Also the question of weight does not affect the importance of the position that would be required for the specific location of the exit wound. Although you could use a real gun to replicate the scenario and reach the same conclusion just to be certain I'm right.

Bored today, I came back into this thread to re-read all the entries - and want to thank everyone who contributed their two cents worth here. I also find that I didn't post the "final strangeness" that happened in this case...

My sister-in-law's ex, who had remarried and was in the middle of another messy divorce, reportedly died at the same house where this all went down, in the same manner in which my sister-in-law died, and the same medical examiner ruled his death a suicide "because that's what the witness said it was". His family tried, as we did, to get the case investigated as a murder, but the not-quite-ex-wife, who still had all the legal rights she needed to do so, had him cremated, as his will stated that he wanted. Against his wishes, however, she didn't allow his family to have the full military funeral that he wanted - which was how I found out about this. His daughter tried to get my husband and I to go testify on the family's behalf - and we reminded her that she had done NOTHING to help us out, telling us that "blood is thicker than water", so she wouldn't testify about her father's abusive behavior.

Never have I seen Karma come back and bite someone like that - and yes, it is definitely food for an Ann Rule book...

Thank you again for all your responses!