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The real CSI : a forensic handbook for crime writers
Who is allowed access to a crime scene? What happens when a body is discovered? Will a blood transfusion alter DNA? How can the distribution of gunshot residue inform your plot? This book answers these questions and more in a unique and exclusive insight into crime scene investigation.
Book
Differentiation of homicidal or suicidal strangulation
•The differentiation between suicidal, accidental and homicidal hanging cases can be very challenging.•The majority of hanging cases have suicidal background.•In hanging cases a thorough crime scene investigation and autopsy is essential.•Further investigations subsequent to the autopsy are required.
Hanging can be suicidal, accidental, or homicidal, and these backgrounds must be discriminated by police and forensic pathologists. We herein report a case involving a 33-year-old man who was found dead on the floor behind the entrance door of an apartment house. The man’s brother declared that he had found him hanging in the gap between the stairs on the top floor. When his brother tried to cut him down, the victim fell three floors down through the gap between the stairs. Autopsy was performed to confirm suicidal hanging and a postmortem fall into the narrow gap. In this case, however, a homicide was suspected, and the version of events told by the victim’s brother was initially doubted. Homicidal hanging may be uncommon, but intensive scene investigation and thorough autopsy are necessary in hanging cases to rule out homicide.
Journal Article
The use of forensic case data in intelligence-led policing: The example of drug profiling
To date, forensic science has predominantly focused on generating evidence for judicial proceedings. While many recognise its broader and important contribution to the initial stages of the forensic process, resources do not seem to be employed efficiently. It is often discovered retrospectively that necessary information was previously available in a database or within existing files. Such information could have been proactively used in order to solve a particular case, a number of linked cases or better understand the criminal activity as a whole. This article reviews this broader contribution of forensic science, with a particular emphasis on drug intelligence at the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Australia. Using the AFP as a model organisation, an overview of the current situation and the contribution of physical and chemical profiling are first discussed. The situation in Europe, and in particular in Switzerland, is also presented. It is argued that a change of attitude towards a more intelligence-led perspective is required in forensic science in general, and in drug profiling in particular.
Journal Article
Ned Kelly under the microscope : solving the forensic mystery of Ned Kelly's remains
Ned Kelly was hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880, and his body buried in the graveyard there. Many stories emerged about his skull being separated and used as a paperweight or trophy, and it was finally put on display at the museum of the Old Melbourne Gaol - until it was stolen in 1978. It wasn't only Ned Kelly's skull that went missing. After the closure of the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1929, the remains of deceased prisoners were exhumed and reinterred in mass graves at Pentridge Prison. The exact location of these graves was unknown until 2002, when the bones of prisoners were uncovered at the Pentridge site during redevelopment. This triggered a larger excavation that in 2009 uncovered many more coffins, and led to the return of the skull and a long scientific process to try to identify and reunite Ned Kelly's remains.
Book
Fundamentals of forensic science
Fundamentals of Forensic Science offers a complete look at the core topics of forensic science. It represents the most realistic view of the field by including areas that, while central to criminal investigation, fall outside the typical definition of criminalistics. These areas include pathology, entomology, anthropology, and other areas of scientific study unique to forensic textbooks. Organized by the timeline of a real case, the text begins with an introduction and history of forensic science. It then covers the methods of analysis used in most forensic examinations, addressing the biological, chemical and physical elements relevant to the field, and concluding with an examination of how forensic science intersects with law. Feature boxes throughout the text contain online resource listings, historical events in forensic science, practical issues in laboratory analysis, and topics for further reading or interest. This book is recommended for students in forensic science and professionals in the various forensic disciplines - fire, chemistry, crime scene, trace evidence, law enforcement personnel, lawyers, and defense attorneys.
eBook
Fatal intoxication related to two new arylcyclohexylamine derivatives (2F-DCK and 3-MeO-PCE)
Continuous development and rapid turnover of drug market of new psychoactive substances (NPS) make it difficult to obtain up-to-date analytical methods for efficient detection of intoxication cases with new substances: no analytical data and no previously published concentration values in biological samples are indeed available. In this context, we aim to report the first fatal case involving two newly emerging arylcyclohexylamine derivatives (a group of dissociative ketamine-based substances): 2-fluoro-deschloroketamine (2F-DCK) and 3-methoxyeticyclidine (3-MeO-PCE). A 42-year-old man was found dead at his home with three plastic bags of “research chemicals” powders near him. Comprehensive screenings of drugs and toxic compounds as well as more selective assays (performed using NMR, HS-GC-FID, LC-MS/MS and LC-HRMS methods) allowed (1) to identify the three unknown powders, 2F-DCK, 3-MeO-PCE, and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT, a hallucinogenic tryptamine-related NPS), with purity above 95%, and (2) to determine peripheral blood (1780, 90, and 52 µg/L), urine (6.1, 6.3, and 2.2 mg/L), bile (12, 3.5, and 1.7 mg/L), and vitreous humour (1500, 66 and 155 µg/L) concentrations of 2F-DCK, 3-MeO-PCE and 5-MeO-DMT, respectively. In addition, toxicological results also revealed recent use of cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamine by the victim, and hair analysis draw pathway of addiction (including experiments with various other NPS) for several months before death. This fatality was considered as the consequence of respiratory depression in a poly-drug user due to a “cocktail effect” of concurrent intakes of 2F-DCK (mainly), 3-MeO-PCE, 5-MeO-DMT, amphetamine, and cocaine. In addition, this case report provides analytical data that could support subsequent toxicological result interpretation in forensic cases involving such arylcyclohexylamine derivatives.
