Unit 5 Forensic Science 1 Activity PDF

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Student name Anosha Zahid

Unit 5 Forensic Science 1 Activity Ballistics (Ongoing Activity) Your analysis of evidence from the crime scene revealed the following:  The gun found in Dr. Fisher’s hand is a Smith & Wesson.38 caliber revolver. It is

registered to Dr. Fisher, who owns it legally. Its cylinder holds five rounds, but one of the chambers is empty.  The spent shell casing in the room is from a.38 caliber bullet.  Dr. Fisher’s hands do not show any gunpowder residue, and there is no residue around the gunshot wound.  Bullet fragments were found deep in the wall about three feet from the floor. They are too deformed to analyze for markings. They appear to be from a.38 caliber bullet. I. Ballistics Evidence Report

Use the information above to answer the following. You may want to research online and use your findings to support your answers. 1. Your friend says the spent shell casing must have come from Dr. Fisher’s revolver

because the caliber sizes match. Is he right? Why or why not? (Hint: how do revolvers work?) (one to two sentences) No, he’s not right. The spent shell casing is not necessarily from Dr. Fisher’s revolver just because the caliber sizes match. There can be another gun with the same caliber size as Dr. Fisher’s revolver. Also, revolvers unlike other guns don’t leave shell casings they have to be manually removed because the casings remain in the cylinder after the gun is fired. Since the spent shell casing is not from Dr. Fisher’s revolver this would mean that there was another gun that left the shell casings.

2. What does the absence of gunpowder residue tell you about the shooting

distance? (one to two sentences) The absence of gunpowder residue tells us that the gun was fired at a further distance because if the gun was fired at a close distance it would leave traces of gunpowder residue on Dr. Fisher’s hands and wound. 3. What does the location of the bullet fragments tell you about the incident? (one to

two sentences) The location of the bullet fragments tells me two things about the incident that either the killer was mainly focused on the wall where the bullet fragments end or that the bullet shot at Dr. Fisher went through him and became embedded in the wall.

4. You look more closely at the gun. You notice that the empty chamber in the revolver’s cylinder is opposite from the firing pin rather than next to it. What might this indicate? (one to two sentences) This could indicate that Dr. Fisher could not have used the gun for suicide as we know that you have to manually empty the chamber in the revolver if he shot himself he would not have any time to empty the chamber in the revolver as he would have bled to death from his wound. This along with the fact that Dr. fisher’s revolver might not be the same gun used in the incident indicates that Dr. fisher did not kill himself because he could not manually empty the chamber in the revolver in time which means that there had to be someone else present during the time Dr. Fisher shot himself so that he could manually empty chamber in the revolver after the shot. 5. Based on your answers above, do you think this was a suicide or a homicide? Why? Describe in detail what you think happened. (At least four sentences)

I think this was a homicide. Suicide is not possible because there was no gunpowder residue on the gun and the wound. You have to manually empty the chamber in the revolver if Dr. fisher committed suicide he would not have any time to empty the chamber in the revolver as he would have bled to death from his wound which means there had to be someone else present during the time Dr. Fisher shot himself so that he could manually empty chamber in the revolver after the shot. Which means that the revolver found in Dr. Fisher’s had was placed there after somebody shot him to make the murder look like he committed suicide. This also means that the person who murdered Dr. Fisher must have known that Dr. Fisher owned a revolver and took advantage of it when he murdered Dr. Fisher and after he murdered him he placed the revolver in his hand to make it look like a suicide. II. Sketch the Scene 1. Refer to your photographs from earlier in the course. Using the photos and your answers above, sketch the scene as it might have appeared when Dr. Fisher was shot. Draw a possible trajectory of the bullet using a dotted line.

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