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Beltway Sniper Case Study Answers

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Beltway Sniper
The Beltway Sniper case included two men John Muhammad, and Lee Malvo whom carried out attacks killing 10 people and wounding several other people. All of these attacks were carried out by using a high powered .223 caliber rifle. The ballistics processing was especially important because the use of firearm was the weapon that killed 10 innocent people, and wounded several others. This case was cracked because one of the suspects called police and mentioned they were responsible for a murder that took place in Montgomery Alabama outside a liquor store. The investigators that were working on that case found a magazine left at the crime scene, and they compared the fingerprints left on it to fingerprints of Malvo’s immigration record. …show more content…

An investigation involving a firearm is a specialty of forensic science which focuses on the examination of firearms linked to ballistics. Ballistics is related to finding out the exact flight path of projectiles. Ballistics is the area of study that examines the exact path of the bullet from the moment it leaves the muzzle of the firearm up until it hits the target. During examination many items are collected for evidence including the firearm, bullets, live ammunition, cartridge casings, trace materials such as powder residue, and anything damaged by the projectile. Firearms are often divided into three processes: Internal, External, and Terminal Ballistics. Internal refers to the inside of the firearm; the space of time in which the shooter pulls the trigger, and the when the bullet is exiting. External ballistics is the flight between leaving the muzzle of the firearm, and it striking its target. Terminal ballistics is the impact of ballistics that refers to the examination in which the projectile strikes a target. All firearms leave markings on the cartridge casings once expelled when firing. Ballistic identification and microstamping laws make it possible to link a cartridge recovered to the

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