Autopsy Features Relevant for Discrimination Between Suicidal and Homicidal Gunshot Injuries

A total of 624 consecutive gunshot autopsies from the Institutes of Legal Medicine in Munster & Hamburg were investigated retrospectively. In a subsample of 284 suicides & 293 homicides, a large variety of features such as firearm, ammunition, number & site of entrance wounds, shooting distance, & direction of the internal bullet path were recorded & binary logistic regression analysis performed in the case of bullet paths. Isolated autopsy findings can only be indicative of suicide or homicide but the combined analysis of several findings can be associated with a high probability. (50 refs.) JA