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THE HIDDEN WEAPON: FIGHTING CRIME WITH INSECTS.

November 3rd, 2009

bug

DNA technology is probably one of the most exciting things in forensic science today.  DNA studies have focused on vertebrates, plants and microbes. However, DNA based technologies in the entomological field have become a key area of research in the recent years.

Forensic entomology is the application of insect science to legal and criminal proceedings. Genotyping procedures have been mostly directed to the identification of forensically important specimens, most often used to estimate the time of death (PMI), or in some cases, to determine the general location of a murder. Insects can be also considered a potential source of human DNA for identity testing; DNA from a variety of blood feeding insects has been successfully amplified and analyzed.

 

Here’s the story of a leech found at a crime scene 8 years ago that led Australian police to a man who confessed robbing a woman in 2001.

 

This is an excerpt from The Times. For full coverage: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6881995.ece

 

“Leeches have long been used in alternative medical practices but police have found a new use for the slimy bloodsuckers: catching criminals.

 

In what is believed to be a world first in forensic science, blood from a leech that was gathered as evidence in a burglary in Tasmania eight years ago has been used to identify a thief who this week pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery.

 

The leech was discovered in the living room of Fay Olson, 71, who had been tied up while being robbed of A$550 (£310) by two men wearing black hoods and armed with sticks in September 2001.

 

Police uncovered the leech next to the empty safe and bagged it as evidence.

 

Apart from the leech, the police had no other evidence and no suspects so the case remained unsolved until last year when Peter Cannon, 54, was arrested for alleged drug offences. His DNA was taken and found to match that of the blood taken from the gorged leech in the unsolved robbery. Mr. Johnston said that it was the strangest way he had heard of convicting a criminal in 25 years of working in the police force.

 

Cannon pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery in court on Monday and will be sentenced this week. His accomplice has not been caught.”

Managing Evidence: Forensics Under Fire Again

October 17th, 2009

dna

Since the February release of the National Acade­my of Sciences report on the state of forensic science, it is well known that forensic labs need better funding, should be accredited, and scientists should be certified. The following article is from NPR News and is a good example of the NAS report. Your comments matter! Thanks to Dave Khey for sending the article.

In Milwaukee, police say a mislabeled DNA sample made it possible for a suspected serial killer to avoid arrest for more than a decade.

The man — now charged with seven murders — might have been arrested before some of the murders occurred if state officials hadn’t lost his DNA sample.

The error revealed a gaping hole in Wisconsin’s DNA data bank and is spurring state officials to gather and verify thousands of DNA samples they thought were already in the system. In all, as many as 12,000 samples may be missing. In addition, other states are searching for similar flaws in their system for collecting and storing DNA.

A DNA sample from a crime scene can be a double-edged sword. If it’s matched correctly to a murderer, justice can be done. But if it’s lost or mislabeled, an innocent man may end up in prison.

In 2000, when Wisconsin began collecting DNA samples from all convicted felons, Walter Ellis was serving time for beating his girlfriend with a hammer. He managed to avoid having his sample taken by bribing another inmate to have his mouth swabbed instead and claim to be Ellis.

By the time the fraud was discovered, Ellis had left prison and the state did not have his DNA on file. Milwaukee prosecutors now say Ellis went on to murder at least seven women over the next decade.

Years Of Error

Wisconsin Department of Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch says the deadly error resulted from a breakdown in communications between the two agencies responsible for handling DNA samples.

“Within a very short period it was discovered that a sample was given under another individual’s name,” said Raemisch. “Unfortunately that information was not given back to us by the Department of Justice — so it basically sat there, frankly, for years.”

This September, Milwaukee police linked an unknown DNA sample to nine different murders in the same Milwaukee neighborhood over the past 20 years. Ellis’ name kept coming up in the investigations, so his DNA sample was taken.

It matched DNA found on the bodies of nine women.

Ellis is now charged in seven of the murders. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle says the fatal glitch was the result of too few people trying to gather too much DNA.

