A Rare Case of an Intact Bone Plug Associated with a Gunshot Exit Wound

作者：Bird Cate E^*; Fleischman Julie M

来源：Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2015, 60(4): 1074-1077.

DOI：10.1111/1556-4029.12756

• forensic science
• forensic anthropology
• projectile trauma
• bone plug
• exit wound
• mass graves
• forensic archeology

This case study presents an unusual manifestation of gunshot trauma in skeletal tissue from a post-World War II human rights abuse sample uncovered in Vilnius, Lithuania. After briefly reviewing the typical wound appearance of projectile trauma in the cranium, we discuss the presence of an intact bone plug associated with a gunshot exit wound in an individual from the Tuskulenai Case. While this individual demonstrated typical gunshot entry and exit wounds to the cranium consistent with high-velocity trauma, the bone plug indicates that the projectile likely lost much of its kinetic energy while traveling through the cranium resulting in a low-velocity impact at the exit site. This study reviews a similar instance of a bone plug recovered from a bioarcheological sample in Peru and emphasizes the importance of thorough archeological excavations of mass graves.

• 出版日期2015-7
• 单位司法部司法鉴定科学技术研究所