NCJ Number
70749
Journal
Forensic Science International Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: (July/August 1980) Pages: 29-34
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The details of a case of disgused suicide in which a 77-year-old retired district police superintendent shot himself and made arrangements to hide the pistol are presented and discussed.
Abstract
The man was found in the garden of his own summer cottage, lying in the grass a few meters from the side of the cottage, with his legs on either side of a ladder leaning against the wall. There was a large crush injury on the forehead which could have been caused by the deceased falling off the ladder and hitting his head on one of some large stones lying in the grass nearby. The autopsy which was performed immediately after the discovery of the body, found a bullet lodged subcutaneously in the neck, with powder and soot appearing as far in the brain as the frontal loabes. It was concluded that the man was shot with the muzzle of a gun in contact with the skin. Careful criminal investigation found the gun concealed in the cottage timbers and tied to a long, thick rubber band. The case was solved by the virtue of close collaboration between the criminal investigators and the forensic pathologists. No clue to the behavior of the deceased could be found. Six references are included.