Cranial trauma in handgun executions: Circumferential delamination defect and its relationship with contact/close‐range shooting

Abstract

Skeletal evidence usually constitutes the only source of information to interpret lesionpatterns that help to clarify the circumstances surrounding death. The examinationand interpretation of bone trauma are essential to the application and utility ofanthropology as a forensic science. When discussing the effect of gunshot wounds inbone, it becomes imperative to differentiate between short and long-distanceinjuriesbased on clear, distinct, and observable signs. To contribute to the debate, our focusis directed toward the external analysis of the so-calledcircumferential delaminationdefect (CDD) as an observable proxy for close-rangeshooting (≤30 cm) and contactgunshot wounds in the skull. In the context of known extrajudicial killings, in which theperpetrators used short 9 × 19 FMJ ammunition in a close-rangeshooting, instancesof CDD have been documented. Empirical evidence reinforcing the causal relationshipbetween CDD and close-rangeshootings is presented. Elements’ characteristics offirearm residues were also found in remains buried for up to 30 years. Primarily, thiswork shows that the concentrations of gunshot residues (Pb, Ba, and Sb) resemblethose observed in fresh corpses with the same gunshot wound (GSW). Moreover, thecorrelation observed between CDD and gunshot residues, where the likelihood ofCDD increases the closer to the head and the more perpendicular the shot angle is, reinforcesCDD as a pivotal discriminatory factor in the skeletal evidence of short-rangeor contact shot. This research contributes to the field of forensic anthropology byproviding fundamental insights into the etiology of CDD and its practical application.