Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2015) 11:297–299 DOI 10.1007/s12024-015-9666-8
IMAGES IN FORENSICS
Suicidal Kro¨nlein shot with a home manufactured firearm Slobodan Nikolic´ • Vladimir Zˇivkovic´
Accepted: 5 February 2015 / Published online: 3 March 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Case report A 75-year-old man was found in his backyard, having committed suicide using a home manufactured firearm. The body of the deceased was found in the sitting position (Fig. 1), holding the firearm in his left hand. A suicide note was found in the living room. An autopsy was performed the following day. The deceased was about 170 cm tall and weighed approximately 70 kg. The skull was shattered and there was evisceration of the frontal parts of the brain. Longitudinal tears of the skin on the forehead, and along the creases on either side of the mouth and nose, were present (Fig. 2a). The upper jaw and palate bones were fractured, as were the bones of the base of the skull. Gunpowder soot deposits could be seen on the oral mucous membranes (Fig. 2b). The autopsy revealed blood aspiration, as well as lung cancer with metastatic dissemination. Other major autopsy findings were consistent with a rapid death and senile organ changes. There was no alcohol in the victim’s blood or urine. The cause of death was attributed to severe head injury from a shotgun.
Discussion Brain evisceration caused by a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by a military rifle was described in 1899 by the prominent German surgeon Rudolf Ulrich Kro¨nlein
S. Nikolic´ V. Zˇivkovic´ (&) Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Belgrade – School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska Str., 11000 Belgrade, Serbia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
(1847–1910). Kro¨nlein’s shot indicates a prolapse of an intact brain hemisphere or, more rarely, of both brain hemispheres in high velocity missile injuries to the brain during closerange shooting [1]. In cases of Kro¨nlein’s shot, a gunshot wound to the skull with a high-velocity bullet, the skull is shattered by the temporary wound cavity and there is complete evisceration of the brain [2]. In the case of a highpowered firearm, the amount of gas generated by the blast is so large that a shot fired with the weapon in contact with the head causes extensive destruction. Discharge of a highpowered firearm into the mouth is associated with tremendous overexpansion of the soft tissues of the head and massive fractures of the skull. This causes vertical tears of the skin in front of the ears and along the creases on either side of the mouth and nose, as well as the inner angles of the eyes [3], as was observed in the case presented in this article. If a gun of standard construction is not available, then an improvised firearm can be made by someone with sufficient skills and a technical background—home-made or zip guns [4]. The construction and quality of these guns vary considerably [5]. A zip gun can be a modified blank pistol, tear gas gun, cap pistol, or a crude home-made weapon modified or constructed to fire standard bullets [6]. The parts used in the production of a home-made gun consist of common items or equipment: wrenches, screws, wires, bolts, springs, and metal plates. Occasionally, arms for other purposes are involved: an alarm gun, a gas cartridge weapon, a blank cartridge weapon, and an air-powered weapon [4]. Most home-made guns are made from metal piping and include a sprung hammer, which is pulled back manually and then released for firing [7]. Almost all zip guns are single-barreled. Their firing pin can be either fixed or floating, and most have no trigger and rely on a sprung hammer that is simply drawn back and released. [8]. Most zip guns are short-range weapons [5].
