A 19-year-old male in military uniform was found in the dorsal decubitus position with both upper limbs on the sides of the body, in an open night scene. A weapon of military manufacture and use was identified on the left forearm: the Light Automatic Rifle - FAL, model PARA Nº 50-63, super-compact with folding stock and flame-retardant muzzle, calibre 7.62 x 51 mm NATO, velocity 810 m/s. The stock was found resting on the left hand (which was in a firing spasm) with the rifle in a position parallel to the body with the muzzle about 30 cm from the head, magazine and firing pin facing outwards. The scene and the victim's clothes were found without signs of violence. The deceased presented blunt injuries of a tearing type in his oral cavity, abundant epistaxis, otorrhagia and a large blood stain under his head.

Once the protocols for fixing the scene of the crime had been carried out, the body was turned to corroborate the existence of a presumed exit wound in relation to the large blood stain under the head, and a small circular wound with regular edges was identified at the cervical level. The presence of a cavity in the ground was found to correspond perfectly with the cranial cavity and a perforation in the ground in direct connection with the presumed exit wound. The probing of this perforation allowed us to establish its depth at about 20 cm with an angulation of the trajectory coinciding with that estimated between the buccal cavity and the cervical orifice, in a right-left, bottom-up direction. The excavation of this perforation favoured the recovery of the projectile, embedded in its depth.

During the autopsy procedure in the morgue and given the lesions of maxillofacial and maxillofacial involvement, the lesions were described as follows:
1. Large contused lesion in the oral cavity with periorificial tearing on both margins and stellate shape, with accentuated destruction towards the right side of the individual. Deposit of greyish-blackish pigments throughout the oral mucosal lining, more marked in the left jugal mucosa. A large tear was identified throughout the lingual body with identical presence of pigment. In the most posterior and left lateral sector at the level of the junction of the hard and soft palate and the isthmus of the fauces, a circular perforation of 1.5 cm in diameter and intense haemorrhage were observed. In terms of hard structures, maxillary and mandibular fractures were observed at the junction of the respective central and lateral incisors, with displacement and significant mobility of fracture ends towards the right side. No direct or indirect dentoperiodontal lesions were found in maxillary teeth. Regarding the mandibular teeth, the lower right central incisor was intact but avulsed and displaced towards the mandibular basal at the depth of the fracture line, while the lateral incisor on the same side showed a longitudinal amelo-cemento-dentine fracture with loss of substance. The missing tooth fragment was identified at the depth of the mandibular fracture line, on the same side as the avulsed central incisor.

2. Circular perforating lesion with regular borders, 1.5 cm in diameter, located in the midline slightly to the left at the posterior cervical level about 3 cm below the occipital eminence, partially hidden by the hair. Macroscopic examination verified the absence of metallic particles.

3. Passive probing of the trajectory established communication between the perforation described in the depth of the oral cavity, in the left posterior sector, with the orifice at cervical level, establishing a rectilinear direction slightly right-left, front-back, down-up, involving the musculature of the pharynx, the soft palate and the tongue. On examination, no metallic debris was identified along this path.
Given the atypical morphology of both orifices, a tongue wedge was obtained, fixed in 10% formalin and processed with the routine technique of paraffin embedding and haematoxylin-eosin staining at the Laboratorio de Pericias en Odontología Forense, Córdoba (Argentina). The identification of powder deflagration particles embedded between the lingual striated muscle bundles and the absence of these particles in the exit wound confirmed the oral cavity as the point of entry of the projectile.

Toxicological tests were negative for both alcohol and drugs. The absence of signs of a struggle (both at the scene and on the subject's clothing), the location and number of wounds, the direction and distance of the shot and the spasm in the left hand, compatible with the position of the weapon (reconstruction of the event was performed), all elements listed in the literature as characteristic of suicide [7, 8, 11], and the collection of personal information that revealed a recent history potentially indicative of self-harm, determined the medico-legal aetiology of suicide.