The "Petrohan" case is very elementary from a forensic point of view. This was stated in "This Saturday" on bTV by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Alexandrov, head of the Clinic of Forensic Medicine and Deontology at "Alexandrovska" Hospital. He presented the medical information on the case during a briefing a week ago.
According to him, these are shots fired at point-blank range or from very close range, in areas - convenient for one's own hand.
– We are also talking about the six corpses - all of them have gunshot wounds to the head, but I cannot say who was holding the gun. I can shoot myself at point blank range, but you can also force me to stand still and shoot me“, the expert commented.
He gave an example from his practice of a man who shot himself in his bathroom with a rifle – twice in the heart area, found by his son. “The first shot had simply “blown away“ the soft tissues, had opened the chest cavity, but the heart and lungs were not affected. He reloaded with a wild boar cartridge and had shot himself in the heart. With two shots, there could be suicide“, said Alexandrov.
The expert explained that the autopsy of all six bodies has been completed, the examinations are yet to be completed. Regarding the information that the hands of one of the victims from the hut were heavily bloodied, Assoc. Prof. Aleksandrov pointed out that these were severely burned hands, with the epidermis peeled off, and that is why more time is needed to prepare the expert reports.
“The investigation never happens overnight. It will take time, the experts themselves need time, especially in such an unprecedented case, where public interest is very high. Everyone wants to refine their expertise“, the medic commented.
Asked whether the time of death of those found in the camper under Okolchitsa Peak could be established, Assoc. Prof. Aleksandrov said: “Establishing the statute of limitations for death is the most complex problem in forensic medicine. What they show in the movies – the medical examiner comes, looks at the body and says: “This person died 4 days ago“ – there is no such thing. Medicine is not mathematics, we build our theses on the basis of so-called postmortem changes, which are early and late. These bodies of both Petrokhan and Okolchitsa - at the time of their death, it was as if they were placed in a cold chamber, which slows down the decomposition processes. But I am sure that my colleagues will do everything possible and will give direction“.
“Regarding the leaked information that their stomachs were empty, I want to say - a stomach after eating empties in 3-4 hours on average. Does this mean that in the morning, when we get up and have empty stomachs, does it mean that we are preparing for suicide and cleansing our bodies“, the expert also pointed out.
Assoc. Prof. Aleksandrov also said that the victims were tested for opiates.
He commented that there are extremely few forensic medicine specialists in Bulgaria - about 50 people with pensioners. “We are extremely busy, there is almost no one in our clinic, where the most complex expert examinations come, so that there are no expert examinations for a year ahead. A few years ago, the previous management tried to expand the capacity of the so-called morgue, currently there are about 75 corpses, but there are about 90“.