Epidemiological, forensic, clinical, and imaging characteristics of head injuries acquired in the suicide attempt with captive bolt gun (original) (raw)
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The Characteristics of Head Wounds Inflicted by "Humane Killer" (Captive-Bolt Gun)?A 15-Year Study
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2007
The ''humane killer'' or captive-bolt gun, is the tool ⁄ weapon widely used in meat industry and private farmer households for slaughtering animal stock. Out of 17,250 autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Novi Sad during the 15-year period (1991-2005), 29 cases of suicides and two homicides were committed by captive-bolt pistols. Wounds inflicted by captive-bolt guns have specific morphological features, distinctive from wounds made by other kinds of hand firearms. Selected features of the captive-bolt wounds (punched round entrance and a double pattern of smoke soiling) depend on distance and angle of instrument at the time of firing. Autopsy findings were compared with an experimental model consisting of 20 domestic pigs. Obtained results confirmed that the appearance of the entrance hole and soot deposits, along with differences in shape, location, extent, and density of soot blackening, could be useful in identification of weapon, direction of discharge, shooting distance, and angle of the muzzle to the frontal and sagittal planes of the head at the moment of fire.
Brain damage in pigs produced by impact with a nonpenetrating captive bolt pistol
Australian Veterinary Journal, 2003
To assess the effect of impact with a nonpenetrating captive bolt pistol in pigs by studying the resulting traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to compare the pathological changes with those found previously in the brains of sheep using a similar experimental paradigm. The unrestrained heads of six, anaesthetised, 7- to 8-week-old, Large White pigs were impacted in the temporal region with a nonpenetrating captive bolt pistol. Four hours postimpact, brains were perfusion-fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde. Coronal sections from six levels along the brain were cut and stained with haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemically for amyloid precursor protein, a sensitive marker of axonal injury (AI) in the brain after trauma. TBI in pigs was characterised only by very mild AI, whereas AI in sheep after captive bolt impact to the same head region was much more severe and widely distributed and often associated with vascular damage such as contusions, subarachnoid and intraparenchymal haemorrhage. TBI in pigs was much less severe than in sheep after non-penetrating mechanical impact of similar magnitude, confirming the importance of interspecies differences in determining an appropriate physical method of euthanasia.
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2004
The captive bolt pistol is an atypical firearm exclusively produced and used for butchery of breeding animals, but in some rare cases, it has been used as a lethal weapon for committing suicide by butchers, breeders and other people who have access to such weapons during their professional activities. This study describes the suicide committed by a butcher in the province of Udine (N. Italy) in 2001 who shot himself with his own captive bolt pistol that produced in the right temporal region a circular wound and a bone lesion of the temporal squama with a groove involving the frontal lobe; he died five days later of the fatal consequences of the meningo-encephalic lesions. The medico-legal issues implicated in this case, seen in the light of the data reported in the international literature, illustrate the difficulties faced when diagnosing these types of lesions, bearing in mind their rarity and peculiar nature, and introduce elements of differential diagnosis regarding lesions produced by similar weapons that lead to ascertainment of the event as accidental, suicidal, or homicidal.
International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2017
In humans, most fatalities from slaughterer's guns are suicides committed by persons familiar with stunning devices. The great majority of cases accounts for shots to the head, especially the frontal region. Only a small number of two subsequent cranial shots from captive-bolt humane killers have been reported up to now. In the case presented by the authors, a suicide by simultaneous shots to the head fired from two different makes of captive-bolt guns (one of them having two separate outlets for the combustion gases in the muzzle plane, the other type having no additional openings) is described for the first time. One of the shooting devices remained in firm contact with the left hand and produced patterned staining from rust corresponding to the surface relief of the gun. The medicolegal and criminalistic aspects of this unique case are discussed with reference to the pertinent literature.
Achieving humane outcomes in killing livestock by free bullet I: Penetrating brain injury
The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne, 2019
Humane killing of farm animals by free bullet is a commonly used second-best option in emergency situations and disease control operations. Theoretical justification has been weak in experimental reports of firearm system use in the field. Veterinarians require an in-depth understanding of killing with free bullet to take corrective action when systems fail under field application. This review describes the technical considerations in choosing safe, effective firearm systems to effectively kill minimally restrained livestock at close range. Frequently referenced firearm/bullet recommendations are excessively powerful and unnecessarily hazardous. Based on ballistic energetic performance and mechanical design, the rifle chambered for low energy pistol ammunition, using non-toxic controlled expanding bullets, has the technical capability to deliver immediate insensibility and death at a distance of 5 m or less. At 1 m distance, the .410 shotgun with steel or porcelain shot meets the en...
