Investigator Questions Suicide Ruling In Rancher's Death

WOODLAND, Calif (CBS13) -- A private investigator said the death of a Yolo County rancher, called a suicide by county authorities, says it would be extremely difficult for the victim to have killed himself using such a bizarre method.

Frank Roman, a retired Santa Clara Sheriff's detective, said he has investigated "many suicides" but has never heard of anything like the contraption authorities say killed Woodland rancher Wayne King.

The Yolo County Sheriff's Department believes King inserted a bullet into an object resembling a large socket wrench head and then struck the bullet with a hammer, firing it into his head.

"Myself and two investigators spent a lot of time, using a rubber hammer… to hold this [the socket head] to your head, and again, the throw is a distance of about 16 inches. Could you do this with enough force and hit it the first time and discharge it?" Roman said. "That's what's very questionable here."

Roman says it's possible to fire a bullet that way, but it would take a very steady hand. Wayne King hurt his hand two years ago when he fell out of a tree.

"He had significant injury to his right hand. Fractured fingers, fractured wrist," Roman said.

King had access to guns, which would have been a much easier way to take his own life if he were suicidal, Roman said.

"I question… why go through all this if you have access to guns within 100 feet of your residence?" he said.

Roman said he has also heard from a witness who heard three gunshots between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. the day King's body was found.

The Yolo County Sheriff was unavailable for comment today. The county coroner's office is still investigating the death as a suicide.