I, too, have had a few people on the autopsy table who died of 22 wounds. Sometimes, especially with the "standard velocity" LRNes, the bullets will travel in some interesting paths. Sometimes this is attributed to bouncing around inside the body, and sometimes (and this is the opinion I agree with) the fluid dynamics of the internals of the human body combined with a higher velocity elongated RN projectile made interesting, sometimes curvy, paths through the body. They certainly can be fatal; I can attest.
Also, don't forget that John Hinckley incapacitated four people with a 6-shot 22 l.r. revolver. (Of course, shooting exploding bullets, but it's also my understanding that most of them didn't explode and acted like LRNes anyway...)
The bottom line is, and Rule 303 is really getting to the heart of the matter, that the 22 L.R. will kill, but it's very inconsistent on speed (and sometimes the effectiveness) of the demise. If you want a real defensive gun, you should get something bigger, but the 22 L.R. will work better than a poke with a stick.
