NCJ Number
93654
Date Published
1983
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The author describes the chemical composition and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of bullets, as well as the uses of such information in famous murder cases, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the l974 Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) shootout with the Los Angeles police.
Abstract
If a bullet is recovered in fairly good condition, it can be identified by matching tool marks on the bullet surface with characteristics of the gun barrel from which it was fired. When the bullet is fragmented or deformed, elemental analysis of the fragments and of the bullet portion of unfired cartridges associated with a particular suspect can usually establish whether the bullet was produced from the same homogeneous batch of bullet lead as the bullet associated with the suspect. The paper describes the manufacture of bullet leads, with attention to the percentage and type of lead, melting procedures, weight, jacketing, and composition of the gunpowder used. It then explains the INAA technique used by the FBI and other law enforcement laboratories to analyze bullet-lead specimens. The author tells how his laboratory used INAA to show that SLA leader Donald DeFreeze did not commit suicide, but instead was killed by a nonregulation, military surplus bullet used by a SWAT team member. The author also used INAA on fragments found in the body of Argentine heavyweight boxer Oscar Bonavena when he was shot and killed in l976. The results implicated the bodyguard. Finally, INAA of bullets recovered from President Kennedy and Governor Connally showed that if other persons were firing, they did not hit anyone or anything in the President's limousine. Diagrams and l3 references are included.