of the unusual nature of the firearm used. A medical examiner diagnosed an opened head injury as the primary cause of the victim's death. The autopsy findings provided immediate grounds for further inspection of the crime scene. Subsequently, a simple zip gun, which had been overlooked during the scene investigation, was discovered. An undeformed projectile recovered from the victim's head was consistent with the use of the home-made firearm. Following the completion of the investigations and autopsy, the death was classified as a suicide.

Language: en