IMAGES IN FORENSIC PATHOLOGY

Catching a Bullet: Gunshot Wound Trajectory Analysis Used to

Establish Body Position
Brodie Butler, Craig Fries, Joel Panock, Michelle A. Jorden, Judy Melinek

Acad Forensic Pathol. 2016 6(4): 739-745

AUTHORS Brodie Butler, Azusa Pacific University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Biology and Chemistry
Roles: Project conception and/or design, data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, manuscript creation and/or revision, approved
final version for publication, accountable for all aspects of the work.
Craig Fries, Precision Simulations Inc.
Roles: Data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, manuscript creation and/or revision, approved final version for publication,
accountable for all aspects of the work.
Joel Panock MS, Precision Simulations Inc.
Roles: Data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, manuscript creation and/or revision, approved final version for publication,
accountable for all aspects of the work.
Michelle A. Jorden MD, Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner
Roles: Data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, manuscript creation and/or revision, approved final version for publication,
accountable for all aspects of the work.
Judy Melinek MD, PathologyExpert.com and Alameda County Office of the Sheriff-Coroner
Roles: Project conception and/or design, data acquisition, analysis and/or interpretation, manuscript creation and/or revision, approved
final version for publication, accountable for all aspects of the work.

CORRESPONDENCE Judy Melinek MD, 3739 Balboa Street #102, San Francisco CA 94121, [email protected]

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE The authors have indicated that they do not have financial relationships to disclose that are relevant to this
manuscript

DISCLOSURES The authors, reviewers, editors, and publication staff do not report any relevant conflicts of interest

FUNDING None

KEYWORDS Forensic pathology, Gunshot, Trajectory, Analysis, Body position, Sequence

INFORMATION ACADEMIC FORENSIC PATHOLOGY: THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS (ISSN: 1925-3621)
©2016 Copyright Academic Forensic Pathology International
Submitted for consideration on 20 Jul 2016. Accepted for publication on 6 Sep 2016

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 IMAGES IN FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
There is little published in the peer-reviewed forensic band holding a gun in the driveway and the 35-year-
literature on gunshot wound trajectory analysis with old wife collapsed, with gunshot wounds to her neck.
regard to the body position of the victim when the The appraiser called the police and the husband re-
shooting occurred. More often than not, unwitnessed treated into the house; a single gunshot was heard
shootings with multiple projectiles and a dynamic scene by law enforcement from the house soon after they
make such interpretations difficult. However, it is not arrived at the scene. The husband was found in the
uncommon for forensic pathologists to be asked to tes- residence with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound
tify about the body position of the decedent in civil and of the head, and a pistol by his side. The wife was
criminal cases (1). The case presented exemplifies six declared dead at the scene. Police gathered two ex-
gunshot wounds defects delineating two trajectories and pended casings from the driveway, which were found
the interpretations that can be made from the injuries within a few feet of the wife’s head.
found at autopsy in the context of ancillary evidence.
Autopsy findings in the homicide victim were signif-
In July 2003, an estranged but still married couple vis- icant for six gunshot wound defects (Image 1). One
ited their previously shared house with an appraiser to gunshot wound entered the left chin, exited the right
evaluate the property for division in their upcoming side of the neck (B), re-entered at the right inner up-
divorce. Immediately after the conclusion of the meet- per shoulder, and exited the right upper arm (D). No
ing, as they were leaving the residence, the appraiser fouling or stippling of the adjacent skin was identified
heard a gunshot behind him and turned to see the hus- at the initial entrance wound, indicating she was shot

Image 1: Gunshot wounds from the first bullet trajectory and contusions on the right shoulder.

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 IMAGES IN FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
from a distant range. After entering the left side of the her 63-inch height and provided a spatial and visual
chin, the projectile perforated the skin and soft tissue reference for the illustration of the bullet path.
of the lip, entered the oral cavity, and sequentially
perforated the lower left premolar, mandible, and soft A second gunshot wound trajectory entered at the right
tissues of the neck without deflection. In association occipital scalp via a circular defect without a margin
with the exit wound at the right side of the neck (B), of abrasion. The projectile exited the skull to the right
there was soft tissue hemorrhage of the right sterno- of the foramen magnum, while penetrating the soft tis-
cleidomastoid muscle and right supraclavicular mus- sues of the upper neck and glottis, creating contusion
culature. The projectile then re-entered at the right up- and hemorrhage at the right piriform recess and larynx
per shoulder and traveled through the superficial soft and lodging at the base of the right tongue. No fouling
tissue and muscle of the right shoulder and arm, frac-
turing the coracoid process of the right scapula and
the head of the humerus.

