Crime Scenes: Science and Engineering

Crime Scenes: Science and Engineering
Westinghouse Science Honors Institute
Special Agent Andrea Dammann
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh,
When A Crime Occurs:
There exists a scene containing the evidence of
the crime…
and
Th crime
The
i
laboratory
l b
t
ready
d to
t examine
i the
th
evidence for the information it contains.
But, there is a gap between the two.
The gap between the crime scene and
the laboratory is filled by the work of
the Evidence Response Teams
ERT
How does the evidence get from the
crime scene to the lab?
• Someone must properly document the
original conditions at the scene and the work
done to collect the evidence from the scene.
• Someone must decide which items at the
scene are evidence and which are not.
• Someone must decide how to properly
collect the evidence, and then do it.
• Someone must be qualified and able to tell a
jury how it was all done in order to have the
evidence accepted
p
into court.
¾ERTs
do all of the above!
Underwater Search and Evidence
R
Response
Team
T
(USERT)
• Provides
P id tteams off certified
tifi d di
divers
• Forensically trained
• Equipped
E i
d with
ith state-of-the-art
t t f th
t professional
f
i
l
dive team equipment
• Four Established Teams:
• New York
• Miami
• Los Angeles
• Washington Field Office
H
Human
Remains
R
i Detection
D t ti
z
Canine capable of
scenting the odor of
h
human
d
decomposition.
iti
z
Can recognize
decomposition odor in
various forms (ie body,
b d parts,
body
t bl
blood
d etc).
t )
z
Buried or submerged
under water.
Human Scent Evidence Team
z
Specially trained human
scent discriminating
canines
z
Non-destructive scent
collection techniques.
z
Techniques to provide
investigative leads by
conducting
d ti scent-match
t
t h
checks
T
Training…
i i
Initial
• 80-Hour
80 H
B
Basic
i C
Course - Two
T
Weeks
W k
• Crime Scene
Management
• Documentation
• Search
S
hT
Techniques
h i
• Evidence Issues
• Recovery
Reco er
• Packaging
• Preservation
• Forensic Skills
Training
Training…Advanced
Ad
d
– Forensic
Anthropology
– Post Blast and
Large Vehicle
Bombing
Investigations
T
Training…
i i
Advanced
– Advance Crime
Scene Photography
– Bloodstain Pattern
Interpretation
Bloodstain Pattern Analysis
Can be used to reconstruct the crime:
Type of force used
Point(s) of origin
Number of blows
Sequence of events
Position of victim and perpetrator
Movement of people and objects
Medium Velocity High
V l it
Velocity
Low Velocity
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
(imagesource:PeelRegionalPolice,2002)
Surface Texture
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
N
X
Y
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
X
162.6cm
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
X
162.6cm
40.6cm
Y
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
Di
Direction
i off T
Travell
Stain shape will indicate direction of
travel
–Round – 90 deg
–Elongated
g
- angle
g
–Round smooth end – toward the origin
–Tail
a end
e d po
points
ts in tthe
ed
direction
ect o o
of ttravel
a e
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
Angle
A
l off
I
Impact
t
Determining Angle of Impact
Angle of Impact
Opposite Side
Hypotenuse
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
FORMULAS YOU NEED TO KNOW
PptPptcreatedbyHochrein(2005)
created by Hochrein (2010)
Determining Angle of Impact
Step 1.
Measure the length and width of
each bloodstain.
Step 2.
Divide the width by the length to
calculate the sine of the impact angle.
(Th sine
(The
i is
i the
th function
f
ti
off an acute
t angle
l iin a right
i ht triangle,
ti
l
equal to the ratio of the opposite leg to the hypotenuse.)
Width = .56cm
Length = 3.21cm
Sine = .1744548
Inverse Sine of .1744548
1744548 = Angel of Impact
Measure the mass of the
drop, not the total length.
10
Angle of Impact = ____
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
PptcreatedbyHochrein(2005)
Determining the
P i t or A
Point
Area off Convergence
C
Step 1.
Calculate the angle of impact.
Step 2.
Using strings, lasers, or draw
through the long axes of the bloodstains,
fi d where
find
h
they
th intersect
i t
t (point
( i t off
convergence).
(imagesource:James&Eckert,1999)
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
139.7cm
72.4cm
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
Determining the
P i t or Area
Point
A off O
Origin
i i
Step
p 3.
Measure the distance from the base of
the individual bloodstains to the point of
convergence (This will represent the value of the
Y axis in calculating the point of origin).
origin).
(imagesource:James&Eckert,1999)
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
35.6cm
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
FORMULAS YOU NEED TO KNOW
PptPptcreatedbyHochrein(2005)
created by Hochrein (2010)
Determining the
P i t or Area
Point
A off O
Origin
i i
Step 5.
