An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon

Przemysław Pękala; Grzegorz Kiełbasa; Katarzyna Bogucka; Alina Cempa; Marta Olszewska; Tomasz Konopka

doi:10.5114/amsik.2014.50525

eISSN: 1689-1716
ISSN: 0324-8267

Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology

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4/2014
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abstract:

Original paper

An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon

Przemysław Pękala

,

Grzegorz Kiełbasa

,

Katarzyna Bogucka

,

Alina Cempa

,

Marta Olszewska

,

Tomasz Konopka

Arch Med Sąd Kryminol 2014; 64 (4): 199–211

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/amsik.2014.50525

Online publish date: 2015/03/31

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AMA

Pękala P, Kiełbasa G, Bogucka K, Cempa A, Olszewska M, Konopka T. An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon. Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology. 2014:199-211. doi:10.5114/amsik.2014.50525.

APA

Pękala, P., Kiełbasa, G., Bogucka, K., Cempa, A., Olszewska, M.,  & Konopka, T. (2014). An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon. Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, 199-211. https://doi.org/10.5114/amsik.2014.50525

Chicago

Pękala, Przemysław, Grzegorz Kiełbasa, Katarzyna Bogucka, Alina Cempa, Marta Olszewska,  and Tomasz Konopka. 2014. "An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon". Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology: 199-211. doi:10.5114/amsik.2014.50525.

Harvard

Pękala, P., Kiełbasa, G., Bogucka, K., Cempa, A., Olszewska, M.,  and Konopka, T. (2014). An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon. Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, pp.199-211. https://doi.org/10.5114/amsik.2014.50525

MLA

Pękala, Przemysław et al. "An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon." Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, 2014, pp. 199-211. doi:10.5114/amsik.2014.50525.

Vancouver

Pękala P, Kiełbasa G, Bogucka K, Cempa A, Olszewska M, Konopka T. An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon. Archiwum Medycyny Sądowej i  Kryminologii/Archives of Forensic Medicine and Criminology. 2014:199-211. doi:10.5114/amsik.2014.50525.

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The authors made an attempt to verify if a coconut can be used as a model of human skull to determine the homicide weapon. During our experiment 27 strike attempts were performed with the use of 9 different tools. Among them there were authentic murder weapons and instruments which had been used in similar experiments conducted on human skulls in 1955. Depending on the size of an area in contact with a coconut, weapons caused dents corresponding to the shape of a weapon, irregular fractures or long linear cracks. Our results have shown that coconut can be used as an inexpensive screening model of human skull, but only to determine fractures made by tools with small striking surface.

keywords:

An assessment of the usefulness of a coconut as a model of the human skull for forensic identification of a homicide weapon

Przemysław Pękala , Grzegorz Kiełbasa , Katarzyna Bogucka , Alina Cempa , Marta Olszewska , Tomasz Konopka

model of human skull, identification of weapon, homicide

Przemysław Pękala

,

Grzegorz Kiełbasa

,

Katarzyna Bogucka

,

Alina Cempa

,

Marta Olszewska

,

Tomasz Konopka