A 25-year-old woman had moved in with her 34-year-old boyfriend 3 weeks earlier. The brother of the boyfriend came to the house to borrow tools one afternoon and found the couple dead in their bedroom. The manβs body was on the floor on the left side of the foot of the bed; a contact gunshot wound was on the right side of his head and a semiautomatic pistol was next to his right hand.
Fig.1 The female decedent was on her left side on the bed.
The female decedent was on her left side on the bed. An intermediate-range gunshot wound was behind her right ear and the exit wound was on the left temple. The exit wound had an irregular abrasion margin, which was more prominent inferiorly. A perforating gunshot wound was on the distal left forearm. The wound on the flexor aspect of the forearm had an irregular abrasion margin and was surrounded by a faint purple ecchymosis. The wound on the extensor aspect of the forearm had a less prominent, irregular, incomplete abrasion margin.
Fig.2 An intermediate-range gunshot wound was behind her right ear.
Fig.3 The exit wound was on the left temple.
Interpretation of the forearm wounds alone for determining direction of bullet travel would be difficult. The scene provided the answers for the atypical exit wound on the left temple and for the two wounds on the left forearm. The woman was wearing a watch on her left wrist. The case of the watch and a projectile were on the bed in a puddle of blood next to the left wrist. An indentation was on the back of the detached case of the wristwatch. The remainder of the metal band of the watch was on the distal left forearm, with the case of the watch absent from the extensor aspect of the forearm.
Fig.4 The wound on the flexor aspect of the forearm.
Fig.5 The wound on the extensor aspect of the forearm.
It became apparent that the woman was lying on her left side with her left wrist under the left side of her head when she was shot. The atypical wound on the left temple is a supported exit wound. The wound on the flexor aspect of the left forearm is a supported reentry wound, and the wound on the extensor aspect of the forearm is another supported exit wound. The indentation on the back of the case of the watch is from the exiting projectile as it tore the case of the watch off the metal band. The projectile path was reconstructed at the end of the autopsy. The cause of death was gunshot wound of the head.
Fig.6 The case of the watch and a projectile were on the bed in a puddle of blood next to the left wrist.
Fig.7 An indentation was on the back of the detached case of the wristwatch.
Fig.8 The projectile path was reconstructed at the end of the autopsy.
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