Forensic Science Blog

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.”

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

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

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