A novel application of time since-the latest discharge of a shotgun in a suspect murder

The recently developed method for the determination of time since the lates t discharge of a shotgun was applied to an unusual murder case. A man was k illed by two shots from a shotgun, but the suspect maintained that he kille d the man unintentionally and in self-defense, by shooting one shot from ea ch of the barrels of a double-barreled shotgun at the same time. The labora tory investigation revealed that only one of the barrels was fired the last time the gun had been used. As the victim was hit by two shots, the conclu sion was that both shots were fired from the same barrel, which means that the suspect had to reload his weapon between firings. The suspect was conse quently charged with murder.