![handle is hein.journals/injlegame116 and id is 1 raw text is: *3
W. Marty T. Sigrist - D. Wyler
Determination of firing distance
using the rhodizonate staining technique
Received: 16 October 2000 / Accepted: 10 March 2001
Abstract The histological staining technique using rho-
dizonate is also effective for the determination of the fir-
ing distance by examining the distribution and intensity of
the staining reaction. The differentiation between absolute
close-range shots and long-range shots is generally possi-
ble without any doubt. The method is not recommended
for routine examinations but it is very useful for cases
lacking the possibility to investigate smoke and powder
deposits in a criminalistic manner, i.e. surgical skin biop-
sies of hospitalised victims and skin highly altered by the
effects of fire, water or by post-mortem decomposition.
Keywords Skin - Gunshot wound Firing distance-
Rhodizonate Histochemistry
Introduction
In modern forensic science, technical and immunohisto-
chemical surveys are more and more of prime importance
as publications of Stein et al. [11] or Ortmann et al. [8]
demonstrate. On the other hand further development of
proven methods with new applications make sense, for
example the modification of the Hauck procedure by
Suchenwirth in 1972 [12] for determination of the firing
distance by using the method of rhodizonate staining re-
action of particles of gunpowder. However, this procedure
fails with the absence of skin, as is frequently the case
W. Marty (®)
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Cantonal Hospital,
Loestrasse 170, 7000 Chur, Switzerland
e-mail: walter.marty@ksc.gr.ch,
Tel.: +41-81-2566568, Fax: +41-81-2566544
T. Sigrist
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Cantonal Hospital,
Rorschacherstrasse 95, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland
D. Wyler
Institute of Forensic Medicine, University,
Bfhlstrasse 20, 3000 Bern, Switzerland
with bodies damaged by fire, although deeper tissue lay-
ers, which may also contain traces of smoke and powder,
quite often are still present. The casting procedure de-
scribed above poses similar problems with bodies altered
by decomposition [1]. The same applies to drowned bod-
ies, where the outer skin layers have peeled off. It is true
that in a laboratory experimental environment [3] parti-
cles of smoke and powder were still detectable on altered
skin, however, our experience shows that these will not al-
low a legally sufficient assessment.
The detection of powder particles on histological tissue
sections with the rhodizonate staining technique is easy to
perform [6]. Rhodizonic acid (5,6-dihydroxy-5-cyclohex-
ene-1,2,3,4-tetraone) exists as needle-shaped crystals of a
dark orange colour and forms a sodium salt which reacts
with heavy metal ions (e.g. barium, antimony, lead, tin)
with a red precipitate. On histological tissue sections, Na-
rhodizonate reacts with heavy metal particles from the
primer by generating a finely granular scarlet red pattern
which can be assessed with sufficient certainty even under
a magnifying glass.
Materials and methods
Materials (weapons and ammunition)
The types of firearms and varieties of ammunition used are listed
in Tables 1 and 2.
The barrels, chambers, bolts and magazines were cleaned care-
fully with hot soapy water and pure benzine prior to the experi-
ments in order to remove potential impurities from previous shoot-
ing [14] and to avoid smearing of gun oils [4, 13], which - based
on our own findings - may produce rhodizonate-positive precipi-
tates due to additives containing heavy metals. Subsequently, prior
to firing on the skin samples, three shots were fired into the back-
stop in order to assure that the barrels were coated with smoke and
powder residues for the whole series of shots into the samples.
Then followed the actual firing onto skin samples stretched and
pinned to a synthetic backstop. Next, a 0.5 x 2.0 cm piece around
the impact hole was excised, fixed in formalin and embedded in
paraffin and then 3 sections were cut and stained with Na-rhodi-
zonate. Identical results are also obtained when using frozen sec-
tions.
Int J Legal Med (2002) 116 : 1-4
© Springer-Verlag 2002](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/injlegame116&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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