We’ve all heard Vincent van Gogh’s story: depressed and battling mental illness, the incredible painter shot himself in a wheat field near Paris in 1890. It turns out the history we’ve all learned may be wrong in a big way, Ryot suggests.

Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a leading expert in gunshot wounds, studied all the evidence from van Gogh’s death, and believes it’s impossible that the painter could have shot himself in the chest. The leading forensics expert isn’t a conspiracy theorist by any means. He was actually a key witness in the George Zimmerman trial for Trayvon Martin’s homicide.

Dr. Di Maio told two biographers long committed to the idea that van Gogh didn’t kill himself, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, just what they needed to hear to prove their ten year theory: the painter’s fatal gun shot wounds did not look self-inflicted. At all.

Back when van Gogh died, his physician’s son spoke of a “brown and purple halo” around the wound. He noted that this was because the gun was so close to van Gogh’s chest that he had gunpowder burns. Dr. Di Maio said, “This is subcutaneous bleeding from vessels cut by the bullet and is usually seen in individuals who live awhile. Its presence or absence means nothing.” And especially doesn’t mean that the gun was in close range.

Dr. Di Maio also made another game changing point: van Gogh’s left side was shot with a revolver that required him to use his left hand. “It would be extremely difficult to shoot oneself in this location [i.e., on the left side] with the left hand. The easiest way would involve putting one’s fingers around the back of the grip and using the thumb to fire the gun,” he said.

In other words, if van Gogh did shoot himself, he would have had to twist his body in a crazy position to make it work.

Dr. Di Maio added: “Using one’s right hand is even more absurd. You would have to put the right arm across the chest and again place one’s fingers on the back of the grip and use the thumb to fire the gun.”

If he shot himself, van Gogh also would have had scorch marks on his hand. Nothing indicated he did.

Dr. Di Maio’s final thoughts on the mystery read, “It is my opinion that, in all medical probability, the wound incurred by van Gogh was not self-inflicted. In other words, he did not shoot himself.”

Before van Gogh’s death, the artist left no sign he was planning on taking his life. There were no notes and he ordered a whole new set of paints just days before. It also took him 29 painful hours to die.

Who killed van Gogh remains a mystery. Rumors around the village where he was shot suggested a group of young boys did it. Some even say van Gogh covered for them by claiming he had tried suicide.

"While these findings are history changing, we unfortunately may never see the myth of the mad artist who killed himself in his final days go away. Vincent van Gogh’s martyrdom is likely an alluring tale we’re too attached to," Ryot said.