A new breakthrough has been made for forensic science when they made a new library in Iowa. They are building a library that has ink profiles that will make testing documents and inks a much easier process. A new process is being made called DART (Direct Analysis in Real Time). This helps find the composition of ink easier and faster than normal and produces an answer just as efficient as any other process in the past. The process includes pointing a hot steam of helium or nitrogen atoms at the ink. By doing this it evaporates the ink and the this evaporated ink goes through a mass spectrometer to find the composition of the ink easily. This process is more effective and quicker, but it also doesn't destroy the look of the evidence. It leaves the look of evidence but gets the results so the forensic studies can go on quicker and they wont get side tracked trying to find the composition of the ink.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
DART - Direct Analysis in Real Time
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/31633/New_ink_sampling_technique_taking_a_bite_of_out_time.html
"Fingerprint Breakthrough Could Solve Cold Cases"
http://crime.about.com/od/forensics/a/metal_prints.htm
As advances continue to progress in the field of forensic science, just recently British forensic scientists have developed a new fingerprinting technique in which prints can be identified from metal objects even if they have been washed away with water or soap. With this new technique, scientists are able to obtain fingerprints on metal objects ranging from small shell casings to large machine guns. The process consists of applying an electric charge to a metal, such as a gun, that has been coated in a fine conducting powder. As the charge is applied, the small corrosion left on the metal by fingerprints attracts the powder that ultimately reveals the appearance of the fingerprint. This procedure is made easier from the heat produced by the gun as the shot was fired. This method is particularly good for identifying suspects through examining metallic evidence for even if the criminal washes the gun with soap and water, the slight corrosion made by the fingerprint remain and can now be exposed. As the scientific support manager for the Northamptonshire Police, Dr. Bond suggests that this new technology will lead to a serious of numerous past case re-openings to further evaluate the physical evidence of metallic objects that may contain corrosion points and reveal the truth in the court room.
Cyber Forensics - Digital Fingerprints to Protect Multimedia
Researchers at University of Maryland's engineering school have come up with a new innovative digital fingerprinting technology. It could be important for helping keep safe Hollywood's assets and identify national security leak, without impinging on legitimate uses. It is really important to keep safe digital and electronic information because its becoming increasingly used, and keeping it safe is extremely difficult.
This new technology is able to track down "cyber criminals" who have been infringing on personal online information and engaging in multimedia piracy. This new idea of "cyber forensics" will protect digital resources, and track whoever is trying to steal them or get a hold of them. This will protect against many crimes.
The "digital fingerprinting" is just saying that they can use codes to figure out who is trying to obtain what information or what they are trying to steal, and they will keep a record of this person, or people, that is involved. This system can accommodate millions of users and protect videos, images, audio, special documents (i.e. maps), and even things like pay per view.
It is believed that, these new advances in digital resourced will protect against piracy happening in the future.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Intern cracks cold murder case ... after 36 years
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27335906/October 23,2008
Austin Galloway
After 36 years of despair, the family of Gerald “Jerry” Jackson finally learned who had brutally murdered the Vietnam vet in his apartment in California. Thanks to an enterprising intern at the San Diego Police Department, the closure they have waited for so long appears to be finally at hand.
The suspected killer, 60-year-old Gerald Metcalf, was arrested last week in Texas and is awaiting extradition to San Diego to stand trial. The person responsible for cracking the case is Gabrielle Wimer, a 24-year-old criminal-justice major who looks forward to a career in crime scene investigation.
Jerry Jackson was a Vietnam vet and postal worker who worked part-time at a bar. He was last seen at work at the bar on Dec. 28, 1971. When he didn’t show for his postal job, co-workers called police, who found his body in his apartment on Jan. 2, 1972. He had been stabbed 50 times and his apartment had been ransacked. Fingerprints were recovered, but there was no database to submit the prints at that time. Wimer simply resubmitted the prints to the now extensive database and they matched Metcalf.
There are many other cases that could be solved by reopening preserved evidence and using technology now that was not previously available.
