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Figure 9.1 In this case, a young male's deceased body was found in his vehicle, engine on, in an open field, with a single fatal gunshot wound to the head. A 20-gauge shotgun was found across his lap, pointing toward a broken window with a round hole in it. However, an expended shotgun shell was found outside the broken window on the ground along with several cigarette butts. Furthermore, there was no brain, blood, or hair material inside or outside the shotgun barrel or on the victim's hands and wrists. Also, there was brain and bone material on the stock of the shotgun in such a manner as to suggest that it was delivered to that surface in situ. Add to this the fact that the victim's truck had suffered new damage to the front end, as though it had struck something, and was still leaking radiator fluid when discovered by authorities. The inescapable conclusion is that the decedent could not have fired the shotgun without some resulting transfer nor could he leave behind a spent shell to be discovered outside of the vehicle. This case was closed as a suicide, the cigarettes were not collected, and the body was cremated without autopsy.
Figure 9.2 This cylinder was reloaded incorrectly by the perpetrator when he was staging a suicide. The pen marks the casing under the hammer, and the direction of rotation is indicated by the arrow. In this case, the cylinder was marked with an indelible marker prior to picking up the gun.
Figure 9.3 Female victim's nude body found on a steep riverbank. Law enforcement crime scene investigators and detectives insisted that the victim was rolled down the hill from the road above. Note the drag trail in the vegetation leading up from the water below and the victim's outstretched arms. Upon close analysis, duckweed from the river was identified on the victim's body.
Figure 9.4 This woman was shot “by a burglar while she slept” claimed the husband. Note that the blood is running toward her feet, not the bed. The husband was convicted of homicide.
Figure 9.5 Small person falling face down; note the hair. [Thanks to Julia and Kyra Chisum (the author's granddaughters) for assisting in illustrating the manner in which hair can be used to reconstruct activities.]
Figure 9.6 Note how the hair flairs out when a person with long hair falls to the ground.
Figure 9.7 The hair does not flair out as much on a small child.
Figure 9.8 When a person is dragged by the feet, her hair will trail pointing back to where she started. Note how the shirt has been pulled up due to friction.
Figure 9.9 The person was dragged by her arms and then was laid down and her arms put by her sides. Note the puffed up hair that was trapped by the head. The pants (not shown) will be pulled down at the waist due to friction.
Figure 9.10 The hair shows that the person was rolled from her side or stomach onto her back over her right (the side with the hair) side.
