Citation

Ersoy G, Gurler AS, Ozbay M. J. Forensic Sci. 2012; 57(4): 1129-1133.

Affiliation

Institute of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02067.x

PMID

22390348

Abstract

  Forensic medicine specialists take account of the projectiles remaining in the body when determining whether there are an equal number of entry and exit wounds. The absence of projectiles should suggest blank cartridges, a single exit wound despite several firings and bullet embolization, whereas the presence of more projectiles than expected may indicate tandem projectiles and multiple projectiles entering through the same hole. Radiological examination of the whole body, follow-up of the bullet trajectories, examination of the clothes, and examination of the gun and projectiles play a key role in solving difficult cases. We review such situations based on a case of tandem bullets. Two 7.65-mm bullets created lethal wounds entering through a 32-year-old victim's neck followed the same trajectory to a certain point and diverted. We discussed the possibilities in cases that show inequalities between entry and exit wounds, in light of relevant literature.

Language: en