Multiple Gunshot Suicide & the Suspension of Disbelief, by Cynthia Leal Massey

Type M 4 Murder is pleased as can be to host guest author Cynthia Leal Massey, whose wonderful new release, historical crime mystery Well of Deception, is set for release on Oct. 7.  You can preorder here!

Multiple Gunshot Suicide & the Suspension of Disbelief

by Cynthia Leal Massey

The old saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction,” reminds me of a problem I had with my crime mystery, Well of Deception, that is being released October 7. The novel was inspired by a real murder that happened in 1958 on a farm in south Texas. I began doing research on the victim and her killer and learned they were both part of a family with a history of accidental deaths, murders, and suicides. Initially, I was going to write a nonfiction account but soon realized that writing fiction would be a better way to tell the story, which did not, in my mind, have an adequate explanation for why this murder occurred.

One of the real suicides that I fictionalized in the story was of a family member who shot herself with a rifle three times before succumbing. She was found sprawled in her farmhouse bathroom with a rifle between her legs pointed at her torso. I set the scene as described in a newspaper account and her death certificate. When my critique group read the scene, they all balked. “Surely she was murdered,” they all agreed. “The killer obviously planted the rifle there.”

What really bothered them was the three shots from a rifle. One shot was believable, maybe even two, but three? “Perhaps the medical examiner was either inept or protecting somebody?” they said.

It didn’t even matter when I showed them her death certificate. I realized then, that despite the reality, I would have to change it in my fictional world so that my readers wouldn’t have the same disbelief. Remember that good fiction relies on the suspension of disbelief.

Because of their comments, I too began to question the three shots. Shortly after this, I learned that my county’s Medical Examiner’s Office was sponsoring a course on “Medical Death Investigation” for law enforcement entities. I was allowed to take the two-day course, which was taught by several prominent medical examiners, including the famed pathologist and expert on gunshot wounds Dr. Vincent di Maio, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 81. The course involved everything from the causes and manner of death—natural, accidental, suicide, homicide—and the 3 to 5% of ME cases, which are “undetermined.”

I learned that suicides in which multiple gunshot wounds are present are uncommon, but not rare. There are various reasons this can happen—flinching at the time the trigger is pulled is one. In the case of the person I based my character on, she used a .20-20 rifle, according to the newspaper account. While this is also not common, it has been reported that such cases exist, and the fact that she used a rifle probably contributed to the three wounds—one to the left side of the head, one to the left side of the neck, and one to the abdomen, which is the one shot that probably killed her.

I spoke to Dr. di Maio after the course, told him about the particulars of the suicide and asked him if it was possible she killed herself. He nodded. “Oh yes. I once had a case of a young man who shot himself 14 times before he died. He used a handgun in that case… but I’ve seen multiple rifle shot suicides as well.” Case closed.

I sat near a Justice of the Peace from a small rural county and when I told her I was writing a book and that one of my characters based on a real woman had committed suicide in her bathroom, she said, “Women often kill themselves in bathrooms. It’s easier to clean.” Thinking of others to the end, I thought.

Suicide is such a stigma that families refuse to believe such a thing of their loved one. In the case of this woman, shot three time, supposedly by her own hand, this was certainly the case. Her family all believed she was murdered. I was able to use this in the novel through some intense exchanges between family members and law enforcement throughout the scenes involving her death.

Bottom line for fiction writers: just because something is true doesn’t make it believable. Few people outside of law enforcement and forensics know about multiple gunshot suicides. Rather than alienate a majority of readers, I tweaked the suicide scene in a way that didn’t take away the truth of what happened and how. It was a small tweak but seemed to mollify my critique group. Let’s just say, we split the difference. 

Suggested Reading:

“Cause of Death, a writer’s guide to death, murder & forensic medicine,” by Keith D. Wilson, M.D.

“Gunshot Wounds, Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques,” Vincent J. M. Di Maio, M.D.