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Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2015) 11:297–299
Fig. 1 The photograph taken during the police investigation. The body of the deceased is in sitting position holding the firearm in his left hand
Because of the lack of rifling, the bullet was not stabilized and, on leaving the barrel, would almost immediately begin to tumble and lose velocity. The initial low velocity combined with the inherent instability of the projectile made the zip gun an extremely short-range weapon [6]. Cocking the weapon is often a bimanual task [8]. The potential lethality of these weapons varies; some being so rudimentary that they present a greater danger to the shooter than to the intended victim [8]. Sometimes, however, original and home-made components are also used, forming a so-called hybrid weapon [4]. In the case presented here, the used zip gun (Fig. 3) was single-barreled and made by the deceased, who was a very skilled turner with his own workshop. The appearance of the wounds produced by zip gun fire depends largely on the type of missile used and may be indistinguishable from a wound inflicted by any ordinary bullet [3]. In this case the standard rifle cartridge 7.92 9 57 was used (Fig. 3b), probably with a soft point bullet, a high-velocity bullet sufficient to shatter the skull and eviscerate the brain parts (the bullet was not found during the police investigation). Most handgun suicidal cases involve the right temple as the site of the entrance of the gunshot wound, but the
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Fig. 2 The photographs taken during autopsy. a Kro¨nlein’s shot—the shattered skull with evisceration of the brain parts. b Oral mucous membranes with visible gun powder soot deposits
mouth is also a common choice [9]. The most common locations of suicidal rifle and shotgun entrance wounds on the head are the intraoral and submental regions, probably because in such cases the person needs to use both hands [10, 11]. In the presented case, the barrel length of the home-made firearm required the use of both hands, and so the entrance gunshot wound was located in the mouth. Worldwide, cases in which a home-made firearm is used to perform an intended suicide are very rare [3, 4]. Fatalities involving illegally manufactured firearms warrant a high degree of suspicion of criminal activity and require diligence in all phases of the death investigation. Home manufactured firearms and the resultant injuries pose a number of forensic challenges starting from the death scene investigation, continuing with ballistic analysis, and concluding with the determination of cause and manner of death [1]. An unusual gunshot wound, such as in our presented case, stresses the importance of close collaboration between medical and police forensic experts. By
Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2015) 11:297–299
299 Acknowledgments This work was supported by Ministry of Science of Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 45005.
References
Fig. 3 The photographs taken during the police investigation. a The single-barreled home manufactured firearm made by the deceased. b Closer view of the primer of the rifle cartridge 7.92 9 57. The case was still in the barrel
combining the results of the medico-legal and ballistic examinations, the investigators were able to elucidate the unusual gunshot pattern and to reconstruct the final moments of the victim [8]. Four eyes see more than two.
1. Necˇas P, Hejna P. Eponyms in forensic pathology. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2012;8:395–401. 2. Dettmeyer RB, Verhoff MA, Schu¨tz HF. Forensic medicine— fundamentals and perspectives. Berlin: Springer; 2014. 3. Spitz WU. Spitz and Fisher’s medicolegal investigation of death: guidelines for the application of pathology to crime investigation. 4th ed. Springfield: Charles C Thomas; 2006. 4. Hejna P, Safr M. An unusual zip gun suicide—medicolegal and ballistic examination. J Forensic Sci. 2010;55:254–7. 5. Karger B. Forensic ballistics: injuries from gunshots, explosives and arrows. In: Madea B, editor. Handbook of forensic medicine. Chichester: Wiley; 2014. p. 328–66. 6. Di Maio VJM. Zip guns. In: Di Maio VJM, editor. Gunshot wounds, practical aspects of firearms, ballistics, and forensic techniques. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 1999. p. 282–3. 7. Fulton JO, De Groot M, Von Oppell UO, Ruttman T. Blunt cardiac rupture caused by zip gun backfire. Ann Thorac Surg. 1998;65:837–89. 8. Hiss J, Shoshani E, Zaitsew K, Giverts P, Kahana T. Self inflicted gunshot wound caused by a home-made gun—medico-legal and ballistic examination. J Clin Forensic Med. 2003;10:165–8. 9. Nikolic´ S, Zˇivkovic V, Babic´ D, Jukovic´ F. Suicidal single gunshot injury to the head: differences in site of entrance wound and direction of the bullet path between right- and left-handed— an autopsy study. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2012;33:43–6. 10. Kohlmeier RE, McMahan CA, DiMaio VJ. Suicide by firearms: a 15-year experience. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2001;22:337–40. 11. Molina KD, Wood LE, DiMaio VJ. Shotgun wounds. A review of range and location as pertaining to manner of death. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007;28:99–102.
