From: jagst18+@pitt.edu (Josh A Grossman)
Subject: Re: WACO burning
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Lines: 26

In article <C5v9Du.D76@acsu.buffalo.edu> v111qheg@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (P.VASILION) writes:
>Not necessarily. If the body had been denatured (cooked) or dehydrated due
>to the heat, a projectile needs only a minimal kinetic force to penetrate.
>In fire aftermaths, bodies tend to fall apart or loose large chunks of
>meat with little effort. Medical Examiners tend not to like cleaning up
>such scenes. 
>
>As such, if the body had been suitably cooked, a bullet comming from a
>magazine explosion would more than likely have enough force to enter and
>thus it would be difficult to determine whether a bullet entered at the
>time of death, or much later, unless you were trained to look for the
>evidence. Texas Rangers are not pathologists. 
>
>P.Vasilion

This is quite corect, but a bullet hitting a burned body with little energy
will show virtually no deformation, ie a hollow point probably would not
expand, an FMJ would be "pristene".  Also the bullets will not be marked
with the lands ang grooves of a barrel, because they didn't come out of
one.  A good pathologist should be able to notice this right away.

Let us hope that the  ME's that handle these bodies are more competent
then the ones who did JFK's body.

JAG