An autopsy study on injuries in homicidal deaths due to weapons
Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine, 2021
Homicide is defined as the intentional act of taking another person’s life. This study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital and Medical College at Pondicherry between 2004 to 2019. It included all homicide deaths with weapon autopsied in the department of Forensic Medicine. A total of 74 cases of homicide was identified and studied. The male : female ratio was 4:1. Commonest age group was 21- 30 years of age. 78% of cases had fatal injuries in more than one anatomical region and head was the most targeted region. More than one type of injuries was present in 65% of cases. In this study male victim had mostly sharp force weapon induced injuries and female victims had blunt force weapon induced injuries. It was also found that in age groups less than 10 years and more than 60 years blunt force weapon induced injuries predominated, whereas in other young adult age groups sharp force weapon induced injuries were predominately seen.
Penetrating brain injury after suicide attempt with speargun: case study and review of literature
Frontiers in neurology, 2014
Penetrating cranial injury by mechanisms other than gunshots are exceedingly rare, and so strategies and guidelines for the management of PBI are largely informed by data from higher-velocity penetrating injuries. Here, we present a case of penetrating brain injury by the low-velocity mechanism of a harpoon from an underwater fishing speargun in an attempted suicide by a 56-year-old Caucasian male. The case raised a number of interesting points in management of low-velocity penetrating brain injury (LVPBI), including benefit in delaying foreign body removal to allow for tamponade; the importance of history-taking in establishing the social/legal significance of the events surrounding the injury; the use of cerebral angiogram in all cases of PBI; advantages of using dual-energy CT to reduce artifact when available; and antibiotic prophylaxis in the context of idiosyncratic histories of usage of penetrating objects before coming in contact with the intracranial environment. We present...
A Rare Case of Suicide by Multiple Gunshot Wounds to the Head
Medico-Legal Update, 2019
Firearm injuries represent a significant topic of forensic pathology. The literature in this regard is innumerable, and can seem to have extensively covered the topic of this paper. However, the biological reality and the unpredictability of the concrete cases, continue and will always continue to present unusual circumstances that are worth examining for forensic pathologists. In this case report, we performed a comparative analysis between a particular case and the scientific literature. The case in question concerns suicide by single-shot short firearm, in which the subject shot himself three times on two sides of the head, without affecting the brain during its self-suppressive intent. Cases similar to this are always cause for reasonable doubt, which can only be solved with the contribution of forensic pathology and in-depth research.
Australian Veterinary Journal, 2000
Brain damage resulting from penetrating and non-penetrating stunning of Nelore cattle using pneumatically powered captive bolt guns was evaluated. Heads were shot using penetrating captive bolt gun with 160 psi (P1; n = 10), 175 psi (P2; n = 10), 190 psi (P3; n = 12), and non-penetrating operating with 220 psi (NP; n = 10). Skin and bone thickness, bolt penetration angle, bolt penetration depth, haemorrhage over the cerebral hemispheres and laceration were assessed. Only P1 had shots that failed to perforate the skull (n = 2; 20%). Bolt penetration depth and haemorrhage over the right cerebral hemisphere was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) greater for P3. Subarachnoid haemorrhage over the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes was higher for NP. Lacerations were observed only for penetrating gun in the cortical region of frontal and parietal lobes. Subarachnoid haemorrhage surrounding the brainstem and laceration in the midbrain and pons was only found for P3. Thus, penetrating captive bolt gun operating with 190 psi is more effective to achieve unconsciousness.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
The differential diagnosis between self-inflicted and nonself-inflicted, suicidal and homicidal, injuries is difficult or impossible in many cases and, above all, cannot be made on the basis of information obtained solely from the autopsy or the medicolegal clinical examination. The purpose of this study is to analyze the literature on suicidal and homicidal sharp force injuries and identify the relevant parameters that may help differentiate between suicidal and homicidal deaths. To achieve this goal, a review of 595 potentially relevant articles was performed. After excluding the nonrelevant papers by screening the titles, all abstracts were reviewed, and articles meeting the inclusion criteria underwent a full-text review. The following parameters were compiled into a table: number of cases, localization of the injuries, and number of injuries. The data were statistically analyzed and compared with those available in the forensic literature. On the basis of the heterogeneity of d...