“There were large sweeps of the prison system. In one month they took 19,000 samples,” said Ellis. “DNA [examiners] don’t just go and take a little sample and throw it in a machine and have a number — it’s a process that I think back in the early 2000s took several months to do.”
Link to the full NPR article

For link to previous posts about Forensics Under Fire click here and here

ASTM Forensics Committee Develops Standard for Computer Forensics Degree Programs

September 30th, 2009

laptop

I wanted to share this information to those reading this blog as I thought this is quite important.

Computer Forensics is still a rather new discipline in computer security and is a rapidly growing subject. The need to develop standards, frameworks, and curricula for degree programs based on actual needs of criminal investigation is underlined here.

ASTM International

Release date: September 25, 2009

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., September 25, 2009-While the use of digital evidence is fairly common in contemporary criminal investigation, there are still relatively few degree programs in computer forensics. A new standard developed by ASTM International Committee E30 on Forensic Sciences provides a road map for post-secondary institutions to develop degree programs in computer forensics.

The new standard, ASTM E2678, Guide for Education and Training in Computer Forensics, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee E30.12 on Digital and Multimedia Evidence.

“ASTM E2678 attempts to improve and advance computer forensics through the development of model curricula consistent with other forensic science programs,” says Rhesa G. Gilliland, laboratory director, Digital Evidence Laboratory, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Considering the amount of interest generated after the release of the National Academy of Sciences report, ‘Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward,’ the development of standards in the relatively new forensic discipline of digital and multimedia evidence is extremely important,” says Gilliland, who is co-chair of E30.12.

Gilliland says that ASTM E2678 was based on a research report funded by the National Institute of Justice through a grant to the West Virginia University Forensic Science Initiative and submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Topics covered in the new standard include alternative paths by which students may arrive at and move through professional training; formal educational programs of increasing length from associate degrees through graduate work; a framework for academic certificate programs offered by educational institutions; and model criteria and implementation approaches for training and continuing education opportunities provided by professional organizations, vendors and academic institutions.

All interested parties, particularly individuals working in the digital and multimedia evidence examination field, are welcome to participate in the ongoing activities of E30.12. The subcommittee is working with the Scientific Working Groups on Digital Evidence and Imaging Technology to develop proposed new standards.

ASTM International standards can be purchased from Customer Service (phone: 610-832-9585; service@astm.org) or at www.astm.org. For technical information, contact Rhesa G. Gilliland, Drug Enforcement Administration, Lorton, Va. (phone: 703-495-6578; rhesa.g.gilliland@usdoj.gov). Committee E30 will meet Feb. 20-21, 2010, in conjunction with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Seattle, Wash.

ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. ASTM’s open consensus process, using advanced Internet-based standards development tools, ensures worldwide access for all interested individuals. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, please contact Timothy Brooke, ASTM International (phone: 610-832-9729; tbrooke@astm.org).

Established in 1898, ASTM International is one of the largest international standards development and delivery systems in the world. ASTM International meets the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles for the development of international standards: coherence, consensus, development dimension, effectiveness, impartiality, openness, relevance and transparency. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems and commercial transactions around the globe.

Links to related journals:

The International Journal of Forensic Computer Science: http://www.ijofcs.org/webjournal/index.php/ijofcs/index

Digital Investigation: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/702130/description#description

Career Advice Section

September 9th, 2009

books

I need some advice - who can I talk to?

This Career Advice Blog Section was created for students enrolled or interested in enrolling in a Forensic Science Graduate Program. Here you can talk to your peers and other people in your area of interest to provide and receive pertinent advice. Our Forensic Science Online Program has over 1000 current and past students from every possible career that involves forensic science. Talk to other students about careers, further study, jobs, applications, re-training and related topics. Anybody can read the messages and post here!

Teacher’s Corner

September 3rd, 2009

chalk

Hello to all the students who are teachers in our program and any other teacher who wants to join this site.

This new area is dedicated to you! The Forensic Science Online Program invites you to ask questions, share classroom experiences, ideas, teaching and learning materials or any other resource related to Forensic Science in the class room.

Please use this space as a forum for exchanging ideas and information with your fellow teachers. We hope you find your visit here useful and that you will spread the word about this blog.