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IMAGES IN FORENSICS
Suicidal Kro¨nlein shot with a home manufactured firearm Slobodan Nikolic´ • Vladimir Zˇivkovic´
Accepted: 5 February 2015 / Published online: 3 March 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Case report A 75-year-old man was found in his backyard, having committed suicide using a home manufactured firearm. The body of the deceased was found in the sitting position (Fig. 1), holding the firearm in his left hand. A suicide note was found in the living room. An autopsy was performed the following day. The deceased was about 170 cm tall and weighed approximately 70 kg. The skull was shattered and there was evisceration of the frontal parts of the brain. Longitudinal tears of the skin on the forehead, and along the creases on either side of the mouth and nose, were present (Fig. 2a). The upper jaw and palate bones were fractured, as were the bones of the base of the skull. Gunpowder soot deposits could be seen on the oral mucous membranes (Fig. 2b). The autopsy revealed blood aspiration, as well as lung cancer with metastatic dissemination. Other major autopsy findings were consistent with a rapid death and senile organ changes. There was no alcohol in the victim’s blood or urine. The cause of death was attributed to severe head injury from a shotgun.
Discussion Brain evisceration caused by a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by a military rifle was described in 1899 by the prominent German surgeon Rudolf Ulrich Kro¨nlein
S. Nikolic´ V. Zˇivkovic´ (&) Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Belgrade – School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska Str., 11000 Belgrade, Serbia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
(1847–1910). Kro¨nlein’s shot indicates a prolapse of an intact brain hemisphere or, more rarely, of both brain hemispheres in high velocity missile injuries to the brain during closerange shooting [1]. In cases of Kro¨nlein’s shot, a gunshot wound to the skull with a high-velocity bullet, the skull is shattered by the temporary wound cavity and there is complete evisceration of the brain [2]. In the case of a highpowered firearm, the amount of gas generated by the blast is so large that a shot fired with the weapon in contact with the head causes extensive destruction. Discharge of a highpowered firearm into the mouth is associated with tremendous overexpansion of the soft tissues of the head and massive fractures of the skull. This causes vertical tears of the skin in front of the ears and along the creases on either side of the mouth and nose, as well as the inner angles of the eyes [3], as was observed in the case presented in this article. If a gun of standard construction is not available, then an improvised firearm can be made by someone with sufficient skills and a technical background—home-made or zip guns [4]. The construction and quality of these guns vary considerably [5]. A zip gun can be a modified blank pistol, tear gas gun, cap pistol, or a crude home-made weapon modified or constructed to fire standard bullets [6]. The parts used in the production of a home-made gun consist of common items or equipment: wrenches, screws, wires, bolts, springs, and metal plates. Occasionally, arms for other purposes are involved: an alarm gun, a gas cartridge weapon, a blank cartridge weapon, and an air-powered weapon [4]. Most home-made guns are made from metal piping and include a sprung hammer, which is pulled back manually and then released for firing [7]. Almost all zip guns are single-barreled. Their firing pin can be either fixed or floating, and most have no trigger and rely on a sprung hammer that is simply drawn back and released. [8]. Most zip guns are short-range weapons [5].
