Adli Tıp Dergisi, cilt.24, sa.3, ss.37-45, 2010 (Hakemli Dergi)
In criminal cases, the biological residues on bullets
should be examined. In many
cases, they may constitute a
precious evidence. The aim of
this study is to show how it is
possible to gather evidence
from biological residues. In
order to achieve this purpose,
we planned to fire test shots
at animal tissues and examine the bullets for residues
belonging to the target.
50 test shots were fired with
a 7.65 mm semi-automatic
pistol. In some of these test
shots, calf spleens were
used as targets. The bullets
obtained were coded. Subsequently, the bullets were
examined without knowledge
of whether they had hit the
mark or not. The aim was
to correctly guess those that
had hit the mark. To this
end, a commercial kit named
Bluestar, which is a Luminol
derivative, was used.
After the application of Luminol, all the bullets showed
blue luminescence in a dark
environment. False positivities could have resulted from
gunpowder remnants or the
metal of the bullet. In order
to eliminate the false positivities, the study should be
repeated with equipment capable of measuring the emission intensity and spectrum
of Luminol or with tests other
than the Luminol test.