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Double suicidal gunshot wounds to the heart

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Abstract

A case of double gunshot wounds to the heart is reported, where police investigations determined the manner of death to be suicide. In addition, the autopsy findings supported this conclusion. The localization, appearance, and mutual relations of the inflicted wounds, as well as the direction of the bullet trajectories, helped to determine the most probable sequence of events. The victim had been able to act after the first shot and inflict the second shot as the conduction system of the heart was at least partially preserved. Even when the circumstances indicate the most probable manner of death, multiple gunshot wounds represent a challenge for forensic pathologists; a victim’s ability to act after the first shot must be determined with respect to the degree of initial incapacitation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of education, science and technological development of the Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 45005.

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Science of Republic of Serbia, Grant No. 45005.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Belgrade – School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska str., Belgrade, 11000, Serbia

    Danica Cvetković, Vladimir Živković & Slobodan Nikolić

  2. County Hospital of the City of Novi Pazar, Novi Pazar, Serbia

    Fehim Juković

Authors
  1. Danica Cvetković
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  2. Vladimir Živković
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  3. Fehim Juković
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  4. Slobodan Nikolić
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Slobodan Nikolić.

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The authors hereby declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Cvetković, D., Živković, V., Juković, F. et al. Double suicidal gunshot wounds to the heart. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 14, 248–250 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-017-9939-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-017-9939-5

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