Southern California

Autopsy Report Confirms Suicide for Christopher Dorner

Dorner's body was badly burned after the cabin caught fire

Rogue ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner fatally shot himself in the head as he was holed up in a burning cabin during a firefight last year with authorities hunting down the fugitive murderer, an autopsy report released Friday said.

The report confirms what sheriff's officials had said about how Dorner died on Feb. 12, 2013 and sheds light on his final moments.

The autopsy revealed that a single gunshot wound, from a handgun, caused Dorner's death and that he had barricaded himself inside the basement of a cabin in the Big Bear area.

Dorner's body would have been entirely engulfed by flames had he been on the main floor of the cabin, according to the report from the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office.

Dorner's remains were so badly charred that officials used dental records to confirm his identity.

In a 10-day rampage across Southern California, Dorner killed four people -- a Riverside police officer, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy, the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance.

The disgruntled ex-cop laid out his plan for revenge against the LAPD in an online manifesto. He blamed racism, bias, retaliation and conflicts of interest for playing a part in what he viewed as his wrongful firing from the force.

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