Early post-mortem animal bites after suicidal gunshot wound to the head of a police dog handler
Rupp, W.R.; Eusemann, J.; Faller-Marquardt, M.
Archiv für Kriminologie 207(3-4): 73-80
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9225 PMID: 11414117 Document Number: 528159
A 41-year-old police officer committed suicide in his office by firing a contact shot to the left temple. When the body was found 12 hours later, the German shepherd dog the officer had been in charge of had caused considerable damage on the lower half of the face and the adjacent parts of the neck. The clothing of the suicide was undamaged. Blood traces in the shape of paws were found at the place of death. The wound margins of the postmortem animal injury were nicked and jagged by the canine teeth. The entrance and exit wounds were not affected by the soft tissue defect. The findings gathered are discussed in reference to the relevant literature.