The Cheryomukha-7, blunt objects, and the Order

We've known for a while now that three of the victims of March 1 were killed because of supposed "incorrect use" of the the Cheryomukha-7, whose shells are meant to be fired into the air (and not directly at a person).
First there was a question of how old the shells were: it was noted that they were outdated, and maybe that was the problem. Or that they were used improperly because instead of being fired into the air, they were fired directly into a crowd. And Russian exports reported that even aged shells, if shot into the air correctly, wouldn't kill someone.
But the autopsies showed that two of the three were shot in the head, and one in the hip - the cause of death not at all related to gas, but to direct impact.
Initially it was thought that experts would be able to trace shell fragments to specific guns, which was important especially as investigators had discovered that there were only four officers who were carrying those weapons. But somehow, the fragments didn't lend themselves to further studies and identification. And even now the government refuses to answer specific questions about the use of those weapons.
Alla Hovhannisyan, mother of Tigran Khachatryan, the first victim of March 1, has been interviewed multiple times, and has pointed out significant discrepancies in the investigation and reports. As the ArmeniaNow article from March 1 on the topic reports, the Prosecutor's documents state that “Tigran Khachatryan, at about 20:00 along with several participants of the mass disorder, went to the Leo crossroad from Myasnikyan’s statue, and he died there at about 21:30.” Yet, the last video he caught on his phone was for 2 minutes starting at 21:19, the demonstration held at the Myasnikyan’s statue. How could he have be at Leo Street since 20:00 and have shot the demonstration at the Myasnikyan’s statue? How could he have gone a kilometer in 8 minutes and appeared in the Leo Street and ‘participated in the mass disorder’? (paraphrased from the article).

Well, yesterday's RFE/RL had another interesting tidbit.

Testifying before the commission earlier this week, Khachatrian mother, Alla Hovannisian, revealed the findings of a forensic examination which suggested that the young man was repeatedly hit by a blunt object before being shot dead late on March 1.

If the forensic examiner is correct, then this yet a whole new dimension. There is no error, no expiration, no miscalculation or incorrect use in beating someone. There is no incorrect firing angle, no distance, and no anonymity.

And in the end, we're still left asking, who gave the order?

[see 2/20/09 article from ArmeniaNow for a summary]