An unusual case of crossbow homicide
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CASE REPORT
An unusual case of crossbow homicide C. Pomara Æ S. D’Errico Æ M. Neri
Accepted: 2 October 2006 / Published online: 9 May 2007 Humana Press Inc. 2007
Abstract The authors report the case of a man found unresponsive in a wooded area with injuries on the face, eyes, shoulders and back, probably produced by caustic agents. A penetrating wound was noted in the left occipital region. Four days after admission to an Intensive Care Unit he died. No weapon was found at the crime scene. Autopsy revealed an occipital bone defect in the wound area, and cerebral haemorrhage in the left hemisphere in the absence of an exit wound. Immunohistochemical staining of brain samples for b-APP were critical establishing the extent of the injury. The peculiarity of the wound and the lack of circumstantial evidence made it necessary to conduct a careful investigation to identify the weapon. Firing tests performed on experimental cranial models established the use of a crossbow weapon as a cause of the observed wound.
Sometimes the features of the external injuries alone can’t pinpoint the responsible weapon since different types of weapons with distinct damaging mechanisms, such as gunshots, crossbows, slaughtering pistols, spear guns etc. could produce the same type of external wound [1, 4]. Thus, when no weapon is found in the crime scene, caution must be exercised by forensic pathologists in the evaluation of injuries [1–3]. This report describes the case of a homicide due to cranial injuries caused by a penetrating lesion. The absence of any evidence at the crime scene, the peculiarity of wounds and the other circumstantial evidences made necessary careful investigations in order to identify the weapon. Firing tests were performed on experimental cranial models to compare two hypothetical weapons capable of producing wounds compatible with the postmortem findings.
Keywords Forensic pathology Homicide Crossbow Captive bolt pistol Case report Introduction Crossbow injuries are rarely reported events. Fatal cases are more often suicidal or accidental, while only few homicides have been described using this weapon [1, 2]. Entrance wounds from a field-tipped arrow are often nearly indistinguishable from gunshot wounds [3–5].
C. Pomara (&) S. D’Errico M. Neri Department of Forensic Pathology, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Foggia, Ospedali Riuniti, Via L. Pinto, no 1, 71100 Foggia, Italy e-mail: [email protected]
A 52-year-old Caucasian farmer was found unresponsive in a wooded area of the Tuscan countryside and immediately recovered in the Intensive Care Unit of the local hospital. Family reported that the subject had been missing from his home for 2 days. Caustic injuries on the face, eyes, shoulders, and back were observed. A penetrating circular wound in the left occipital region was also detected (Fig. 1). A cranium CT showed a large haemorrhagic area (25–30 cm) in the left temporal lobe and hemoventricle. Radiological evidence of trunk compression with obliteration of the pons-mesenc
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