Calculate the point or area of origin
(the elevation in space which is the Z axis) using the
following equation:
Tangent of the Angle of Impact
(Tan of 21 degrees = .3839
.3839))
X
Distance from p
point of convergence
g
to bloodstain (Y axis) = 35.6cm
Point of Origin
(Distance from Surface) = 13.67cm
(Z axis)
Ppt created by Hochrein (2010)
Cast--Off Patterns
Cast
zCreated
by blood thrown from a bloody
object during “whip
whip-like
like” termination of a
back stroke
zCharacterized by linear (in
(in-line)
line) stain pattern
zShape of drops change from round on the
end
d near origin
i i to
t elongated
l
t d att ffar end
d
z Can tell:
– Minimum number of blows
– Where the killer was when the blows were
administered
d i i t
d
Specialized
S i li d Equipment
E i
Total Station
Hochrein 2002
HOW IT WORKS
Ppt created by Hochrein (2005)
Southeast Isometric
View of
Foyer
What is DNA?
A
T
G
C
A
C
T
A
G
T
G
A
C
C
G
T
z
z
z
z
z
z
DeoxyriboNucleic
D
ib N l i Acid
A id
found in most cells
two strands form a twisted ladder
ladder rungs made of pairs of
“bases”-- building blocks of DNA
4 bases -- G, C, A, T
bases are used as an alphabet
order of bases is important
123-1234 vs. 321-4321
Sources of DNA
XX
Nuclear
z 2 copies of each gene
z inherited from both
parents
z unique
q to individual
Mitochondrial
z 100’s
100’ tto 1000
copies/cell
z maternally inherited
z not unique to individual
Maternal Inheritance
1st
generation
2nd
g
generation
Advantages of mtDNA
• Can get results in situations where unable to get
nuclear DNA
-hair teeth
-hair,
teeth, bones,
bones degraded DNA
• Missing persons cases
-because mtDNA is maternally inherited,
can use maternal relative as known to
compare to remains
• Highly variable between unrelated individuals
Femur Comparison
Human female
Large
g Dog
g
Deer
Small Dog
Sheep
Pig
Black Bear
Sarah Rae Boehm
Local Case – Western PA and
WV
USAir
USAi Flight
Fli h 427
September 8, 1994
– Enroute
E
t ffrom Chi
Chicago
– Crashed in Hopewell Twp.
– All on board were killed
• 127 passengers
• 5 crew members
b
– ERT worked with FBI Disaster
Squad in to identify victims
I S
Ira
Swearingen
i
– Disappeared
December 12, 1999
–S
Search
h off burn
b
barrels
January 1, 2000
Greene County – November 29, 2000
Shell Casing
Skeletal Remains
F
Francis
i Williams
Willi
z
Francis Williams
– Killed August 18, 1999
– Search of home January 14-15, 2000
Oh L
Other
Locall C
Cases. . .
z Jessica Newell – Martinsburg, WV
1997
z Shenee Freeman
– Oil City, PA
- 1997
z Tausha Lanham - 1998
– WV and Burgettstown,
Burgettstown PA
Oh L
Other
Locall C
Cases. . .
z Joyce Wroczynski
– Putnam County,
County WV
- 2001
z Annette Bright – 2001
– Westmoreland County, PA
Collar
C ll Bomb
B b
August
g
28,, 2003
Oh L
Other
Locall C
Cases. . .
z
Kelly Jo Elliott –
– Killed 5/2006
Ohio County, WV
– Body
y recovered 11/2006
Clearfield County, PA
z
Gabrielle Becen – 6/2006
– Green County, PA
Joshua Michael Ridings
February 20, 2007 – Wheeling, WV
Major Cases
National
International
World Trade Center
New York, New York
February 26, 1993
Murrah Federal
Building
Oklahoma City, OK
April 19, 1995
UNABOM – Theodore Kaczynski
&DELQLQ0RQWDQD
&DELQ
LQ 0RQWDQD
$SULO
Khobar Towers
SAUDI ARABIA
June
Ju
e 25,
5, 1996
996
TWA Flight 800
1(:<25.
-XO\ -XO\
US Embassy Bombings
August 7, 1998
1DLUREL .HQ\D
1DLUREL.HQ\D
'$5(66$/$$0
'$5
(6 6$/$$0
7$1=$1,$
Kosovo
Kosovo
War Crimes
1999
USS Cole - Yemen
October 12, 2000
September 11,
11 2001
World
W ld T
Trade
d Center
C
Th Pentagon
The
P
U it d Flight
United
Fli ht 93
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Evidence Response Teams
z Pittsburgh
g
z Detroit
z Cincinnati
z Indianapolis
z Chicago
z Knoxville
z Cleveland
z Louisville
I
Impact
Si
Site
Th Operation…
The
O
i
Space Shuttle Columbia
F b
February
1,
1 2003
Riyadh,
Riyadh Saudi Arabia
May 12, 2003
Eric
E i Rudolph
R d l h
z
Olympic Park Bombing
Atlanta, GA 1996
z
Abortion Clinic Bombings
Atlanta and Birmingham
1996-1998
z
Captured May 31, 2003
Murphy, NC
H
Humanitarian
it i Mission
Mi i
Tsunami
2005
I35W Bridge
B id Collapse
C ll
z
Minneapolis, MN
– August
A
t 2007
z
ERT
– Total Station Mapping
of Scene
z
USERT
– Victim Recovery
– Evidence Recovery
M R
Most
Recently….
l
•DC
DC M
Metro
t C
Crash
h
•Afghanistan
•Iraq
q
Questions?
Q ti ?