Death caused by a letter bomb

A 48-year-old man was killed by the explosion of a letter bomb after receiving severe injuries to his face and left hand. The autopsy ascertained that the right eye and orbit had been completely destroyed by a large piece of metal from a tin can that had entered the cranial cavity through the right eye and caused fatal brain damage. The victim had also sustained a severe injury to his left hand. Reconstruction of the metal and plastic fragments showed that the victim had received a padded envelope with a video cassette in which a simple explosive device was hidden in a flat tin. The explosive charge consisted of a mixture (ca. 60 g) of sodium chlorate, sodium chloride and sucrose. The charge was detonated by a nylon cord attached to the inside of the envelope which was stretched when the video cassette was pulled out of the envelope. This removed a piece of plastic from between two contacts, and the explosion was set off immediately by a battery which activated two flash bulbs placed within the charge.