MENTAL GYMNASTICS #2

P

pluspinc

Moderator
Police arrive at the sleezy hotel room. Door is locked. They have to force it and break the lock to get in.
A man is in his bed and dead from a gunshot wound to the front forehead. The wound shows contact with an obvious gas burn etc. There is an empty 9mm casing near the bed. It is on a upper floor with no way in but the door the officers entered. They can't find the gun. A search is made and it is found across the room BEHIND a heating radiator.
Suicide or murder? Actual case.
 
The Iceman did it & then melted. ;) Clear cut case of murder.

While interesting, the scenarios you present leave out much of what a person on-scene would have as evidence to arrive at conclusions.

As in the last "shotgun murder," the absense of pellets from a shotgun blast and the inserts themselves (he picked up the empties) in his pocket/s, are pretty big clues as to what happened.

If there were pellets in the victim & regular shotshell casings in pockets, the excericise would be more more challenging, no?

As in the case presented above, the angle of bullet path, victim right or left handed, how far away is "across the room," and was the pistol found a 9MM (which matches the found casing), recovered bullet matching either, etc. all have bearing on what conclusion could be reached.

I find it hard to fathom that an ME-type couldn't figure out the "shotgun murder" if he actually had the (all) evidence.

As in this case, I suspect the pistol, bullet and/or casing don't match as to caliber/later forensics.

If they don't = murder & the perp locked the door on the way out.

If they do, suicide & the neural reflexes from shot caused the guy to "pitch the pistol" as a result of bullet impact.

Or, the Iceman. ;)
 
I'll agree with labgrade on this. Pistol was "pitched" from a combination of neural reflex and recoil.

OTOH, you say there is only one way in the room, which doesn't preclude the possibility of a window a perp could have jumped out of...

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"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
 
With the info given this could be one of many Scenarios. A B/G simply shoots the D/G, drops the gun behind the heat radiator, then leaves, locking the door behind him. labgrade's suicide theory works also.

In your previous clerk mystery, with the info given, TheBluesMan's theory works also. You didn't state that the four handgun round wounds were fresh, or that they were or were not the cause of death.

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bullet placement is gun control
 
Only so much room for details. In the shotgun case there would be no pellets in the body, which would support he didn't do it. The fellow may or may not have the evidence on him as it would be easy to ditch the inserts within minutes of leaving which would get rid of the casings and inserts such as in a drain or dumpster etc.
As for the hotel room, most require being locked fron INSIDE. In the real world the chances of getting a useable fingerprint off of the gun would be impossible. Mostly happens in movies.
Being a hotel room there would be ample evidence of "others" remaining from previous guests.
Autopsy would show if the person was even alive or awake when shot. The hotel case is based on an actual case I ran into while a news photographer. Had everyone stumped.
One thing made it pretty obvious once they saw a single piece of evidence. The gun was a 9mm Luger with a 4 inch barrel. Above the radiator was a triangular shaped indentation about 4 or 5 feet above the radiator. Just above the triangle was a series of marks that sort of looked like "11111" about the size of a dime.
I will considered it solved as it was a reflexive reaction which can happen when the gun is turned on the head with the thumb in the trigger guard. Upon the impact of the slug the forward pitch of the arms could (not always) send the gun flying. It hit toggle first above the radiator leaving the marks and fell downward. The also found paint from the wall on the toggle and some on the gun from impact with the metal radiator as it fell downward. Yup. A suicide. Anyone weant a third? The body in the trunk of the cadillac with the gun? It was a suicide or was it? The car had a heavy continental kit on the back and couldn't be closed except from the OUTSIDE. I'll include more details.
 
I'm game - give us the rest of the details.

------------------
"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
 
Sure, +P. Start a new one = III so we don't get it lost is this thread.

Uhm, I'd hate to see this get "lost" but doesn't it kinda belong in General?

Still trying to find the Political angle. Thought some of the left out clues were perhaps related to campaign finance. ;)
 
When I was kid, my parents watched Murder She Wrote religiously. Don't ask me why. Anyway, one time there was a case where a guy seemed like a perfect suicide candidate but his family would get no insurance money from suicide, and the cops didn't find the gun. Everybody was stumped until the old lady told them to look at the bottom of the old abandoned dumbwaiter shaft. Sure enough, there was the gun, matching ballistics. How did it get there?

(Hint: It was NOT thrown, pitched, or otherwise by the victim and no one was with him, nor did anyone enter the room until the old lady found him and no gun.)
 
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