The victim was walking along Thompson Creek trail when he was shot by a man sitting in a tree stand, hunting for deer. The hunter heard some movement so he sighted in on the walker, only to realize he was a human, and not a deer. Violating two of the most important rules while hunting, the hunter had his safety off and finger on the trigger. A gust of wind came through and a branch bumped into his back arm, making him pull the trigger. After he had realized what he had done, he packed up and fled the scene. The bullet penetrated through the walker through his left lateral side 1 cm above his third rib. The bullet passed though the left lung, the victims heart and finally through his large and small intestines leaving just above the victims belly button. The cause of death was the puncturing of the victims heart, which caused the entire body to shut down.
Other possible scenarios
- The bullet initially punctured the victims lung, which could have caused the victim to suffocate, but the heart is a more vital organ, and one shot to the heart is a guaranteed immediate death, especially due to the fact that the hunter was using a larger shot (30-06) intended to taking down a deer.
- Another possible cause of death was the rupturing of the large and small intestines. A shot here would cause serious internal bleeding and would cause a slower, more painful death but again, the heart is a definite kill.
- A final possible cause would be the bullet only wounding the walker and the hunter coming to finish him off with a blow to the ribs from the butt of the rifle. This, however, is not plausible because only one rib was fractured, and the butt of a larger rifle has a width that would contact a minimum of 3 ribs.
