Why wasn't crispy shot?

[Kaldin]

What residue should have been on her nightdress then, and where does it come from?

[Adam]

What residue should have been on her nightdress then, and where does it come from?

Firearm residue. From firing the rifle.

[Kaldin]

Firearm residue. From firing the rifle.

Which bit does the residue come from?

[Steve_uk]

Which bit does the residue come from?

From the discharge of the bullets I would have thought and the chemicals contained therein.

[Kaldin]

From the discharge of the bullets I would have thought and the chemicals contained therein.

Why would that be on her nightdress?

[Adam]

From the discharge of the bullets I would have thought and the chemicals contained therein.

Rifle shot discharge goes onto the clothes & hands. There was none on Sheila.

After 25 shots.

[Steve_uk]

Why would that be on her nightdress?

Because the particles blow backwards on discharge I would have thought, but maybe we'd better wait until the experts come online.

[Adam]

'Gunshot residue (GSR), also known as cartridge discharge residue (CDR), "gunfire residue" (GFR), or firearm discharge residue (FDR), is residue deposited on the hands and clothes of someone who discharges a firearm. It is principally composed of burnt and unburnt particles from the explosive primer, the propellant—and possibly fragments of the bullet, cartridge case, and the firearm.'

[David1819]

The nightdress must have had residue on it. There are photos of the gun laying on the nightdress.

There is to some extent.

"Area of gun residue from ejection port on LHS(left hand side) section on nightdress"

Malcom Fletchers notes 18th of September 1985

[lebaleb]

There is to some extent.

"Area of gun residue from ejection port on LHS(left hand side) section on nightdress"

Malcom Fletchers notes 18th of September 1985

Considering the proximity, there should have been some residue from the 2 shots that killed Sheila, regardless of who pulled the trigger. Clearly it was never properly tested.

[David1819]

Considering the proximity, there should have been some residue from the 2 shots that killed Sheila, regardless of who pulled the trigger. Clearly it was never properly tested.

.22 rim-fire ammunition does not use a conventional propellant that centre fire ammunition used rendering the tests useless. The American authorities never fully realised this until 1989 and got the manufactures to include the ingrediants that would work.

Here is part of page 208 of the book Forensic Science From the Crime Scene to the Crime Lab by RICHARD SAFERSTEIN, PH.D. Forensic Science Consultant, Mt. Laurel


However, hand swabbing or the application of an adhesive cannot be
used to detect firings of most .22-caliber rim-fire ammunition. Such ammunition’s
primer may contain only barium or neither barium nor antimony


Here is an extract of page 101 of Current methods in forensic gunshot residue analysis by
A. J. Schwoeble and David L. Exline forensic scientists at RJ Lee Group


The manufactures of Remington rimfire ammunition is ELEY LTD

[Kaldin]

So there was some residue on her nightdress. I've never read that before, I always thought there was none at all.

It seems the residue came from the cartridges being ejected when she was killed. Would there be residue from the ejection port if someone was shooting another person holding the rifle on the right side of their body - ie, if they're right handed?

[lookout]

Wasn't there " soot " on her hand ?

[Jane]

Wasn't there " soot " on her hand ?

Surely, had there been anything obvious on her hands, they wouldn't have been described as being clean?

[Adam]

Wasn't there " soot " on her hand ?

No.