title: [Suicidal gunshot to the nape from a small-bore rifle].
abstract: A 55-year-old man was found dead on the bed lying on his side in a pool of blood with a bullet entrance hole in the nape. Behind his body, a semi-automatic rifle Remington Nylon, cal. .22 LR, was detected. As the gunshot entrance site was rather unusual for suicide, a forensic autopsy was performed, which showed a contact shot to the nape with the bullet path running upward to the left frontal area. The man had been treated with citalopram for delusional depression, so that a suicidal act seemed plausible, and the autopsy and criminalistic findings were also compatible with this assumption. A remarkable fact of the present case is that a long firearm had been used. Reports on suicidal shots to the nape are comparatively rare in the medicolegal literature and usually refer to pistols or revolvers.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
authors.forename: Sybille
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lüderwald
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mützel
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Graw
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eisenmenger
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Peschel
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D044709:Forensic Ballistics; D020197:Head Injuries, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000473:pathology; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*