Austin Galloway
After 36 years of despair, the family of Gerald “Jerry” Jackson finally learned who had brutally murdered the Vietnam vet in his apartment in California. Thanks to an enterprising intern at the San Diego Police Department, the closure they have waited for so long appears to be finally at hand.
The suspected killer, 60-year-old Gerald Metcalf, was arrested last week in Texas and is awaiting extradition to San Diego to stand trial. The person responsible for cracking the case is Gabrielle Wimer, a 24-year-old criminal-justice major who looks forward to a career in crime scene investigation.
Jerry Jackson was a Vietnam vet and postal worker who worked part-time at a bar. He was last seen at work at the bar on Dec. 28, 1971. When he didn’t show for his postal job, co-workers called police, who found his body in his apartment on Jan. 2, 1972. He had been stabbed 50 times and his apartment had been ransacked. Fingerprints were recovered, but there was no database to submit the prints at that time. Wimer simply resubmitted the prints to the now extensive database and they matched Metcalf.
There are many other cases that could be solved by reopening preserved evidence and using technology now that was not previously available.
Alcohol's Affect on Brain Volume
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081013171421.htm
A new study has been released showing that the more alcohol an individual drinks, the smaller his or her total brain volume. Brain volume already decreased by about 1.9% every 10 years, but the study suggests high alcohol consumption only compounds this effect. Lower brain volumes are also associated with higher risk of dementia and problems with learning and thinking. Scientists theorized that since moderate alcohol consumption has an effect on the risk of cardiovascular disease it may also effect the brain volume. The study which was conducted on 1839 adults began in 1971. Although men in the study were more likely to drink more alcohol, women had a higher association between alcohol consumption and brain volume decrease.This could be due to biological factors, including women's smaller size and greater susceptibility to alcohol's effects. "The public health effect of this study gives a clear message about the possible dangers of drinking alcohol," the authors write. The ultimate conclusion was that although moderate alchohol consumption may help the heart it has no known protective effects over the brain.
Tiny Tags Could Help Solve and Deter Gun Crime
New bullet tagging technology now makes it harder for criminals who use firearms. Nanotags, which are only 30 microns in diameter and invisible to the naked eye, are designed to be coated onto gun cartridges and attach themselves to the hands of the person handling the cartridge. This means that a link between the cartridge fired during the crime and the person who handled it.
This new technology can lead to a major increase in successful convictions. The tags are made up of a number of oxides to enable a connection between the cartridge and its user. The technology is designed so the DNA is not damaged in any way and it is also inexpensive.
This breakthrough was achieved by a team of engineers, chemists, scientist, and nanotechnologists from Brighten, Brunel, and York Universities.
The tagging be available for use in less than a year and scientists are trying to apply the tagging to other fields, such as knife crime.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Federal Funding to Ease DNA analysis Backlog
Local and state law agencies have been making moves to reduce nationwide backlog on cases waiting for DNA analysis. The federal government has made efforts by them giving $500 million grants to laboratories throughout the country. Many of these cases are from rape and assault cases. These cases that are on backlog for testing are letting possibly thousands of criminal offenders unpunished on the loose and maybe committing new crimes. Each DNA sample costs about $1,500 to be analyzed and that is for the 700 cases that are backlogged. This also brings up many cases in which the attackers or rapists continue to commit the crimes that they are being tested for. As the cases are backlogged in the programs, the offender went on to rape two other women one being a seventeen-year-old girl and sexually assaulted them both. Progress is trying to be made on the backlogging of DNA analysis cases but not much has really happened as of now.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Genetic Testing Anywhere: Micro-sizes Hand-held 'Lab-on-a-chip' Devices Under Development
“Genetic Testing Anywhere: Micro-sizes Hand-held 'Lab-on-a-chip' Devices Under Development” -ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2008)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080919183815.htm
Last month, Mr. Landers, a professor of chemistry and mechanical engineering and associate professor of pathology at the University of Virginia published his research on a new lab on a chip technology. He is trying to create a hand-held device that can allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public, to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory. "We are simplifying and miniaturizing the analytical processes so we can do this work in the field, away from traditional laboratories, with very fast analysis times, and at a greatly reduced cost," he said. The hand-held device would hold many analytical tools found in a lab, but it would be portable. For example, the unit would be able to test a pin-prick-size droplet of blood, and within an hour provide a DNA analysis. This would be useful to crime scene investigators who could collect and analyze even a tiny sample of blood or semen on the scene, enter the finding into a genetic database, and possibly identify the perpetrator very shortly after a crime has occurred.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080919183815.htm
Last month, Mr. Landers, a professor of chemistry and mechanical engineering and associate professor of pathology at the University of Virginia published his research on a new lab on a chip technology. He is trying to create a hand-held device that can allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public, to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory. "We are simplifying and miniaturizing the analytical processes so we can do this work in the field, away from traditional laboratories, with very fast analysis times, and at a greatly reduced cost," he said. The hand-held device would hold many analytical tools found in a lab, but it would be portable. For example, the unit would be able to test a pin-prick-size droplet of blood, and within an hour provide a DNA analysis. This would be useful to crime scene investigators who could collect and analyze even a tiny sample of blood or semen on the scene, enter the finding into a genetic database, and possibly identify the perpetrator very shortly after a crime has occurred.
