Tom Brown's Rifle - The Minimum Distance a Gunpowder Pattern Could Be Found

Sheriff's deputies had taken photographs of rusty's body at the camp site, but didn't arrange an autopsy for the dog. They needed physical evidence to prove there had been a murder. While candra said tom shot rusty from behind, tom had claimed he shot the dog as the a ran towards him. If this was true, the bullet would have entered rusty's head from the front. In julio's case, experts had found no gunpowder residue on his face - which indicated that he hadn't been shot at a very close range. This meant tom brown had been three feet away from julio when the rifle went off.