A few more statistics for you Ralphie....

Hi Ralphie, I bet you've been having a lot of fun today snickering and picking your nose. Here's some stuff for ya.

Suicidal Gunshot Wounds to the Head: A Retrospective Review of 406 Cases
Blumenthal, Ryan MBChB (Pret), MMed (Med Forens) Pret, FC For Path (SA), Dip For Med (SA)
AbstractA retrospective review of 406 suicidal gunshot wounds to the head, investigated at the Medico-Legal Laboratory of Pretoria, between 1997 and 2000 was performed. Fifty-seven percent of fatal suicidal firearm injury to the head occurred in the 21- to 40-year age range in both male and female victims. Eighty-two percent of all these victims of suicidal firearm fatalities to the head were male. Of the 406 cases, 63% were white, 31% were black, and 6% were of mixed ethnic and/or Asian decent. There was a slight increase in incidence around spring and autumn. Handguns were used in the majority of cases with shoulder weapons being used in 18 of the 406 cases. Ninety-two percent of the suicidal gunshot wounds to the head occurred indoors. A positive blood alcohol concentration was seen in 40% of cases. Of those examined, 81% were contact gunshot wounds. The trajectory was upward in 51% of cases and horizontal in 24% of cases. The right temple was the most common entrance gunshot wound site. Findings are in keeping with previously published literature.
© 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Lots of stuff in there for you Ralphie but I thought you'd particularly like that upward and horizontal trajectory information because it puts Robin Bain's suicide in a 'healthy' 75% parameter. It kind of makes that nonsense about him praying when he got shot look ridiculous doesn't it Ralphie? If you read up on these things suicidees usually open their clothes for body shots rather than shooting through their clothes and the same goes for hats and beanies and we know old daddy lifted his beanie don't we Ralphie?

Forensic Science International
Volume 147, Supplement , Pages S37-S40, 17 January 2005
.Gunshot fatalities: suicide, homicide or accident?
A series of 48 cases
L. Desinan
AffiliationsCorresponding author. Fax: +39 0432 504649.
, G.M. Mazzolo
published online 02 November 2004.

Abstract Full Text PDFReferences .Abstract
Cases at study comprise 48 gunshot fatalities (33 suicides—29 males and 4 females; 12 homicides—8 males and 4 females; 3 uncertain cases—3 males), examined from 1992 to 2002. The age range of suicides is 22–96 years, mean 58.8 years. In 16 cases the age was upper 65. Scene of death was at home in 27 cases (of which 6 on bed), in a car in 2 cases and in an open place in 4 cases. Uncertain cases happened during hunting. The implements used in suicides were shotgun in 14 cases, rifles in 7, handguns in 11 and a humane veterinary killer in 1. In suicides single entrance wounds were found, apart 1 case with two entrance wounds. A script manifesting suicidal intent was present in 6 cases. Homicides showed both single and multiple entrance wounds: in the cases of multiple entrance wounds, no sign of contact/near contact injuries were seen. In 4 cases, bodies were hidden.

Keywords: Gunshot wounds, Homicide, Suicide, Accidental death

Among other things is the average age of those that commit suicide Ralph, and old Robin fell right within that group as well.

Influence of ballistic and autopsy parameters on the manner of death in case of long firearms fatalities
Geoffroy Lorin de la Grandmaison
AffiliationsDepartment of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Raymond Poincaré Hospital, AP-HP, 104 Boulevard Raymond Poincaré, 92380 Garches, FranceCorresponding author. Tel.: +33 1 47 10 76 84; fax: +33 1 47 10 76 83.
, Christophe Fermanian
, Michel Durigon
AffiliationsDepartment of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Raymond Poincaré Hospital, AP-HP, 104 Boulevard Raymond Poincaré, 92380 Garches, France
Received 28 March 2007; received in revised form 12 October 2007; accepted 4 January 2008. published online 18 February 2008.

Abstract Full Text PDFImages References .Abstract
A retrospective study was carried out on 132 fatalities due to gunshot wounds secondary to long firearms. One group of suicide (n=72) and one group of homicide (n=60) were statistically compared regarding age and sex of the victim, number of shots, range of fire, direction of the projectile(s), anatomical distribution of entrance sites, weapon and ammunition types and the nature of eventual associated traumatic lesions. The frequency of suicide was higher when the victim's age increased. Females constituted about 43% of the homicide victims and about 8% of the suicide victims. 51.5% of the homicide victims and about 10% of the suicide victims had sustained more than one gunshot wound. Close range was respectively found in 53.5% of the homicide cases and in all suicide cases. Most of the suicide cases (85% of the cases) showed typical entrance sites. Entrance sites in the limbs and lateral or posterior wall of the chest were only encountered in homicide cases. Associated traumatic lesions were found in about 23% of the homicide cases and in 18% of the suicide cases. In case of suicidal gunshots to the left chest, both upwards and downwards directions, and also both right-to-left and left-to-right directions can occur. From 22 suicide cases showing entrance wound in the mouth, a downwards direction was found in only one. This study underlines the importance but also the limits of the autopsy findings (including direction of the projectile(s) related to the entrance site) for giving an indication of the manner of death (homicide vs. suicide).