Journal Article
Forensic experiments on animal scavenging: A systematic literature review on what we have and what we need
Vertebrate scavengers frequently affect forensic casework by feeding on human remains or by scattering body parts and bones. Therefore, animal activity can influence complete recovery of bodies, trauma analysis, and the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI), potentially hampering identification of the deceased and elucidation of the perimortem circumstances. Experimental research is well suited to investigate scavengers and their impact on carcasses over time, generating knowledge on the forensic relevance of certain scavenger species or communities. However, there are currently no systematised standards to conduct these investigations with a forensic focus, impeding comparison and synthesis of the studies. In our work, we performed a systematic literature review and found 79 publications featuring terrestrial experiments on vertebrate scavenging and/or scattering within a forensic context. We extracted 21 variables describing the study environment, experimental design and the specimens. The results show that there is considerable inconsistency in the study designs and that some of the variables are insufficiently reported. We point out research questions and areas that require attention in future studies, stressing the importance of infrequently mentioned or applied variables. Furthermore, we recommend guidelines to include and report a list of variables in forensic scavenging and scattering experiments. These guidelines will help standardising future research in the field, facilitating inter-study consolidation of results and conclusions, and consequently, inform forensic casework.
•Vertebrate scavengers are an important taphonomic variable.•We conducted a systematic literature following PRISMA guidelines.•There are 79 publications on forensic scavenging and scattering experiments.•Study designs are inconsistent and methodology is often poorly reported.•We provide a guideline to standardize future scavenging and scattering experiments.
Journal Article
Statistical support for identification using epigenetic traits of the human skeleton
Radiologic comparison is a potentially reliable means of identification in forensic contexts. Most radiologic comparisons are subjective and involve a qualitative visual comparison of the degree of similarity between antemortem and postmortem images, which is insufficient for quantitatively assessing the evidentiary value of an identification. Rather than simply concluding that antemortem and postmortem radiologic comparisons appear the same in the opinion of the examiner, results should be expressed quantitatively. This bolsters conclusions by providing statistical support for the probability of correct identification. Epigenetic trait variation is assessed by a forensic anthropologist during the examination of unknown human skeletal remains and may be useful in establishing positive identification, and/or in providing investigative direction. A key factor in this regard is the frequency of the trait(s) being compared in a given population. The present study utilizes epigenetic trait data from a preceding publication to demonstrate a method of statistically quantifiable positive identification based on epigenetic trait frequencies, ultimately demonstrating the utility of this method in practice. Utilizing a case study approach, the present authors demonstrate the benefits of a combined likelihood approach and propose standards for the presentation of likelihood ratios and verbal equivalent statements, to promote consistency in the reporting of results.
•Epigenetic traits may be used for positive identification in forensic casework.•Traits may support putative identification at the scene, contributing to timely case resolution.•A combined likelihood ratio helps to assess and communicate the strength of an identification.•Standards are proposed for presentation of likelihood ratios and related statements.
Journal Article
Source camera attribution using a rule-based explainable convolutional neural network
In recent years, there has been a push towards adopting artificial intelligence (AI) models in digital forensics (DF), particularly deep learning (DL) models. While these models assist DF experts, their lack of transparency raises concerns about reliability. Although eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has progressed, current methods remain limited for DF applications. Existing visual XAI techniques do not provide sufficient clarity for challenging image forensics tasks such as Source Camera Identification (SCI), nor do they offer mechanisms to assess whether a model’s decision is correct. Most methods simply highlight influential regions without enabling examiners to validate the decision itself. Rule-based explainability is a promising strategy for increasing transparency, yet deploying it on real-world Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) is still challenging. Prior studies remain largely experimental and often require modifying the model to extract rules, conflicting with the integrity requirements of DF workflows. To address these gaps, this paper introduces a framework to make CNN models used in the analysis stage of digital forensics explainable. The framework, by following three fundamental steps—layers trace detection, layers majority voting, and rule extraction—provides structured and transparent visual output, and rule-based textual explainability that is understandable to the user. Based on this, the first explainable Source Camera Identification (SCI) model is introduced which is a challenging DF task to make it explainable. The explainable output allows for the rejection or confirmation of the main model’s prediction based on the decisions of the layers and compliance with the principle of integrity to the DF examiner. In addition, with the identification of 27 out of 37 incorrect predictions by the base model, the precision of the model was improved from 97.33% to 99.2%.
Journal Article