The Molly Justice Murder
In Victoria, investigators are reopening one of Canada’s most famous cold cases. In 1943, Molly Justice, a 15 year old seamstress, was murdered at Swan Lake. Today, the only evidence that remains is a box filled letters, notebooks, an unidentified knife, and three leather gloves. In 1943, investigators concluded that Molly had been beaten and stabbed, but there were no signs of sexual assault. Her death was investigated for three months. Frank Hulbert, a 15 year old boy, was arrested after threatening another young girl at Swan Lake. Hulbert managed to convince the Canadian police that he was not guilty of the murder and blamed William Mitchell, a worker at the local paint factory. Mitchell had an alibi and it became clearer and clearer that Hulbert was the murderer. For years, Hulbert was able to avoid any sentence because of a lack of evidence. In the end, he was let off with perjury charges only. To this day, people still question whether Hulbert was guilty of Molly's murder or not. In present-day, police might have been able to provide a more definitive answer to Molly's death, given advances in forensic techniques. Hair that was apparently found underneath Molly's fingernails could have been analyzed to obtain a DNA profile. A fingerprint recovered from the contents of her discarded purse could have been run through a databank system for a possible match. But both those pieces of evidence have been lost to history “If we could locate the exhibits that I know of, which are limited to the print and the hair, then yes, modern technology could assist us there,” added Saanich Inspector Rob McColl. Currently, forensic scientists are working to find scraps of evidence in order to solve the 65 year old mystery.
Local Vietnam flier's remains found, identified
"Local Vietnam flier's remains found, identified" - Journal News Review Press
Earlier this month, the remains of Capt. Gomer David Reese, were discovered in Laos by a search team from The Department of Defense. Capt. Reese was a Air Force pilot who was involved in covert missions over Laos during the vietnam war, when he was shot down in 1970. But just recently, during their sixth search since the end of the war, military investigators located the remains of the two missing pilots who were shot down 38 years ago. The remains along with a belt buckle and other items linked to the crash were positively identified by personnel at the military's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. The method that was used in identifying Capt. Resse's remains was through dental records. This is a significant discovery, considering the length of time since this this Scarsdale native went missing in action(MIA).
This article brings to our attention, the great effort of the military and the Joint POW/MIA search efforts, that have successfully uncovered the story's of two more unfortunate soldiers, with the help of forensic science. These discovery's are very important to the families of the soldiers, who have been left in the dark all these years. Resse's sister, Nancy Palazzo, said that "I didn't realize how meaningful it still is, that he's been found and will come how."In April, which will be the anniversary of the crash, Resse will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
I thought this was a good article, that incorporated forensic science, with an inspiring story about a long lost 'hero'. It was interesting to see how the use of dental records could be used to identify the remains of a body that has been in the jungle for almost 4 decades. What is even more intersting is the fact that these highly decayed remains were even located. The article could have gone into more detail involving the science and tactics behind finding and identifying the remains, but over it was well done.
processed food makes a fingerprint come up more clearly
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080915210509.htm
Dr. John Bond is a scientific support officer at Northamptonshire Police, and a researcher at the University of Leicester. Dr. Bond recently discovered that processed food makes a fingerprint come up more clearly. Dr. Bond described in a conference at the University of Leicester that when a criminal has eaten food that has a high salt content, their fingerprints make more of an impression. He said these clearer fingerprints will help to tell more about the person who left the mark. Bond has discovered this new method which allows scientists to ‘visualise fingerprints’.
