Crime scene investigation

The Clues
Clue 1: High heeled shoe indicates a female victim or criminal.

Clue 2: Note that says “Someone please help me”, matches Tyese Jefferson’s handwriting.

Clue 2A: Note that says “You will never find her” indicates a murder and that the victim was female. The handwriting matches Smokey Johnson

Clue 3: Fingerprint- Plain whorl pattern, matches Smokey Johnson’s print

Clue 3A: Fingerprint- Ulnar loop that matches Sandra O’Connor and Tyese Jefferson

Clue 4: A piece of jewelry, indicates that either the victim or criminal was a female. Also indicates that there was a struggle that caused it to fall off

Clue 5: A piece of nylon

Clue 6: A clear liquid that contained Iodine. Iodine can be used to poison someone with a thyroid problem. Tyese Jefferson had a thyroid problem, indicates that she was the victim of a poisoning intended to kill her.

Clue 7: Large footprint-13.5” long, 4.5” wide. Indicates that either victim or criminal was male

Clue 8: A+ blood sample, matches with Tyese Jefferson and Courtney Smith’s blood type. Indicates that there was a struggle, Could belong to either victim or criminal

Clue 9: A hair strand that matches with black female hair, color was dark brown, light brown, and white. Indicates that there was a struggle that caused the hair to be pulled out, also indicates that the grey hairs would belong to someone old-either Tyese Jefferson or Cindy Brown.

Clue 10: A fingerprint left on glass, could not be identified as to who it was.

The Story

Based on the evidence at hand I believe that Tyese Jefferson was the victim and that Smokey Johnson was the criminal. I believe that Smokey Johnson knew Tyese because they both worked at a school together, he was the cafeteria worker and she was the counselor. Based on the profiles and previous evidence I believe that Smokey stalked Tyese but she put out a restraining order on him which made him angry. Smokey knew that Tyese had a thyroid problem so he poisoned her food with iodine when she went to the school cafeteria to get food, I based this observation off of clue #6. Because Tyese had a thyroid problem the iodine made her sick and she went home early that day. Then based on clue #7 I believe that Smokey went to Tyese’s house and entered her house leaving a footprint on her front yard. Once Tyese and noticed Smokey in her front yard she wrote a note saying “Someone please help me”, this observation was based off of clue #2. Based on Clue #3 Smokey then entered the house leaving a fingerprint on the doorknob. After this based off of clue #9, there was a struggle in which Tyese’s hair was ripped out and her earring fell off. Because of clue #1, and #8 I believe that Tyese tried to run and her but her shoe slipped off of her foot and she fell and her head hit a table killing her and leaving a blood spatter on the table. After this Smokey Johnson had to cover up his crime so he wrote a note saying "you will never find her" then he took her body and buried it in the back yard.

Create A Profile
Given 5 clues that involved a review of my newly obtained knowledge on forensics: fingerprints, hair/ fiber evidence and lipstick my group and I were required to identify the individual who might have committed the murder.

Clue 1: A set of 4 prints, thumb is missing. Through careful observations my group and I determined that the fingerprints were produced from the right hand. Once identified these four prints included 2 whorls and 2 tented arches.  





Clue 2: Being a hair/ fiber sample the evidence had to be observed underneath a microscope to distinguish that this sample was in fact a hair sample that was most likely color treated. 





 






Clue 3: A torn up note was also found and after assembling the pieces the note read, "You will never find her!"







Clue 4: Following the same steps for Clue 2 this sample was identified as African American hair.













Clue 5: This piece of evidence could either be a blood stain or a lipstick smudge. Further investigation would be required to determine the mark.









Drug Lab 

     Through the use of 3 stimulated drugs: "cocaine", "LSD" and "methamphetamine", also known as "meth" my group and I were required to use each drug reagent in order to see if each sample would test positive for any of drug reagents. We were unable to test substances for meth because its reagent wasn't available at the time. Before I was able to start testing the substances I had to put a small amount of the substance into a beaker and shake. This step allowed myself and other classmates to have more drug to work with. After placing a couple of drops on the clear test plates we added each of the reagents to the drops and took its pH to determine if the substances were cocaine or LSD. By completing this lab I was able to get the feel on how forensic scientists are able to determine if an unknown substance is a drug.




