Citation

Durfort C, Cappy J, Lorin de la Grandmaison G. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

From the Department of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Raymond Poincaré Hospital, Garches, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0000000000000543

PMID

32205489

Abstract

We report 2 unusual autopsy cases with head handgun wounds using defective firearms in a suicidal context. In the first case, a 78-year-old man was found hanged from a tree, with a Lefaucheux revolver lying on the tree. In the right temporal region, there was an entrance wound with a bullet still in place, responsible for a mild cerebral contusion, without bone defect. The main cause of death was hanging. In the second case, a 60-year-old man died at home after shooting himself in the head several times with a 22-long rifle revolver. The autopsy showed 13 entrance wounds on the scalp. Most of the bullets remained along the skull vault. In each of 2 cases, the manner of death, the feasibility of suicidal gesture, and the consequences of a brain injury on the time to the occurrence of incapacity were questioned. These unusual autopsy cases underline how important it is to take into account the defective nature of firearms.

Language: en