Self inflicted shooting triggered by a cleaver

• Main Authors: Kunasilan Subramaniam, Chew Guan Sia, Chandroth Navin Pankajakshan, Vomanasri Krishnan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-12-01
• Series: Forensic Science International: Reports
• Subjects: Metal pipe; Suicide; Shotgun pellets
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910720300736

Cases that involve self –inflicted shootings are not uncommon, and in many cases the manner of death can be ascertained without much difficulty. However, if the firearm is not found at the scene, the task becomes an onerous one for both the investigators and pathologists alike. Such is the situation with the case in hand. The case being reported here is of a suicide in which a crude country-gun like apparatus was fashioned using a metal pipe to fit a shotgun cartridge. The deceased who was a 33 years old male was presumed to suffer from mental disorder, was found dead in his room. The complexity of this case was that no firearms were present, but among other objects that were found in the room included a metal pipe, a hammer, and a cleaver. Interestingly, the base of a shotgun cartridge was found to be insitu at the opening of the metal pipe which lead to a successful retrospective reconstruction of the rudimentary mechanism. The firing mechanism - to cause ignition if the primer within the cartridge was a simple yet ingenious method. The deceased had used the cleaver as to act as how a hammer within a shotgun would have. Suicide was later ascertained as the manner of death following post-mortem and ballistic examination.