Data


With drug analysis we used various indicators on various samples to test for the presence of cocaine, which turns blue, LSD, which turns yellow, and meth. We also tested the pH using pH paper. Test Results:

Drug	pH	Cocaine	LSD	Meth
1	6 (no change)	Positive	Negative
2	9 (dark green)	Positive	Negative
3	3 (orange)	Negative	Positive
4	8 (lime green)	Positive	Negative
5	6 (no change)	Positive	Negative
6	3.5 (orange)	Negative	Positive

Poison Lab

     Prior to starting this lab we were asked to think of possible poisons. But first it helps to know the definition of a poison: a substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, causes death or injury. Here are a few that myself and group members came up with: Pesticide, bug bites, antifreeze, and lead. A poison can also be a material that an individual is allergic to for instance, sugar for diabetics, and milk for individuals who are Lactose Intolerant. Symptoms of poison can be enlarged pupils, bleeding out of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears, nausea and a difference in skin tone.
     For this activity we were to test to see if the any of the six given substances were poisonous. For aspirin, iodine, sugar, cyanide,  a household cleaning product and metal poison, each substance had their own indicators located nearby. By completing this lab I realized that poison can play a major role in revealing criminals because there was probably a reason on my a criminal might have used the poison for an individual case. For example, maybe the killer knew that the victim was diabetic so he/ she overdosed the individual as their means of murder. This could now limit forensic scientists to look for individuals who were close to the victim and knew that he/she was diabetic.

Lip Print Lab

  For this lab I was required to identify the properties of mine and others lips. In order for this process of identification to take place I and others were required to apply lipstick and kiss a blank notecard to leave a lip print. By leaving my print I was able to observe the characteristics of my lip as well as my fellow classmates. A few examples of the characteristics that I saw in the classroom were chapped lips, cold sores, cuts, the differences in the gap between the upper and lower lip and the general shape of the lip. After that test we were required to do the same procedure again and try to identify someone's lip print based on the prior lab. My group wasn't all that successful in matching the lip prints we guessed and got 50% correct because each lip had a distinct characteristic that stood out from the others, yet even with these the prints looked similar to each other therefore causing us to guess

Witness Lab

Witness Lab

     The purpose for this lab was to test to see if we were adequate witnesses. The three of us were able to successfully reconstruct the faces without any errors. Confirming that our group should do relatively well in identifying a suspect.

      For this lab each person in our group cut out one picture that was similar in size, skin tone and had similar facial expressions as the rest of the people. Once all of the faces were cut out, the next step was to cut out the individual's hair, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth and ears. One group member had to construct a face using the variety of facial parts for another, and were given 10 seconds to memorize the face before the face was scrambled. After this step they had to pick out the parts and reconstruct the face to the best of their abilities.

Footprint Lab

Footprint Lab

This lab involved the siting of a footprint and what the procedure would be when at a crime scene. To start the lab off students from the prior class collected dirt in bins to simulate a sectioned part of the crime scene where the print was found. A footprint could give a forensic scientist a good amount of information depending on how well the impression is. Things like the way the perpetrator walks, the brand of the shoe, the size of the shoe, and possibly even different back issues that the perpetrator may be suffering from. At times even the brand name and shoe size may be seen! The pattern left by the sole can also determine the type of shoe the attacker was wearing.  Since this was a simulated test the only direction the print had to face was north. My group was able to successfully record and produce a print that was seen clearly in order to analyze the impression.

Handwriting Analysis

The differences in handwriting play a role in everyday life. Checks and official documents are confirmed by a signature. Items with the signature of famous athletes and celebrities can sell for thousands of dollars. Experts can identify if a signature is the authentic signature of someone by examining distinguishing characteristics of the handwriting. This analysis is also used in forensic science. Whenever handwriting is found on the scene of a crime, such as a note left by a killer or a suicide note, the identity of the writer can be found by comparing it to a sample from the suspected writer's handwriting.

Characteristics of Handwriting:

Line Quality: Can be used to identify the speed that the document was written at

Spacing of Words and Letters: How far apart are words and letters from one another? Is the spacing between them consistent?

Ratio of Relative Size of Letters

Pen Lifts and Separations: Where are letters connected or separated? Where did the writer lift up his hand? Pen lifts in unusual places are a key sign of forgery.

Connecting Strokes: How are letters connected to each other?

Beginning and Ending Strokes: Straight or curled, long or short, upstroke or down-stroke

Unique Letters: Are any letters formed in unusual ways or with unusual strokes?

Shading/Pen Pressure: How dark is the shading? Is the pressure placed on the upstroke or down-stroke?

Slant of Letters and Words: Left, right, or none? How sharp is the angle of the slant?

Baseline Habits: Does the writing stay in the middle or do strokes go above or below the line?

Flourishes and Embellishments

Diacritic Placement: How/where are i's dotted and t's crossed?

 

Handwriting Analysis Lab

To practice handwriting analysis, we conducted a lab in which we first wrote a sample sentence and attempted to forge the handwriting of others, both freehand and by tracing. We then wrote a fake check using a false name, ripped up the checks, and attempted to piece together the check and identify who wrote it. The ripped up check simulated an environment in which a handwriting sample was ripped up or shredded.

