The detection of latent traces is an important aspect of crime scene investigation. Blood stains on black backgrounds can be visualized using chemiluminescence, which is invasive and requires a darkened room, or near-infrared photography, for which investigators need to change filters manually to optimize contrast. We demonstrated the performance of visible reflectance hyperspectral imaging (40...

The purpose of this study was to measure the team skills of operational crime scene examiners (CSEs). The techniques used were based on established methods and helped to gain a greater understanding of the domain of forensic investigation. The research begins with a hierarchical task analysis and then adapts pre-established methods for measuring the performance of CSEs in four UK Police Forces....

Pollen analysis was applied to a mummified homicide victim in Nebraska, U.S.A., to determine the location of death. A control sample showed the normal ambient pollen in the garage crime scene. Ambient windborne types, common in the air of the region, dominated the control. Internal samples were analyzed from the sacrum, intestine, and diaphragm. Microfossils were recovered from the rehydrated i...

Fatalities resulting from sharp force injuries may be of accidental, homicidal or suicidal origin. Cut-throat and cut-stab wounds are “effective” in homicidal attacks with sharp objects, e. g. knifes, while accidental injuries in this topographic region caused by sharp objects are rarely seen and most often caused by broken glass. Self-inflicted cut throat and stab wounds are uncommon but never...

In this paper we present a concept for visualising an interaction log in a virtual crime scene investigation learning environment called OPENCRIMESCENE. The interaction log shall be used for reviewing the user’s behaviour after having examined the virtual crime scene. Furthermore, it shall serve as a valuable discussion background when it comes to self or teacher’s control. As initial point the...

Improvements in detection limits/sensitivity and lower sample consumption are potential benefits of reducing PCR reaction volumes used in forensic DNA typing of crime scene samples. This premise was studied first with experimental mixtures and a nine-loci megaplex, which demonstrated stochiometric amplification and accurate detection. Next, adjudicated casework samples were subjected to amplifi...

By now, everyone knows that forensic DNA analysis represents a stunning theoretical advance for the criminal justice system.1 The value of DNA analysis lies in its theoretical power to exclude large proportions of the population as potential contributors of genetic samples (e.g., blood, semen, hair). Thus, when a suspect’s DNA matches a DNA sample that is recovered from the scene of a violent c...

Forensic botany is still an under-utilized resource in forensic casework, although it has been used on occasion. It is an area of specialty science that could include traditional botanical classification of species, DNA, or materials evidence (trace and transfer evidence), crime mapping or geo-sourcing, all dependent on the specific case application under consideration. Critical to the evaluati...

The solution of hydrogen peroxide is a critical ingredient of the Weber luminol application for blood detection at the crime scene. An ideal alternative to the unstable hydrogen peroxide is a solid compound which is easy to transport, stable and quick to solve in water at the crime scene. Carbamide peroxide (urea peroxide) is one of these solid hydrogen peroxide carriers which is easy to obtain...

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the autopsy findings of deaths due to hanging in the last 25 years in Eskisehir province located in western Anatolia and to share them in the literature. The gender, age, scene of crime, the material used for hanging type and hanging, autopsy findings and toxicological findings were examined using the data of Eskişehir Forensic Medicine Branch Directorate...