Keywords: Firearms, Long guns, Suicide, Homicide

Lot to read there Ralphie but it says that all the close range shots- just like Robins, were suicide and I guess you could expect that because people don't sit passively when they're being murdered, even if they were praying. They would tend to do a runner Ralphie, hit the toe, duck, dive scream out, not be passive and lifting their beanie while a gunman crawled a long the floor to get an upward trajectory shot - to conveniently make the statistics right. A freaked out young man wouldn't do that would he Ralphie, because he wouldn't think of it or even know all these statistics from around the world.

Abstract
A total of 624 consecutive gunshot autopsies from the Institutes of Legal Medicine in Münster and Hamburg was investigated retrospectively. In a subsample of 284 suicides and 293 homicides (n=577), a large variety of features such as firearm, ammunition, number and site of entrance wounds, shooting distance and direction of the internal bullet path were recorded and binary logistic regression analysis performed in the case of bullet paths. Females constituted 26.3% of the homicide victims and 10.6% of the suicides. Short-barrelled firearms outnumbered long arms in homicides by 6:1 and in suicides by 2:1. More than 1 gunshot injury was found in 5.6% of the suicides (maximum 5 gunshots) and in 53.9% of the homicides (maximum 23 gunshots). The suicidal gunshots were fired from contact or near contact range in 89% while this was the case in only 7.5% of the homicides. The typical entrance wound sites in suicides were the temple (36%), mouth (20%), forehead (11%) and left chest (15%) but uncommon entrance wound sites such as the eye, ear, and back of the neck and head were also encountered. In suicidal gunshots to the right temple (n=107), only 6% of the bullet paths were directed downwards and only 4% were directed from back-to-front. In gunshots to the left chest (n=130), bullet paths running right-to-left or parallel occurred frequently in suicides (75%) and infrequently in homicide victims (19%). From 61 suicides who fired the gun inside their mouth, only 1 pointed the gun downwards. Consequently, some bullet path directions cannot be considered indicative of suicide: downwards and back-to-front in gunshots to the temple, left-to-right in gunshots to the left chest and downwards in mouth shots. The isolated autopsy findings can only be indicative of suicide or homicide but the combined analysis of several findings can be associated with a high probability.

Direction, site and the muzzle target distance of bullet in the head and neck at close range as an indication of suicide or homicide

A little bit more there Ralphie to help you deal with the close contact situation that the Crown, and you, tried to play down.


Tasana Suwanjuthaa

aInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Police Department, Bangkok, Thailand


Available online 22 March 2004.

Abstract
Direction, site and muzzle target distance can indicate suicide or homicide. This conclusion can be drawn from autopsies of 57 cases of suicide and 68 cases of homicide by handgun fired at close range to the head and neck together with going to the crimescene in some cases. This study was carried out in Bangkok during the period from January 1983 to January 1986. In order to determine whether it was suicide or homicide, the path of the bullet, the site, the muzzle target distance must be considered. The angle of the bullet would be either elevated (from below upward), horizontal or an angle of depression (from above downward). For suicide, the direction of the bullet should be at an angle of elevation in the majority of cases. The position of the handgun in relation to the head in suicide was most often in tight contact and near contact. For homicide, the direction of the bullet should be horizontal in most cases. The bullet was at close range in the majority of the cases. There are 8 common sites for suicide and homicide and 10 different sites in the case of homicide which are at neck, left cheek, left aural region, lip, left occipital area orbit, chin, left eyebrow, submental and nose.

Keywords: Pathology and biology; Gunshot wound; Manner of death

This paper was presented at The Second Indo-Pacific Congress on Legal Medicine and Forensic Science in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1986.

I hope you're starting to get the picture now Ralph why David should never have been charged and that's even before getting all that pesky forensic evidence against Robin, the spatter on him, but it was the bloodied and bruised hands that was the real give away in the beginning before forensic reports were established. A man that is passively murdered doesn't have bloodied and battered hands, or no underwear, a full bladder, and forget to put the porridge on.