The idea is that the fingerprints on a metal bullet shell appear more clearly when a sweaty finger touches it. Even after the bullet has been fired, this technique will make it easier for the scientists to analyze the prints. Dr Bond said, “On the basis that processed foods tend to be high in salt as a preservative, the body needs to excrete excess salt which comes out as sweat through the pores in our fingers. Dr. Bond and a group of scientists are now working on creating a scope that can detect the sweat itself, which could allow them to identify the type of person who left the sweat. This new process of studying the fingerprints on bullet shells isn't the best way to determine who committed the crime, but it is something for the police to use when they've got nothing else. The fingerprint would allow scientists to determine more about the type of person who committed the crime, but not actually be able to identify the single person.
Dr. John Bond is a scientific support officer at Northamptonshire Police, and a researcher at the University of Leicester. Dr. Bond recently discovered that processed food makes a fingerprint come up more clearly. Dr. Bond described in a conference at the University of Leicester that when a criminal has eaten food that has a high salt content, their fingerprints make more of an impression. He said these clearer fingerprints will help to tell more about the person who left the mark. Bond has discovered this new method which allows scientists to ‘visualise fingerprints’.
The idea is that the fingerprints on a metal bullet shell appear more clearly when a sweaty finger touches it. Even after the bullet has been fired, this technique will make it easier for the scientists to analyze the prints. Dr Bond said, “On the basis that processed foods tend to be high in salt as a preservative, the body needs to excrete excess salt which comes out as sweat through the pores in our fingers. Dr. Bond and a group of scientists are now working on creating a scope that can detect the sweat itself, which could allow them to identify the type of person who left the sweat. This new process of studying the fingerprints on bullet shells isn't the best way to determine who committed the crime, but it is something for the police to use when they've got nothing else. The fingerprint would allow scientists to determine more about the type of person who committed the crime, but not actually be able to identify the single person.
Forensics anthropologists have created life size images of George Washington
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/0912-changing_the_face_of_history.htm
Forensics anthropologists have created life size images of George Washington resembling what he would really look like in person. They are doing this by processing images of Washington with mathbased computer software and 3D laser scans. Forensics pathologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz at the University of Pittsburgh has stressed the importance to do as much reconstruction of the older Washington as possible so that he can apply general rules of aging and then reversing the sequence to show a younger George Washington. Pathologists say that Washington was a lot stronger than he is depicted as being, the Executive director of the Historic Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia James C. Rees says that if they can show Washington as the strong adventurous man he was, kids would be more willing to learn about our first president.
Forensics anthropologists have created life size images of George Washington resembling what he would really look like in person. They are doing this by processing images of Washington with mathbased computer software and 3D laser scans. Forensics pathologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz at the University of Pittsburgh has stressed the importance to do as much reconstruction of the older Washington as possible so that he can apply general rules of aging and then reversing the sequence to show a younger George Washington. Pathologists say that Washington was a lot stronger than he is depicted as being, the Executive director of the Historic Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia James C. Rees says that if they can show Washington as the strong adventurous man he was, kids would be more willing to learn about our first president.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Editor's Letter: Forensic Tools
Throughout the field of forensic science it seems that DNA is the "magic bullet". DNA is what everyone assumes is the main and most helpful way in solving pretty much any type of crime. DNA isn't always the "magic bullet". DNA has to be handled by a forensic scientist who knows what they are doing. If an inexperienced person is handling the DNA they could ruin all of its importance. Someone who is highly experienced and knows how to do the proper collection, analysis, reporting, and the chain of custody. Something has small as an investigator using contaminated gloves while handling DNA could destroy the DNA sample and make it useless to help solving the case.
