Sharp force trauma with two katana swords: identifying the murder weapon by comparing tool marks on the skull bone

• Published in: International journal of legal medicine Vol. 135; no. 1; pp. 313 - 322
• Main Authors: Weber, Matthias, Banaschak, Sibylle, Rothschild, Markus Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Case Report; Crime; Cross correlation; Forensic Medicine; Human tissues; Medical Law; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Murder; Murders & murder attempts; Optical microscopy; Skull; Weapons; Comparison microscope; Sharp force; Katana sword; Tool marks
• ISSN: 0937-9827; 1437-1596
• DOI: 10.1007/s00414-020-02372-3

This paper describes the variety of information that a tool mark analysis on human tissue can provide based on a case of multiple sharp violence. The perpetrator attacked the victim with a sharp-edged weapon against the head, leaving several deep wounds on the back of the skull bone. Three of those marks on the skull bone could be used for a forensic tool mark examination. Silicone casts of the marks were compared by light microscopy with casts of test marks of Japanese katana swords found at the crime scene. One of the swords could be identified as the one responsible for the marks. In addition, the marks and the test marks were scanned in 3D and examined in a visual on-screen comparison confirming the results from the light microscopic examination. Furthermore, a mathematical approach in which the signatures of the marks from the skull bone and the test marks from the sword were compared by cross correlation confirms those findings. In addition, the aforementioned results were used to determine the orientation of the sword in relation to the cranial bone at the time of the respective impact.