The Characteristics of Head Wounds Inflicted by “Humane Killer” (Captive‐Bolt Gun)—A 15‐Year Study*

Abstract

The "humane killer" or captive-bolt gun, is the tool/weapon widely used in meat industry and private farmer households for slaughtering animal stock. Out of 17,250 autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Novi Sad during the 15-year period (1991-2005), 29 cases of suicides and two homicides were committed by captive-bolt pistols. Wounds inflicted by captive-bolt guns have specific morphological features, distinctive from wounds made by other kinds of hand firearms. Selected features of the captive-bolt wounds (punched round entrance and a double pattern of smoke soiling) depend on distance and angle of instrument at the time of firing. Autopsy findings were compared with an experimental model consisting of 20 domestic pigs. Obtained results confirmed that the appearance of the entrance hole and soot deposits, along with differences in shape, location, extent, and density of soot blackening, could be useful in identification of weapon, direction of discharge, shooting distance, and angle of the muzzle to the frontal and sagittal planes of the head at the moment of fire.

Secondary skull fractures in head wounds inflicted by captive bolt guns: autopsy findings and experimental simulation

“…In contrast to the German forensic literature, which is abundant in reports on fatalities caused by captive bolt guns [5, 7, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22-26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 47], only a few articles have been published on this topic in English-language journals or reference books [1,2,6,9,14,20,21,28,29,38,[44][45][46]. This is probably attributable to the spreading of captive bolt livestock stunners mainly in central Europe where their purchase is quite liberal so that they are available to a wide range of users not only in abattoirs and butcher's shops but also in private farmer households [9].…”

“…-An entrance hole at the site of penetration -Punched-out bone fragments from the cranial vault at the end of the wound channel and along the bolt's path -Bone fissures associated with the entrance hole (either radial or semicircular), mostly seen in angled shots [7,9,24,38] -Local bone destruction of the cranial basis if reached by the bolt (depending on its length, the entrance site and the direction of fire [45,46])…”

“…A review of the previous literature gives the impression that "no morphologic signs of indirect lesions away from the impact point, such as skull fractures, cortical contusions, or intracerebral haemorrhages" [38] have been observed up to now. Skull fractures found away from the wound channel in two recent fatalities from captive bolt humane killers induced us to reproduce the supposed indirect pressure effects in an experimental setup using simulants and a skull-brain model.…”

Lesiones intracraneales originadas con pistola de bala cautiva

“…Al final de este canal se encuentran siempre restos de piel, pelo y hueso 5,12,13 . El tamaño del mismo es siempre mayor al del perno debido al efecto de los proyectiles óseos 9 .…”

“…Esta situación obliga a una minuciosa limpieza de las heridas para intentar reducir el alto riesgo de desarrollar meningitis y/o cerebritis que empeorarían sin lugar a dudas el pronóstico a largo plazo. Es por tanto primordial desbridar todo el tejido desvitalizado con el objetivo de eliminar todo cuerpo extraño, y así disminuir el riesgo de posteriores infecciones 10,13 . Como en todos los traumatismos penetrantes, debe realizarse una profilaxis antibiótica empírica que incluya un antibiótico de amplio espectro y metronidazol, así como valorar la necesidad de llevar a cabo profilaxis de crisis precoces con tratamiento anticomicial 11,15 .…”