Forgery Lab

     For the forgery lab each person was allowed to create a fake check. After the checks were made, we were instructed to rip the check up into pieces there after each group traded with another group and were given the task to determine who forged the checks. By using the the list above as a guide in identification process.  Since each person had distinctive characteristics in their writing it became quite easy to identify the individual. Noticeable characteristics were identified, such as the way the person left their "q's", "y's" and "g's" endings shorter and didn't allow the "tails" of the letters to loop. The spacing and slant of the words were also evident and directed my group to the individual who conducted the forgery.

Famous Case
   

     Charles Lindbergh Jr. was the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator who was kidnapped on March 1, 1932 and although a ransom of $50,000 paid, Charles was never returned. In May his body was found just a few miles from home. From tracking the circulation of the bills used in the ransom payment, authorities were led to Bruno Hauptmann. Authorities discovered over $14,000 of the ransom money in his garage. Even though Hauptmann claimed the money belonged to a friend, handwriting analysts were able to match his writing to the ransom notes. Through additional forensic research there was a connection between the wood in Hauptmann’s attic and the wood used in the make-shift ladder the kidnappers built to reach the Lindbergh’s bedroom window. Hauptmann was convicted and executed in 1936.

Hair and Fiber

Summary

An important part of forensic science is the analysis of hairs and fibers found on different crime scenes. When a crime is committed, the perpetrator will always leave some trace in the form of hair or fiber. Even if there is no trace of the perpetrator, fibers from the victim can also be an important clue to who committed the crime and how it occurred. Analysis of hair and fibers has played a key role in many investigations since it first became used widely in the 20th century. 

Use of Fibers in Investigations

Fibers can link a suspect to a victim when a certain fiber is found on both the victim and the suspect. Fibers can easily be transferred from one person to another though physical contact. There are several considerations that investigators use to determine if there is a link between a victim and a suspect of item. These include.

• Type of Fiber
• Fiber Color
• Location of Fiber
• Number of Fiber Associations

Using this criteria, the investigators can determine if there is a strong link between the fibers found on the crime scene and in other locations. These can also give clues to how a crime was committed. For example, if many similar fibers are found on both a victim and a suspect, it could indicate that there was significant violent physical contact between the victim and the criminal. 


 Major Types of Fibers and Hairs

Cotton

Wool

Animal

 Silk

Cashmere

 Plant

 Linen

Rayon

Some very important cases in which this type of anlysis was critical was the Ted Bundy case along with the Atlanta Child Murders Case, in which in both fibers were found specific to that specific killer.

Atlanta Child                                              Ted Bundy Case
Murders Case                     

Hair/Fiber Analysis Lab

We have conducted a series of tests on various hairs and fibers by viewing them under a microscope and then drawing the fiber in detail. Every fiber and hair is unique, and we learned to distinguish between hair of different races and genders.

History of fingerpritin'

1750 BC

Babylonians used fingerprints as their signature on clay tablets.

220

When the Chinese first started to use ink prints, fingerprints soon became forgotten

1686

Malpighius started to describe fingerprints, but stopped after portraying their ridges

1823

J.E. Purkynie discovered the possibility to classify fingerprints

1874

Henry Faulds, “The Father of Fingerprinting,” kept records of fingerprints and concluded that fingerprint patterns were unchangeable and that visible fingerprints could best be left with printer's ink on a smooth board. He received credit for the first identification of a fingerprint as he proved to be able to lift a fingerprint from a bottle of whiskey.

1858

Sir William Herschel insisted that workers sign contracts with fingerprints, in India, as he wanted to make sure they got their legitimate pensions; this became the first documentation application of fingerprints

1877

Sir William Herschel first suggested taking and storing the fingerprints of prisoners

1880

Doctor Henry Faulds published British literature on the use of fingerprinting

1882

Gilbert Thompson used thumbprints on checks to avoid fraud in the USA.

1882

The first evidence of the use of fingerprints in the United States was by New Mexico surveyor Gilbert Thompson who purposely covered his survey with his prints in order prevent forgery

1888

Sir Francis Galton developed fingerprint classification so that they could be identified and retrieved in a reasonable amount of time

1892

The first recorded use of fingerprint identification in a criminal matter was when Argentinean Police Commodore Juan Vucetich took prints off a door post to find a murderer.

1896

by Sir Edward Richard Henry identified and classified the four basic patterns of fingerprints: the arch, the loop, the whorls, and the composites.

1924

Congress allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) to establish an Identification Division. This combined all fingerprinting files which made it much easier to identify a certain set in the database, which today is completely computerized.

Fingerprints

Latent prints

Although the word latent means hidden or invisible, in modern usage for forensic science the term latent prints means any chance or accidental impression left by ridges in the skin on a surface, regardless of whether it is visible or invisible at the time of deposition. Electronic, chemical and physical processing techniques permit visualization of invisible latent print residues whether they are from natural sweat on the skin or from a contaminant such as motor oil, blood, ink, paint or some other form of dirt. The different types of fingerprint patterns, such as arch, loop and whorl, is described below.