Join this space and start posting!


PROPOFOL DID IT - MICHAEL JACKSON’S DEATH

August 26th, 2009


Update

Michael Jackson’s autopsy results came back with the findings that lethal doses of Propofol were found in his body. Jackson’s personal physician had been treating the king of pop for insomnia giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night using an intravenous drip. Read the story from the New York Times here.

Click here for previous comments about Jackson’s death.

HISTORY AND FORENSICS

August 21st, 2009

Music

First episode

Forensic science is a fascinating subject for almost everyone, especially if it deals with celebrities like Michael Jackson’s case or high profile cases like Caylee Anthony’s case. Lately, a new interest has emerged among the forensic community and keeps growing more and more. It’s a blend of history and forensic science. Forensic History? Even when any forensic scientist knows that human remains older than 50 years are generally not subject to a forensic investigation, the analysis of cases that go beyond the legal scope thrill many colleagues worldwide.

From “historic autopsies” to the actual exhumation and analysis of remains, the forensic study of historic cases is the new trend.

We will be presenting some cases from all continents on a series of different episodes beginning in this post with a case from the 18th century.

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, or simply Mozart, died in Vienna at the age of 35 at 1:00 AM on December 5, 1791. The mysterious death of the famous composer has long fascinated researchers. Mozart’s cause of death is recorded as hitziges Frieselfieber, or “severe miliary fever” referring to symptoms such as high temperature and rash. One of the problems with Mozart’s cause of death investigation lies on the fact that there is no corpse, no bones to analyze. All scholars have are the testimonies of those who were around Mozart at the time of his decease. Several years before the musician’s death, his grave was dug up to be reused and his remains were lost forever.

Proposed manner of death include all but suicide. The list of causes is enormous. Wolfgang could have been murdered by the Venetian composer Antonio Salieri although it is not clear why Salieri would have done such a thing. Arsenic and mercury poisoning have been suggested as possible causes, the latest being used by many poets, painters, philosophers, and musicians victims of syphilis. For the accident theory, the anthropologist, Pierre-Francoise Puech suggested Mozart had died from complications of a head injury after he studied a fracture on a skull rescued by a gravedigger who dug up Mozart’s grave and knew which body was Mozart’s.

Quite a few diseases (i.e. rheumatic fever Henoch-Schönlein purpura, chronic glomerulonephritis, and trichinosis) have been blamed of being the responsible of the composer’s death too. However, a new study from the University of Amsterdam points out to kidney damage caused by a streptococcal infection. In other words, a strep throat. Here’s the paper published in this week’s issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED?

August 7th, 2009


Alcohol elimination

Accident


 

A Wilkes County man was sentenced to 33 years in prison without possibility of parole for the deaths of Harley and Helen Carter. The man, Ricky D. Norman was driving a truck traveling south on Old U.S. 21, when he collided with a car driven by the Carters. Not only Norman admitted that he was speeding, he also had been drinking and had cocaine in his system at the time of the crash. As a matter of fact he had been convicted of DUI three times and had a fourth DUI charge pending at the time of the accident. What caught my eye was the fact that the prosecution and defense experts differed as to whether he was legally drunk.

The trial lasted a week and much of the trial testimony involved experts who had opposing views about how intoxicated Norman was and how far he was from the intersection when Harley Carter pulled out in front of him. How could two experts do not agree on the alcohol level Norman had? Well, Norman had two broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken pelvis, a broken sternum, two broken bones in his left forearm and a broken right heel, and was taken to Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital. Due to his injuries, I guess, his blood was tested two hours after the accident and the test results showed Norman’s blood alcohol content was 0.03.

Paul Glover, an expert from the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, testified Thursday that Norman’s blood alcohol content at the time of the wreck would have been 0.08. Glover used a technique called “retrograde extrapolation”. He said he determined a rate at which Norman’s body was eliminating alcohol, and calculated backward to determine the blood-alcohol level at the time of the wreck. A defense expert, Andrew Mason, told jurors that Norman’s blood-alcohol content would have fallen within a range of 0.05 to 0.09 at the time of the crash. For him, Glover’s determination is not scientifically supported, partially because people don’t eliminate alcohol at constant rates.