A strap-shaped contusion was noted extending from

behind the right shoulder to the outer upper right arm
(Image 2). This contusion was consistent in width
with the strap of a purse that accompanied her body,
suggesting that she was manipulating her purse strap
over her arm as the first gunshot was fired. After ex-
iting the right upper arm (D), the projectile entered
her left ring finger and lodged at the base of the mid-
dle finger at the metacarpal-phalangeal joint. This ac-
counts for the slight abrasion rim at D, indicating a
shored exit wound and the “caught” bullet in the left
hand radiograph (Image 3). The first bullet trajecto-
ry is delineated using two probes (Image 4) and in
an accompanying animation (Figure 1). Based on the
direction of fire and the reported positions of the hus-
band and wife in the driveway as they were exiting the
house, the decedent was standing in an upright posi-
tion as the first gunshot was fired.

A video animation illustrating this bullet path and

in alignment with the decedent’s likely position was
generated to account for the wounds. The three-di-
mensional (3D) model of the gunshot wound path
was generated using Autodesk’s 3D Studio MAX
software. The software was run on a 24-core DELL
XEON PC with 64 GB of RAM running the Windows
7 operating system. The autopsy report, photographs,
and radiography of her left hand provided the basis for
the victim’s height and the specific location of each
entry, exit, and the bullet lodgment location. As the
Image 2: Close-up of right shoulder contusion, indicating that it
report described internal skeletal structures involved
corresponds in size to the strap of her handbag.
in the wound path, a 3D skeleton was scaled to match

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Image 3: Radiograph of the decedent’s left hand with the bullet lodged in the base of the left ring finger at the metacarpal-phalangeal
joint.

Image 4: First bullet trajectory delineated using two probes.

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Figure 1: Animation of the decedent showing the trajectory of the first gunshot wound.

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Image 5: Radiograph of decedent’s skull showing second bullet Image 6: Trajectory rod depicting the second bullet’s course
point of lodgment. through base of skull.

or stippling of the adjacent skin was identified at the shot wound defect entered her left chin from a distance
entrance wound. The decedent had thick black hair and and went downward through her body as she secured
was not wearing a hat. There was grossly visible foul- her purse on her shoulder – an action that requires in-
ing of the outer table of the skull and dura described in tent and an intact nervous system. The projectile from
the autopsy report, but this was not photographed. The the first gunshot did not penetrate the brain or spinal
inwardly beveled oval entrance defect in the skull had cord and would not have caused immediate incapaci-
radiating fractures to the right posterior cranial fossa tation. Therefore, the shooter would have had to shoot
and the bullet track completely transected the ponto- her again to kill her.
medullary junction. A radiograph of the skull show-
ing where the bullet lodged is shown in Image 5 and The second, occipital scalp gunshot wound was at
an autopsy photo with a rod depicting the trajectory close range, as evidenced by the grossly visible soot
through the base of the brain is shown in Image 6. within the wound. This trajectory went through the
pontomedullary junction of the brain stem, indicating
The gunshot wound trajectory through the chin and that after the first, nonfatal shot, the shooter closed
shoulder must have occurred first because the vic- the distance between them. Among many factors, the
tim would have had to have been upright at the time range at which a gun is shot determines the energy
the first shot was fired due to the distant range of fire imparted to the target and thus, the extent of tissue
combined with her body position: the shooter and the injury (2). At any range, however, ballistic damage
victim were both witnessed to be standing prior to the to pontomedullary junction is instantaneously lethal
shots being fired and the projectile from the first gun- (1). Following the second gunshot, she would have

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 IMAGES IN FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
been immediately incapacitated. Stopping power, or wounds by interpreting the injuries found at autopsy
the ability to generate enough damage to immediately in the context of ancillary evidence. This evidence
incapacitate the victim, is predominantly determined includes, but is not limited to witness statements, the
by bullet placement (3, 4). In this case, laceration of distance and number of casings, scene topography, and
the brainstem would have caused immediate incapaci- patterned injuries on the body that may correspond to
tation and likely dropped her to the ground (4). articles of clothing, evidence, or the surfaces at the
crime scene. Experience with gunshot wound trajecto-
Had the close range shot through the brain stem been ry analysis may be crucial in establishing a likely body
first, there would have been no need for the distant, position in cases where there are no witnesses or if there
nonfatal shot and her body position (left hand holding are conflicting witness statements about the death.
a purse over her right shoulder to “catch” the bullet)
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