Belladonna Or Nightshade Case Study

I received a call from my fellow partners about the case. The suspect had died when i received him. However, there was something extremely weird about the death of my patient. He did not just die from being shot, there was more to the bullet that met the eye. It was from there i decided to identify what exactly the bullet had been laced with, and how our patients death came to be.

The first steps that were taken was the identification process. A urine sample was obtained. An LC-MS test was performed on our patient to identify anything that was ingested to be the cause of death in addition to the bullet wound; however, the test came negative.liquid-chromatography-and-mass-spectrometrylcms-7-638[1]

We continued onto the blood portion of our

LC-MS test. A blood sample was collected from our patient. The results from our test is set below. The test confirmed that it was Belladonna, an extremely poisonous plant that's "juice" can be lethal to humans. LC-MS BLOOD TEST

What is Belladonna or nightshade?ATR02_1000_1[1]

" Belladonna alkaloids are anticholinergic, which means that it works by blocking the certain nerve impulses involved in the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates certain involuntary bodily functions or reflexes, including pupil dilation, heart rate, secretion of glands and organs, and the constriction of the bronchioles in the lungs and the alimentary canal (digestive tract).

Belladonna relaxes the smooth muscles of the internal organs and inhibits or dries up secretions (e.g., perspiration, mucous, breast milk, and saliva).

"

Overall this means that an excess entered into the body via direct contact could have lead to the death of our patient.

To find out more we used quantification methods to find the amount used in our victim. The alkaline metal in Belladonna is Atropine or C17H23NO3. Atropine is what causes the affects seen in Belladonna. The more of the plant, the mimgsrv[1]ore poison in the body. "Excessive dosing may cause palpitation, dilated pupils, difficulty in swallowing, hot dry skin, thirst, dizziness, restlessness, tremor, fatigue and ataxia. Toxic doses lead to restlessness and excitement, hallucinations, delirium and coma. Depression and circulatory collapse occur only with severe intoxication. In such cases, blood pressure declines and death due to respiratory failure may ensue following paralysis and coma." It is possible for our victim to have been injected with the Belladonna which would support the presence of the substance in the victim. I took a solution of Atropine sulfate monohydrate in water and made it for the injection with sodium chloride. This was to ensure that it rendered to the solution isotonic. I measured 0.1 mg of Atropine sulfate monohydrate = 0.0839 mg of pure atropine and 9mg of sodium chloride. Through this a powder was formed, and i was able to find the solubility and the speed of its dissolving in a liquid substance which was similar to that of blood. However, The amounts given in an injection sample did not match those in the

body.

From this i drew a hypothesis: What if our victim was shot with a bullet laced in Belladonna poison which also had some of the substance inside the bullet. With this hypothesis, i needed to do further investigation of the bullet itself.

I began my investigation of identification from the bullet in the body. For 1, the bullet had fragmented inside the body through contact. This means the killer intentionally used the bullet to kill our victim. bullets[1]

Above is a representation similar to how the bullet in the victims body was. 1 g of Belladonna was found in the victims body through the area of contact. Once they made the Belladonna into a powder it was now possible for them to insert the powder into the bullet enduring that the contents inside would reach the blood stream making the death more inevitable. In addition to this, lacing the bullet also adds this affect.

My overall conclusion, after doing various tests, i have concluded that our victim was shot with a bullet containing 1g of belladonna inside the bullet itself while also being laced with the poison. This slowed down the heart rapidly and also caused paralysis of the lungs and body eventually leading to death in addition to the blood loss from the shot.

Bibliography:

Largo, Michael. “The A-List Celebrity of Poisonous Plants.” Slate Magazine, 18 Aug. 2014, www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2014/08/18/poisonous_plants_belladonna_nightshade_is_the_celebrity_of_deadly_flora.html.

“Urine Test- Belladonna.” Belladonna Alkaloids Panel, Urine Test - Also Covers Atropine; Scopolamine - NMS Labs, www.nmslabs.com/tests/Belladonna-Alkaloids-Panel--Urine/0520U.

“Forensics.” Forensic DNA Testing Frequently Asked Questions, www.forensicdnacenter.com/forensic-faqs.html.

Belladonna Alkaloids Panel, Blood Test - Also Covers Atropine; Scopolamine - NMS Labs, www.nmslabs.com/tests/Belladonna-Alkaloids-Panel--Blood/0520B.

Austin, Ken. “Deadly Nightshade.” Oilsandplants.com ~ Belladonna, www.oilsandplants.com/belladonna.htm.

“Atropine.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/atropine#section=Pharmacology-and-Biochemistry.

“Belladonna, Broomsticks and Brain Chemistry.” Education in Chemistry, 1 Jan. 2008, eic.rsc.org/section/feature/belladonna-broomsticks-and-brain-chemistry/2020099.article.

“Belladonna.-Belladonna.” Belladonna.-Belladonna. | Henriette's Herbal Homepage, www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/kings/atropa.html.