DNA isn't the only tool that investigators use to help solve crimes. These high quality tools consist of scanning and imaging, and collection tools to gather evidence. High Tech vehicles come to certain crime scenes which carry certain evidence analysis's so that they can start being evaluated at the crime scene. Dick Warrington says that the basic and necessary crime scene evidence collection tools are tape, bags, powder, brushes, gloves, swabs, markers, scales, and lighting.
All of these things won't help assist solving a crime unless the evidence is collected and handled by highly trained professionals. If not there could be serious contamination and damaged to the evidence which would lead to investigators in a different track then they want. Solving a crime is simple as long as their is good evidence along with highly trained investigators and the right evidence collection tools.
http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=236
DNA isn't the only tool that investigators use to help solve crimes. These high quality tools consist of scanning and imaging, and collection tools to gather evidence. High Tech vehicles come to certain crime scenes which carry certain evidence analysis's so that they can start being evaluated at the crime scene. Dick Warrington says that the basic and necessary crime scene evidence collection tools are tape, bags, powder, brushes, gloves, swabs, markers, scales, and lighting.
All of these things won't help assist solving a crime unless the evidence is collected and handled by highly trained professionals. If not there could be serious contamination and damaged to the evidence which would lead to investigators in a different track then they want. Solving a crime is simple as long as their is good evidence along with highly trained investigators and the right evidence collection tools.
http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=236
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Technology to track criminals will expand
Over the past 5 years the technologies used to track and control prisoners on probation have sky rocketed. The newest and most successful new piece of technology in the Probation Department is the anklet GPS. The anklet tells the history of where the prisoner has been and where he or she is at any moment. In addition the anklet tells the Probation Department the exact time the prisoner was at a specific location.
Another perk to these new pieces of technology is that the prisoner is responsible for paying the price of the anklet and if they fail to do so, they will remain in jail. This method of financing the project prevents the taxpayers from loosing money.
In addition to new GPS anklets, the Total Court Services has just came out with alcohol monitoring anklets that regester the amount of alcohol is present in ones sweat. Anklets such as this are used to prevent DUI, abuse, and any other alcohol related crimes. Information on the prisoner's sweat level must then be uploaded onto a computer and sent to a agency called SCRAM that monitors the individuals blood alcohol level.
However, for people such as sex offenders, the Probation Department uses technologies such as cameras and other monitoring systems to strategically watch their house, office, or any other place of frequent use. The new technology of satellite tracking is also a very successful tool used by the Probation department to track sex offenders.
Thanks to new technologies such as these anklets, many of the 780 gangs in San Bernardino County are being monitored and the violence caused by gang activity has drastically declined. In addition, over 1,500 warrants have been set up for prisoners who did not follow the judges orders and became fugitives because all there actions were documented from their anklets.
Link: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_10708585
A New Breakthrough In Time Determination
A Norwegian Professor said that he had developed a device, which is a device that is able to determine the victim’s time of death. He claims that this device can determine the time of death more precisely than it has before. Professor Rognum says that before this device was designed, investigators would use decreasing body temperature and morphological changes in the body. Now, theis new handheld device-the Time Of Death Kit-investigators can increase the accuracy of time of death determination within 36 minutes. Before then, the closest investigators could come to was 90 minutes.
Professor Rognum also said that compared to the 24 hours using temperature sensitive devices, the new method can be used for a period of up to four days. The FBI and Scotland Yard will be testing the TOD (Time Of Death) device, says the Norway Times.
Professor Rognum also said that compared to the 24 hours using temperature sensitive devices, the new method can be used for a period of up to four days. The FBI and Scotland Yard will be testing the TOD (Time Of Death) device, says the Norway Times.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Use of Trained Dogs to Locate Human Remains
Link : http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=231
A common problem in death investigation is the finding and identification of objects and places associated with either the commission of an incident or the actual location of a decedent's body. Weapons are often disposed of in natural areas: objects, clothing, and vehicles may be cleaned in an attempt to remove evidence of blood and tissue; bodies are buried in remote areas or with associated efforts to conceal burial. Once an object or place is located, standard criminalistic, archeological, and forensic investigative methods can be used to make the victim, perpetrator, or object linking.