Patent prints

Patent prints are chance friction ridge impressions which are obvious to the human eye and which have been caused by the transfer of foreign material from a finger onto a surface. Some obvious examples would be impressions from flour and wet clay. Because they are already visible and have no need of enhancement they are generally photographed rather than being lifted in the way that latent prints are. An attempt to preserve the actual print is always made for later presentation in court, and there are many techniques used to do this. Patent prints can be left on a surface by materials such as ink, dirt, or blood.

Plastic prints

A plastic print is a friction ridge impression left in a material that retains the shape of the ridge detail. Although very few criminals would be careless enough to leave their prints in a lump of wet clay, this would make a perfect plastic print. Commonly encountered examples are melted candle wax, putty removed from the perimeter of window panes and thick grease deposits on car parts. Such prints are already visible and need no enhancement, but investigators must not overlook the potential that invisible latent prints deposited by accomplices may also be on such surfaces. After photographically recording such prints, attempts should be made to develop other non-plastic impressions deposited from sweat or other contaminants.





1. Arch 
In arches, the ridges of the finger run continuous from one side of the finger to the other with no curving. There are two sub-groups that further define the arch pattern:

Plain Arch - this pattern has a consistency of flow to it. It starts on one side of the finger, and then the ridge cascades upward slightly, almost resembling a wave out on the ocean. The plain arch then continues its journey along the finger to the other side. The plain arch is the simplest of the fingerprint patterns to discern.


Tented Arch - this pattern is similar to the plain arch in that it starts on one side of the finger and flows out in a similar pattern to the other side. However, the difference in the tented arch lies in the ridges in the center, which are not continuous as in the case of the plain arch. The ridges, which adjoin each other in the center, converge and thrust upward, giving the impression of a pitched tent.

2. Loop
In loops, the ridges make a backward turn but do not twist. This backward turn, or loop, is differentiated by how the loop flows on the hand and not how it flows on the card on which the imprint is taken. The imprint on the fingerprint card is similar to the reverse image we see when we look in the mirror at ourselves. There are two sub-groups that were identified in this category:
 
Radial Loop - these are loops that flow toward the radius bone of the hand or, in other words, when the downward slope of the loop is from the direction of the little finger toward the thumb of the hand.

Ulnar Loop - these are loops that flow toward the ulna bone of the hand or, in other words, when the downward slope of the loop is from the direction of the thumb toward the little finger of the hand.

3. Whorls
In whorls, there are patterns in which there are two or more deltas (first ridge nearest the divergence point of two type lines) and there exists a recurve preceding each delta. There are four sub-groups of whorls:

Plain Whorl -  in these whorls, the ridges make a turn of one complete circuit and, therefore, are circular or spiral in shape. The plain whorl is the simplest form of whorl and the most common. There are at least two deltas and a ridge whose circuit may be spiral, oval or circular in shape.

Non- Porous

Prints are easily left on non-porous surfaces such as glass, wood, and painted areas. In order to recover those prints, the method of dusting is normally required.

Dusting is a common method to find fingerprints on non-porous surfaces. It starts by the area where the print  is located and then is lightly dusted with a dusting brush. Thereafter, the corresponding colored powder is applied then lifted with tape and set against a contrasting background to make the print easily visible.

Black Dust: White or Light colored Surfaces

Grey or White Dust: Dark Surfaces

Fluorescent Dust: Multi-Colored Surfaces

Magnetic Dust: Leather or Rough Surfaces

Porous

Prints left on fiber-like surfaces such as paper,cloth or blinds are called porous. In order to recover these prints, the use of chemicals are necessary. Various chemical methods for recovering fingerprints are Iodine Fuming, Ninhydrin, Silver Nitrate, and Super Glue Fuming.

Iodine Fuming—The material that needs to be fingerprinted is placed into an enclosed cabinet along with iodine crystals. The crystals are heated and soon turn into a gaseous vapor. The vapor then causes the prints to appear.   

Ninhydrin- This method starts by spraying the chemical onto the surface of the material via an aerosol can. After a few hours, the prints begin to become visual. This process can be accelerated if the prints are heated up after application of the chemical.

Silver Nitrate- Mostly used as a last resort method when both Iodine Fuming and Silver Nitrate have failed. The silver nitrate is sprayed onto the surface of the porous material and is then left to dry. It is later exposed to ultraviolet light, which exposes the prints and allows examination.

Super Glue Fuming (also used on non-porous materials)-Super glue is placed on cotton and is treated with sodium hydroxide. The fumes are then created by heating the treated cotton.The fumes and object are placed inside a heated chamber for up to six hours and the fumes adhere to the print, exposing it.