In the fall of 2011, the badly injured body of a 65-year-old male was found on its back in the backyard of his home. A suicide note was found in the home, which indicated that the decedent wanted to “take the quick way out” of life, saying that he was depressed and in pain. Investigative information confirmed that the man was a military veteran with training in explosives. The victim's neighbors and brother, who contacted police as they had not heard from him in some time, explained that the decedent was constantly using explosives. The neighbors had mentioned that four days prior, they had heard and felt the biggest explosion they had ever heard from his property, but had not contacted anyone since he was always blowing things up. Upon arrival at the scene, police were initially concerned about additional explosive devices, as the decedent had previously expressed antigovernment sentiment. This fear was heightened by the presence of a hand-held remote detonator device and another electrical device at the scene. As a result, the bomb squad was called and a robot was used to closely examine the remains and the scene prior to moving the body. There were no more explosives found near the body, but unarmed explosives were found in the decedent's residence and disposed of at the scene.
Autopsy examination revealed a well-developed, well-nourished, male whose appearance was altered by severe injury. Radiographs revealed extensive skeletal trauma to the upper torso, with absence of head and neck structures as well as fractures about the knees. There was no radioopaque foreign material/shrapnel evident by radiographic exam. Explosive-type defects were noted on the upper aspects of the torso clothing, as well as on the knee portions of the pants. The head and neck were absent and there was extensive damage to the upper torso. The anterior and posterior skin of the upper chest and shoulders demonstrated irregularly jagged borders with areas of soot and charring focally. The soft and bony tissues underlying the borders were markedly damaged by presumed explosive injuries. There were rare abrasions and contusions of the chest and upper extremities. The lower extremities demonstrated rare abrasions and contusions as well as severe lacerations of the anteromedial knees with underlying fractures of the distal aspects of the femora. Within the depths of the knee wounds there was soot and charring noted.
This 52-year-old man sustained an intermediate range rifle wound to the left side of his head from a .243 Winchester rifle. As this weapon has a very high muzzle velocity (~3000 feet per second), it is often used to hunt deer. This amount of destruction is typical of high velocity rifle wounds. There was no mention of if this was self inflicted gunshot wound.
Wounds from rifles are often devastating, largely due to their high muzzle velocities. Recall basic principles of physics which state that kinetic energy, such as that imparted onto a projectile as it leaves a weapon, is a function of one half the object’s mass, multiplied by the square of its velocity (KE=1/2mv2). Therefore, a relatively small increase in the velocity of a projectile will lead to a large increase in the amount of energy imparted to the tissues.
Patricide and overkill: a review of the literature and case report of a murder with Capgras delusion
Despite being an infrequent crime, parental homicide has been associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in adult perpetrators and a history of child abuse and family violence in adolescent perpetrators. Among severe psychiatric disorders there is initial evidence that delusional misidentification might also play a role in parricide. Parricides are often committed with undue violence and may result in overkill. The authors present the case of an adult male affected by schizoaffective disorder and Capgras syndrome who committed patricide. Forensic pathologists classify such cases as overkill by multiple fatal means comprising stabbing, blunt trauma and choking. Accurate crime scene investigations coupled with psychiatric examinations of perpetrator allow reconstruction of the murder stages. This overkill case is discussed in the context of a broad review of the literature.