A pioneering forensic scientist at Northamptonshire Police and the University of Leicester is being called on by US force officers to tackle a decade-old murder case.
Dr John Bond, Scientific Support Manager at Northamptonshire Police and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester Forensic Research Centre, is collaborating with Bristol Police Department, Connecticut.
He is being asked to probe the murder of a well-known and respected businessman who was shot in the bedroom of his own home. Later this month a detective from Connecticut, Detective Garrie Dorman, will meet with Dr Bond at Northampton in order see if his pioneering research technique can shed new light on the crime.
Dr Bond has developed a method that enables scientists to ‘visualise fingerprints’ on metal (eg bullet casings) even after the print itself has been removed. He and colleagues conducted a study into the way fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small calibre metal cartridge case before it is fired.
Detective Dorman said: “On February 10, 1998, Louis "Pete" LaFontaine was found shot to death in his home on Stafford Avenue in Bristol, Connecticut. Mr. LaFontaine was a resident of Bristol for many years and owned operated a successful appliance repair shop on Park Street. Mr. LaFontaine was well known throughout the City of Bristol, and his murder shocked the community and devastated his friends and family. The Bristol Police have conducted an extensive investigation into the murder of Mr. LaFontaine, but despite interviewing countless individuals, analyzing forensic evidence, and executing a number of search warrants, the murder remains unsolved. Despite this, the murder is still being actively investigated by Bristol Police Detectives and the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Dr Bond has already worked with a number of US police forces on reopening ‘cold cases’ and has found latent prints on shell casings. Dr Bond said "We very much look forward to Detective Dorman's visit and hope we are able to assist his enquiry. We have found fingerprints on shell casings in a number of cases recently that are assisting police in the US and are confident that if fingerprint corrosion is present on Detective Dorman's casings we will find it."
The Force hopes to sell the process – which has been patented worldwide – to interested buyers who could run the operation on a commercial basis or manufacture units to sell on to law enforcement agencies worldwide. This could generate benefits for both organisations
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090115092701.htm
4 comments:
This article was very interesting. The author did a good job of giving a detailed overview of the situation and explaining how Dr. Bond's new technique could help solve the old crime. She stated early on the location of the crime, gave the background, and showed Dr. Bond's history to illustrate how he could be useful in this situation. There is nothing she needed to improve upon. I learned about the new technique for finding fingerprints of metal even after the original fingerprint was lifted.
Very nicely done, Kelly. You did a great job explaining what happened in this article, as well as what needs to happen.
Again, nicely done!
I really feel the author chose an interesting topic to report on. We have been studying fingerprints for a while now and it's interesting to learn about a new process for recovering latent fingerprints. Also, the topic of this post correlates with the current lab we are doing. Next, I feel that the article was well-summarized. A lot of information was included in this post. Finally, I think it was nice the author including some direct quotes. It was interesting to hear from an expert. To improve, perhaps the author could have talked a little bit more about how scientists can "visualize" fingerprints on metal. Also, maybe the author could have given her opinion on how this new process will help forensic science. I did not know that there is a new process for recovering latent fingerprints on metal.
Right away, I desired to read this article for the idea of detecting fingerprints even after they have been removed boggled my mind. We always hear about criminals who removed their fingerprints from the crime scene, but thanks to the help of Dr.John Bond, we are able to detect and analyze prints based on how they corroded the metal surface they came in contact with. The summary of this article was well written and very indepth in explaining how this process worked and how it is put to good use. Although, the summary of this article was very indepth, kelly made sure to maintain the interest of the reader and to mention only the important topics. However, I do feel Kelly could have left out the section in which she talks about the personal life and social standing of Mr.LaFontaine, for it renders little significance to the forensic breakthrough being glorified in this article. In addition, If kelly is going to state that many similar cases have been reopened thanks to this new form of fingerprint testing, she should give some background on the cases she is refering to. Overall, I enjoyed reading Kelly's summary of "Corrosion Leaves Fingerprints on Bullet Casings" because it maintained my attention the whole time and constantly satisfied me with interesting information.
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