Ukraine minister 'killed himself' (shot himself in the head twice)

BBC ^ | March 31, 2005

[chemical_boy]

Ukraine's security service chief has said the death of former Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko last month was almost certainly suicide.

"There is no other version but suicide," Oleksander Turchynov said, citing forensic and ballistics tests.

Kravchenko was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the head on 4 March in his country house outside Kiev.

He was due to testify later that day about the high-profile murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000.

Mr Turchynov said among possible reasons of Kravchenko's apparent suicide was the "burden (of the Gongadze case) he hauled for the past four years".

Kravchenko left a suicide note blaming former President Leonid Kuchma for Gongadze's death, Ukraine's investigators say.

They say in the note he described himself as "a victim of the intrigues of Kuchma and his entourage".

[Drew68]

In all seriousness, multiple gunshot suicides while rare are not unheard of in the annals of forensic pathology.

[tang-soo]

Kravchenko left a suicide note blaming former President Leonid Kuchma for Gongadze's death, Ukraine's investigators say.

Was the suicide torn into 23 peices?

Was the suicide note found in an otherwise empty briefcase a day after the case was inspected by an investigator and at that time found to be empty?

Did the suicide note not have any fingerpints on it?

Was the suicide written by hand in a manner that would lead a worldwide recognized expert testify that "not only was it a forgery, but a bad one at that"?

Was the scraps of the note missing a piece that when reconstructed would be where a signature would normally be found? ie more difficulty to forge.

Did the supposed author of the note somehow manage to pull the trigger a second time after shooting himself in the head?

Did the supposed author of the note have a coworker and supposed friend show up the night of the death to his home and visit his wife? And at the same time present the gun used which was later proven to be a lie?

I could go on with twice this much, but if you've hung around here for a while, you get the point.

[FreedomCalls]

Actually I read another article that explained it better. The first shot was under the chin shooting upward. It broke his jaw and exited out under his nose making a bloody mess, leaving him highly messed up but still very much alive. It took another shot to finish it.

[reagan_fanatic]

Should've jumped from the roof of a 10 story building. That pretty much eliminates the possibility of having to do it over.

[chemical_boy]

Do you have a link for the better article?

[b4its2late]

Shot himself twice huh? That's got to be some kind of record outside of Arkansas.

[Graycliff]

Naaa, Nicky last week Nicky too two behind the ear, he didn't say nutin.

[Graycliff]

To the head?

[FreedomCalls]

I'll look around.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"Ukraine minister 'killed himself' (shot himself in the head twice)"

Well, Meriweather Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) committed sucide down on the Natchez Trace by shooting himself in the head twice. He did so with just one muzzleloading flintlock pistol, and he had to reload to get the job done right on the second try.

[chemical_boy]

Never mind I found the interfax Article, stupid BBC

[FreedomCalls]

Google News still has many articles describing how he shot himself in the chin (and out the mounth/nose) first then the temple.


http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=Kravchenko+chin&btnG=Search+News

[Zacs Mom]

I wondered about that. I remember years ago Johnny Carson had a woman on who, in an attempted suicide, had shot herself in the head TWICE! She said both times the bullet grazed her skull and veered off and that her husband, awakened by the gun shots stopped her from taking the third shot. (she was either pretty darned hardheaded or just a really, really bad shot)

The way this version was worded reminded me of a TV news reporter who (while trying to gain access to my yard so he could film the "happenings" next door) advised me that he and the police were there because "there is a body cemented into the foundation of the house next door" to mine.

"Really?" says I.

"Oh yeah!" says he "The police aren't sure yet if it is a murder or a suicide!" he added knowingly.

[FreedomCalls]

Here's the details:

Two bullet wounds were found on the body of Yurij Kravchenko. First one: entrance into the chin region, output - mouth-nose. Second one: entrance - right temple, output - parietal-cervical part according to a well-informed source in law enforcement.

According to unconfirmed data a CZ brand pistol was found near the body of the ex-minister. According to another source, it was a "Beretta".

[untrained skeptic]

"Maybe he used the ubiquitous, yet underpowered Makarov pistol? Perhaps he should have used Corbon ammo rather than FMJ?"

Makarovs aren't underpowered with proper shot placement, and with a suicide proper shot placement shouldn't be a problem.

If the normally free-floating firing pin on a Makarov wasn't floating freely due to improper maintence, it's possible that the gun would slam fire after the first shot and empty it's magazine in full auto fashion.

In that case it's possible that only the first two rounds made contact before the recoil caused the remaining rounds to miss.

We don't know what the weapon was, but it it was a full auto or burst fire weapon, then multiple head shots make more sense.

[FreedomCalls]

Was he Deputy Barney Fife by any chance?

[FreedomCalls]

See my number 34.

[Fresh Wind]

Did he take the time to wipe the fingerprints off the gun after the second shot? After the standard of tidiness established by Vince Foster, one would expect no less.

[WilliamWallace1999]

[Roses0508]

My son bought me a Makarov before he left for active duty. Underpowered??? So if someone breaks into the house, how close do I need to be before I pull the trigger?