Forensic Science International
Volume 194, Issue 1 , Pages 72-76, 30 January 2010

The influence of a possible contamination of the victim's clothing by gunpowder residue on the estimation of shooting distance

  • Asya Vinokurov

      Affiliations

    • Division of Identification and Forensic Science (DIFS), Israel Police National Headquarters, Jerusalem 91906, Israel
    • ,
  • Avraham Zelkowicz

      Affiliations

    • Division of Identification and Forensic Science (DIFS), Israel Police National Headquarters, Jerusalem 91906, Israel
    • ,
  • Ehud (Udi) Wolf

      Affiliations

    • Division of Identification and Forensic Science (DIFS), Israel Police National Headquarters, Jerusalem 91906, Israel
    • ,
  • Arie Zeichner

      Affiliations

    • Forensic Science Consultant, Nof Harim 19 B, Jerusalem 96190, Israel
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author.

Received 2 June 2009; received in revised form 30 September 2009; accepted 9 October 2009. published online 18 November 2009.

Abstract 

A study was conducted to assess the influence of a possible contamination of the victim's clothing by gunpowder residue on the estimation of shooting distance. The study was focused on the scenario in which the contamination might be caused by the surface on which the shot victim could fall. Contamination of two types of textile was examined after contact with two types of surfaces. One round was fired above those surfaces (the line of firing parallel to the surface) prior to the contact. It was found that few gunpowder residue particles could be transferred to the clothing. These findings should be taken into account when interpreting results for shooting distance estimation in cases when a minute quantity of gunpowder residue particles is found around the bullet entrance hole.

Keywords: Forensic science, Shooting distance, Gunpowder residue, Total nitrite, FDR, Contamination

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PII: S0379-0738(09)00422-8

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.10.011

Forensic Science International
Volume 194, Issue 1 , Pages 72-76, 30 January 2010

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