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A case of hunting death due to an overpenetrated bullet

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Abstract

The authors report the case of a death which occurred during wild boar hunting. The scene details revealed that the victim and the beast were aligned in the visual shooting path and the victim had been struck by overpenetrating bullet shot by his friend on the neighbouring stand. The fatal entrance wound was on the victim’s left chest. The authors emphasise the importance of the exhaustive forensic investigation, including autopsy of the beast, in cases like this, in order to distinguish accident from homicide.

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Acknowledgements

The investigative assistance of Martino Farneti and Stefano Hani has been greatly appreciated. We are grateful to dr. Francesco Ausania and dr. Massimo Senati for the study of the Italian hunting rules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University “Sacro Cuore”, L.go Francesco Vito, 1, (00168), Rome, Italy

    Fidelia Cascini, Antonio Oliva & Daniela Marchetti

  2. Institute of Radiology, Catholic University “Sacro Cuore”, L.go Francesco Vito, 1, (00168), Rome, Italy

    Tommaso Tartaglione

Authors
  1. Fidelia Cascini
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  2. Tommaso Tartaglione
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  3. Antonio Oliva
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  4. Daniela Marchetti
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Correspondence to Fidelia Cascini.

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Cascini, F., Tartaglione, T., Oliva, A. et al. A case of hunting death due to an overpenetrated bullet. Int J Legal Med 123, 151–153 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-008-0270-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-008-0270-2

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