Complex suicide with black powder muzzle loading derringer

Czech Republic. A 39-year-old man was discovered dead in the bathroom of his house, hanging by the neck with a conspicuous atypical gunshot entrance wound in the right temporal region. A black powder percussion double barreled handgun was found on his left thigh. The hanging was incomplete—the victim was found in sitting position with the head and trunk supported by a wall. A suicide note was stuck on the victim’s right thigh.

Fig.1 The bathroom where a man was found dead. On the victim’s left thigh was found a black powder percussion double barreled derringer (yellow arrow).

The deceased was 183.5 cm (6’0″) tall and weighed approximately 75 kg (165 lbs). Autopsy findings included a large atypical entry wound situated in the right temporal area. The wound defect of the skin had an oval-shaped character with proportions of 8 x 5 cm. The edges of the entry wound were blackish and intensively burnt. An amply subcutaneous pocket-like undermining, with plentiful soot and black powder deposits, was located in the soft tissues of the right temple. The multiple deposits of soot were also detected in close vicinity to the entry defect.

The right temporal bone showed an irregular perforation 2 cm in diameter. The surrounding area of the bony defect of the right temporal bone showed sooting at the outer as well as inner plate. An X-ray examination confirmed the presence of a large contrast projectile in the soft subcutaneous tissues of the left temple. The left temporal bone showed a circular perforation 1.5 cm in diameter. Multiple radial fracture lines originated from these bony defects and stretched across the vault and the base of the skull. The anterior cranial fossa showed multiple indirect fractures.

Fig.2 The male was found dead in sitting position, hanging by the neck with the atypical entrance wound in the right temple.

The bullet path passed from the right to the left side of the head, slightly backward, without height deviations. The projectile perforated the squama of the right temporal bone, the tissue of the right and left frontal lobes of brain, the squama of left temporal bone and embedded in the soft tissues area of the left temple. The extracted projectile was a lead ogive (11 x 16 mm; 12.4 g) with cross etch at the tip and showed minimal shape deformation. Approx. 3 mm from the bottom of the projectile, a peripheral lubrication groove containing a lubricant was found at the cylindrical part of the projectile. An artificial etch was revealed at the front ogive part of the projectile. Tool marks discovered inside the etch suggest that this groove originated from a multiple pushing of a further unidentified instrument with a sharp edge and that it was created for the purpose of intensifying the wounding effect.

Fig.3 The conspicuous atypical entrance wound in the right temporal region showing huge soot soiling.

Upon examination of the neck, a single, approximately 10 mm wide, furrow was present, which completely encircled the neck. The ligature knot was situated in the right part of the neck just below the right auricle. The skin and subcutaneous soft tissue in the area of the ligature mark were yellow–brown, dry, and rigid because of desiccation. Hemorrhages at the clavicular origin of the sternocleidomastoid muscles were not detected. The cervical vessels were entirely intact. There were no fractures of the hyoid bone and laryngeal cartilages. Simon’s sign was negative and signs of asphyxia were not present. The total weight of the lungs was 680 g. Both hands showed multiple blood stains and the right hand showed extensive soot.

Fig.4 The embedded projectile in the soft tissues area of the left temple.

The blood ethanol concentration was 1.60 g/kg. Toxicological analyses showed no traces of legal or illegal drugs. The immediate cause of death was attributed to extensive brain injury caused by the bullet’s penetration into the cranial cavity. Following the completion of the investigation and autopsy, the death was classified as a suicide. The motive for suicide was divorce from his wife.

Fig.5 The extracted ogive projectile with cross etch of the tip.

The use of black powder handguns has been reported rarely in cases of suicide, homicide and accidents. Injuries caused by black powder handguns (historical guns or their replicas) are specific due to the properties of the black gun powder (sodium or potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur) such has slow and incomplete combustion. In contact shooting, the entrance wound usually has a broad collar of intensive burning and fouling as well as a sizeable soot cavity (pocket-like undemining) with abundant deposits of soot and gunpowder within soft tissue.

Fig.6 The handgun used black powder muzzle loading double-barreled derringer.

In complex suicides, where two previously planned methods are employed simultaneously, hanging is usually one of them. In this case, typical internal neck injuries related to hanging, Simon’s sign as well as the signs of asphyxia were completely absent. Regarding the autopsy findings, the injury pattern indicates which of the used suicidal methods was dominant. The gunshot injury to the victim’s head was immediately fatal and hanging was only the final (‘‘postmortem’’) step of the suicidal act.