NCJ Number
226566
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 443-447
Date Published
March 2009
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study determined whether the early stages of decomposition obscured or altered the physical surface characteristics of gunshot wounds, thereby influencing the quantity and quality of information retrievable from such evidence.
Abstract
The early stages of decomposition did not destroy the surface evidence of gunshot wounds. Characteristics persisted as decomposition progressed, and the three ranges of gunshot wounds (contact, intermediate, and distance) were distinguishable until the skin degraded at some point between the active and advanced decay stage of decomposition. Changes to bullet-hole diameter were minimal. Insect activity did not produce any pseudo-gunshot wounds, even though there was extensive maggot activity. Muzzle impression patterns lost some definition as decomposition progressed, but the pattern associated with the wound was typical for a contact shot. The most distinguishable characteristic of an intermediate-range gunshot, i.e., powder “tattooing,” was evident until the skin was degraded. Characteristics of a distance wound were clear early in the bloat stage, but as decomposition progressed, wound characteristics lost definition, making them more difficult to identify. The changes that occurred due to the three distances from which wounds were inflicted were observed in all pigs in both the exposed field and the forest environments, although the pigs took longer to pass through the stages of decomposition in the forested environment. It was the stage of decomposition, not time alone, that influenced the characteristics of gunshot wounds. The study was conducted in August and September 2005 in Nova Scotia, Canada, in forested and exposed environments. Recently killed pigs were used as research models. Each pig was shot six times at three different ranges (contact, 2.5 cm, and 1.5 m). The pigs were examined every 24 hours after the wounds were inflicted. 6 figures and 11 references