Dassia shootings: Medical Examiner says first shot was fired into victim΄s back

Following the autopsy on the body of the first victim, the 63-year-old who had lived for years in France, the medical examiner Ioannis Aivatidis said that a point of interest was that he had gunshot wounds in his back.

"In other words," Ioannis Aivatidis said, "before the fatal wound, almost at point blank range, he had been shot from behind and to the right at a distance I estimate to have been 5 - 6 metres. He wasn't looking at the shooter and it seems he was taken by surprise."

The examiner said that firstly the man and then the 60-year-old woman were each shot twice.

The perpetrator

Not long after the killings, the perpetrator of the double murder shot himself. "I found a point blank shotgun wound which is characteristic of suicides. The wound was in the chest and the left lung was ruptured but not the heart. This means that the man must have still been alive for a few minutes."

Medicines found in the house

Regarding the medicines that were found at the perpetrator's house, Ioannis AIvatidis said that they were simple sedatives and most of them had not even been opened. 

The medical examiner didn't say how long the toxicological tests would take but that they were of secondary importance. "If he had taken the medicines which were found and if he had a mental illness, this wouldn't have led to the result we saw.. Whether the toxicological test results are negative or positive is of little importance."

He said that after the autopsies were completed, the three bodies were given to the families.