Daniel Caffell
The autopsy report states 5 entry gsw's and 2 exit gsw's. The report also states bullets recovered and a further bullet and fragments. Trial testimony also refers to 5 entry gsw's and 2 exit gsw's.
Nicholas Caffell
The autopsy report states 3 entry gsw's and 1 exit gsw. The report also states 2 bullets recovered and 1 not found probably because of fragmentation. To my mind this doesn't make sense. If 1 bullet exited then why the explanation as to why it wasn't found ie fragmentation? Trial testimony also refers to 3 entry gsw's and 1 exit gsw.
The samples list records 4 bullets recovered from Daniel and 2 from Nicholas. The casing layout diagram records 1 bullet.
- According to the pathology report and samples list Daniel sustained 5 entry gsw's and 2 exit wounds with 4 bullets recovered?
- According to pathology report and samples list Nicholas sustained 3 entry gsw's and 1 exit wound with 2 bullets recovered albeit the pathologist has put forward a reason for not finding the 3rd bullet?
Does anyone have any explanations for the anomalies above or have I misunderstood something?
- The casing layout diagram shows 1 bullet recovered. It also shows the reverse number of casings for each twin based on their gsw's ie Daniel sustained 5 gsw's but only 3 casings are shown in close proximity to his body and Nicholas sustained 3 gsw's with 5 casings in close proximity to his body. I assume this is based on the perps location when the firearm was discharged rather than the author of the diagram transposing the information incorrectly?
MF estimated the distance of shots as follows:
65. As regards the twins, four of the five injuries suffered by Daniel were caused when the gun was held within one foot of his head, the fifth was from over two feet away. The three wounds to Nicholas were contact or close proximity shots.Assuming the above is accurate it seems to me the perp was stood in between the single beds and inflicted the first gsw to the back of DC's head when the rifle was over two feet away. Maybe the perp then moved in closer to inflict the other 4 gsw's to DC's head when the rifle was within one foot. The pathologist seemed to think there wasn't much movement between the 4/5 gsw's suggesting they were inflicted in quick succession. Apparently the 4/5 gsw's produced an arc. It seems the perp might then have swung the rifle from left to right to inflict the 3 gsw's to NC's face. Thankfully it seems they were unaware.
DRH/16 - on floor between beds - (DC)
DRH/17 - on cabinet between beds - (DC)
DRH/18 - on bed near NC - (NC)
DRH/36 - (bullet) on floor near edge of DC's bed - (?)
DRH/37 - on bedside cabinet - (DC)
DRH/38 - under bed - (DC)
DRH/39 - under bed - (NC)
DRH/39 - under bed - (NC)
DRH/40 - under middle NC's bed - (DC)
If I am correct about the above then it seems casings DRH/18 and DRH/39 were prevented from travelling far due to the right angle of the walls. There doesn't seem to have been any ricochet.
Ballistics similarities between master bedroom and twins' bedroomAs DC and NC sustained exit wounds it isn't clear which wound bullet DRH/36 pertains to. However similar to bullet DRH/5 in the master bedroom it seems to have ricocheted back towards the perp. The velocity of the bullets used is 1040ft/s. A complete contrast with the casings which will have little energy. Although the casings do seems to roll/bounce on the floor. Hence 4 under the bed and 1 under the bedside cabinet in the twins' room. 3 casings were found under the wardrobe June's side of the bed.
A total of 8 casings found within twins' bedroom. 1 casing was found on the bed in the master bedroom June's side. 7 further casings found June's side of the bed on the floor. Bearing in mind the rifle ejects casings to the right, when I look at the 2 casing layout diagrams for master bedroom and twins' bedroom I see a contrast with casings spread around the bodies of DC and NC as opposed to a cluster which formed around June when she sustained her gsw's ie where are the casings from NB's side of the bed?
So it seems there were two exited bullets that ricocheted back towards the perp: DRH/5 and DRH/36. As I said the muzzle velocity of the bullets used is 1040 ft/s. I understand bullets are very hot when they leave the muzzle and can leave a powder tatoo:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1262834I assume this is true with entry and graze wounds.
All gsw's at WHF were inflicted at close range.