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Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2015) 11:297–299
Fig. 1 The photograph taken during the police investigation. The body of the deceased is in sitting position holding the firearm in his left hand
Because of the lack of rifling, the bullet was not stabilized and, on leaving the barrel, would almost immediately begin to tumble and lose velocity. The initial low velocity combined with the inherent instability of the projectile made the zip gun an extremely short-range weapon [6]. Cocking the weapon is often a bimanual task [8]. The potential lethality of these weapons varies; some being so rudimentary that they present a greater danger to the shooter than to the intended victim [8]. Sometimes, however, original and home-made components are also used, forming a so-called hybrid weapon [4]. In the case presented here, the used zip gun (Fig. 3) was single-barreled and made by the deceased, who was a very skilled turner with his own workshop. The appearance of the wounds produced by zip gun fire depends largely on the type of missile used and may be indistinguishable from a wound inflicted by any ordinary bullet [3]. In this case the standard rifle cartridge 7.92 9 57 was used (Fig. 3b), probably with a soft point bullet, a high-velocity bullet sufficient to shatter the skull and eviscerate the brain parts (the bullet was not found during the police investigation). Most handgun suicidal cases involve the right temple as the site of the entrance of the gunshot wound, but the
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Fig. 2 The photographs taken during autopsy. a Kro¨nlein’s shot—the shattered skull with evisceration of the brain parts. b Oral mucous membranes with visible gun powder soot deposits
mouth is also a common choice [9]. The most common locations of suicidal rifle and shotgun entrance wounds on the head are the intraoral and submental regions, probably because in such cases the person needs to use both hands [10, 11]. In the presented case, the barrel length of the home-made firearm required the use of both hands, and so the entrance gunshot wound was located in the mouth. Worldwide, cases in which a home-made firearm is used to perform an intended suicide are very rare [3, 4]. Fatalities involving illegally manufactured firearms warrant a high degree of suspicion of criminal activity and require diligence in all phases of the death investigation. Home manufactured firearms and the resultant injuries pose a number of forensic challenges starting from the death scene investigation, continuing with ballistic analysis, and concluding with the determination of cause and manner of death [1]. An unusual gunshot wound, such as in our presented case, stresses the importance of close collaboration between medical and police forensic experts. By
Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2015) 11:297–299
299 Acknowledgments This work was supported by Ministry of Science of Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 45005.
References
Fig. 3 The photographs taken during the police investigation. a The single-barreled home manufactured firearm made by the deceased. b Closer view of the primer of the rifle cartridge 7.92 9 57. The case was still in the barrel
combining the results of the medico-legal and ballistic examinations, the investigators were able to elucidate the unusual gunshot pattern and to reconstruct the final moments of the victim [8]. Four eyes see more than two.
1. Necˇas P, Hejna P. Eponyms in forensic pathology. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2012;8:395–401. 2. Dettmeyer RB, Verhoff MA, Schu¨tz HF. Forensic medicine— fundamentals and perspectives. Berlin: Springer; 2014. 3. Spitz WU. Spitz and Fisher’s medicolegal investigation of death: guidelines for the application of pathology to crime investigation. 4th ed. Springfield: Charles C Thomas; 2006. 4. Hejna P, Safr M. An unusual zip gun suicide—medicolegal and ballistic examination. J Forensic Sci. 2010;55:254–7. 5. Karger B. Forensic ballistics: injuries from gunshots, explosives and arrows. In: Madea B, editor. Handbook of forensic medicine. Chichester: Wiley; 2014. p. 328–66. 6. Di Maio VJM. Zip guns. In: Di Maio VJM, editor. Gunshot wounds, practical aspects of firearms, ballistics, and forensic techniques. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 1999. p. 282–3. 7. Fulton JO, De Groot M, Von Oppell UO, Ruttman T. Blunt cardiac rupture caused by zip gun backfire. Ann Thorac Surg. 1998;65:837–89. 8. Hiss J, Shoshani E, Zaitsew K, Giverts P, Kahana T. Self inflicted gunshot wound caused by a home-made gun—medico-legal and ballistic examination. J Clin Forensic Med. 2003;10:165–8. 9. Nikolic´ S, Zˇivkovic V, Babic´ D, Jukovic´ F. Suicidal single gunshot injury to the head: differences in site of entrance wound and direction of the bullet path between right- and left-handed— an autopsy study. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2012;33:43–6. 10. Kohlmeier RE, McMahan CA, DiMaio VJ. Suicide by firearms: a 15-year experience. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2001;22:337–40. 11. Molina KD, Wood LE, DiMaio VJ. Shotgun wounds. A review of range and location as pertaining to manner of death. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007;28:99–102.
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