Before receiving his sentence, Norman said he was convicted because of his criminal record and not because of his responsibility for the fatal crash. He said he felt it was okay to drive after drinking four beers, that it wouldn’t bring him up to the legal limit which, in North Carolina, is 0.08.

I would love to hear from our faculty and students about how uncertain it would be to determine alcohol elimination rate. Are there any variables, maybe personal variables that need to be taken into account? 

Click here for more details on this story.

PHOTOGRAPHING DEATH

July 30th, 2009

Film


Science, art or voyeurism?

The Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, opened an uncommon exhibition: “The Scene of the Crime”. More than a 100 pictures, taken by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, are presented in this exhibit and can be seen until October 25th. Click here for more information about the pictures at The Musée de l’Elysée.

Reiss was a professor of forensic science at the University of Lausanne. He became the head of photography at the same university in 1899. There is, of course, controversy surrounding the exhibition. The Museum suggests that sensitive people and children under 14 should not visit the exhibition. Are these images offensive?

There are several ways to portrait death, and there are several reasons to do so. Death is a taboo subject in contemporary society, but at the same time brutal, violent death appeals to morbid curiosity of people. There are different ways to deal with death and cultures put in place different restrictions and practices associated with rituals. Death can be celebrated, embraced or feared.

As forensic scientists who regularly use photographs to document crime scenes, autopsy findings and bone trauma to name a few, we are shocked at the use of post-mortem photographs for entertainment. Photography, like many other disciplines, has a link to Forensic Science world. The use of the photography in criminology receives the name of Forensic Photography. Alphonse Bertillon was one of the first to systematically photograph and document crime scenes, but “Weegee”, whose real name was Arthur Fellig, was probably the most famous.

The practice of photographing death as any other social event like weddings, baptisms and birthdays was very popular. Photographing the recently deceased is also known as Memorial Photography or Postmortem Photography and was a common practice in the nineteenth century.In some South American countries the practice continued even until the 1950’s! Even though photographing death as a social memento has ceased, there is a small number of contemporary photographers whose work often deal with death and corpses like Andres Serrano, Enrique Metinides, Joel-Peter Witkin, Maeve Berry, and Walters Schels.

Should scientific uses of photography be made accessible to the public? Have your say in our blog about this exhibition and the use of photography to capture death outside the science realm.

MICHAEL JACKSON’S DEATH INVESTIGATION

July 23rd, 2009


Latest news

There continue to be more questions than answers as we approach the one-month mark since the pop icon’s death. Since Michael Jackson’s autopsy reports are delayed, headlines go from those concerning Rupert Everett comments to the secret son of Michael Jackson.

In other news, the Los Angeles Times reported today a security breach involving staff members at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department. Six employees improperly viewed Michael Jackson’s death certificate hundreds of times in the two weeks immediately following the pop star’s death. Also, the Armstrong Medical Clinic, the clinic of Jackson’s personal cardiologist, Dr. Conrad Murray was raided yesterday. Dr. Murray has already been questioned twice by the Los Angeles Police Department and about three dozen officers participated on a search that ended up seizing a computer hard drive and more than 20 documents.

Two autopsy results are still pending and authorities are investigating several doctors and going after records that could shed light on Jackson’s death. Michael Jackson’s cause of death is still a mystery and the results of his autopsy probably won’t be known for another two weeks. Toxicology reports are going to become very important and results need to be interpreted in context of the artist medical history.

Jackson’s family members fear foul play whereas investigators are focusing on propofol (brand name Diprivan). Could propofol have played a role in Michael Jackson’s death? Are prescription drugs to blame or a mix of drugs? Did doctors play any role on Jackson’s death?

A psychiatric autopsy might also be performed. This type of study can provide clues about Jackson’s mental state prior to death.

Stay tuned, we will be posting updates.

Send us your ideas, articles or suggestions to forensicscienceblog@gmail.com