Assassination

Assassination is a sudden, usually unexpected, act of murder, typically with a political or military leader as its target. The practice of assassination goes back to ancient times, and extends into the present day. Assassinations have occurred throughout history, in places all over the globe. At one time, the most widely used tool for assassination was a knife or dagger. Modern day assassinations more often use guns, bombs, poisons, and biological agents such as toxins.

In the United States, the President has been a frequent target. In 1865 Abraham Lincoln became the first American president killed by an assassin's bullet, followed by James A. Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy in 1963. Unsuccessful attempts were made on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.

The assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand in 1914 precipitated World War I, and, 30 years later, the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler by his generals very nearly ended World War II. In India, not only Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948, but Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (no relation) in 1984, and her son and successor, Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, fell victim to assassin's bullets. Leaders in various countries throughout the Middle East have been killed by assassins: King Abdullah of Jordan in 1951, President Anwar Sadat of Eygpt in 1981, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 were all victims of assassination. Interestingly, all of these leaders were killed by extremists on their own political side. On the other hand, extremist leaders are as likely as any to become targets of assassins. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana was assassinated in the 1930s and Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X was killed 30 years later. George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, and Pim Fortuyn, founder of a Dutch radical anti-immigrant party, were also slain by assassins.

Targets of assassination are not necessarily national leaders, formal office-holders, or even political leaders. When a Turkish assassin attempted to shoot Pope John Paul II in 1981, it was clearly a political act even though the pope was not a political leader per se. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, both assassinated in 1968, were political leaders, but King held no formal office and Kennedy, although he was a senator and presidential candidate, symbolized a larger cultural atmosphere of optimism and activism. Furthermore, his status as John F. Kennedy's brother added greatly to the symbolic impact of the event.

In the aftermath of any assassination, forensic science may be used to try to determine the method of death and to identify those responsible. Forensic science is not concerned with the aims or the political implications of assassinations. Rather, the battery of tests and skills of the forensic investigators are geared toward deducing how the murder was carried out.

Even in an obvious case of an assassination by means of gunshot, a forensic investigation can possibly identify the firearm that was used. Furthermore, ballistics and gunshot residue studies can be used to implicate a suspect.

Forensic identification techniques for poisonous inorganic compounds and biological agents such as bacterial toxins can be valuable in unraveling the nature of assassinations that involve these harder to detect weapons.