Various methods are utilized to locate an object of interest such as searching an area with trained dogs. In this article it is apparent that the use of specially trained canines for the location of human remains and objects of forensic interest. Forensics uses a canine that has been specifically trained to indicate a scent source as being from decomposed human tissue. Latimer believes canine forensics will continue to build on its reputation within the scientific and legal communities.
“But that will only happen if we work on improving the profession and policing ourselves rather than waiting for legal decisions in big cases to dictate the way we do things,” he said. “If we are proactive enough, many of the legal challenges can be avoided.”
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
New ink sampling technique taking a bite of out time
James 10/7/08
Current Event – Forensics
New ink sampling technique taking a bite of out time
July 18, 2007
Ames, Iowa –
In this article researchers at the Midwest Forensics Resource Center at Iowa State University are building a library of ink profiles to help forensic scientists identify inks on fraudulent documents and other evidence. In this process scientists will pair mass spectrometry with new sampling technique called “Direct Analysis with real time (DART). This process will reveal the chemical make up of ink faster. This will show a greater detail than we have seen before.
The process goes like this DART mass spectrometry analyzes ink by creating a stream of warm gas containing excited-state helium atoms or nitrogen molecules in the DART source. The gas stream is pointed at an ink sample, and the gas and excited-state species evaporate and ionize the molecules from the sample. A mass spectrometer measures the production of ions to create mass spectrum data from each ink sample tested. Unlike other ink analysis liquid chromatography only requires a small sample from the document and does not alter them physically or visually. The great thing about the DART system is that it can take a sample of the ink straight off the paper. You don’t have to extract the sample first. Before this process we had to cut a little bit of sample out and dissolve it in solvent for analysis. In essence we don’t destroy the evidence. The great thing about this if we don’t alter or destroy the evidence, it will hold up in court in order to indict the criminal every time. Also, with this process we can analysis more cases in a shorter period of time. Prior to DART scientists could not even do the ink sample tests because of the caseloads were so large.
Jones and John McClelland, Ames Laboratory senior physicist and DART project leader plan a three phase project. The first phase is to create and determine the best way to make inks and build the library. The second phase was ink mass spectra to produce. The third phase is make a project to focus on creating a computer software, always used to store and access the mass spectra library.
Current Event – Forensics
New ink sampling technique taking a bite of out time
July 18, 2007
Ames, Iowa –
In this article researchers at the Midwest Forensics Resource Center at Iowa State University are building a library of ink profiles to help forensic scientists identify inks on fraudulent documents and other evidence. In this process scientists will pair mass spectrometry with new sampling technique called “Direct Analysis with real time (DART). This process will reveal the chemical make up of ink faster. This will show a greater detail than we have seen before.
The process goes like this DART mass spectrometry analyzes ink by creating a stream of warm gas containing excited-state helium atoms or nitrogen molecules in the DART source. The gas stream is pointed at an ink sample, and the gas and excited-state species evaporate and ionize the molecules from the sample. A mass spectrometer measures the production of ions to create mass spectrum data from each ink sample tested. Unlike other ink analysis liquid chromatography only requires a small sample from the document and does not alter them physically or visually. The great thing about the DART system is that it can take a sample of the ink straight off the paper. You don’t have to extract the sample first. Before this process we had to cut a little bit of sample out and dissolve it in solvent for analysis. In essence we don’t destroy the evidence. The great thing about this if we don’t alter or destroy the evidence, it will hold up in court in order to indict the criminal every time. Also, with this process we can analysis more cases in a shorter period of time. Prior to DART scientists could not even do the ink sample tests because of the caseloads were so large.
Jones and John McClelland, Ames Laboratory senior physicist and DART project leader plan a three phase project. The first phase is to create and determine the best way to make inks and build the library. The second phase was ink mass spectra to produce. The third phase is make a project to focus on creating a computer software, always used to store and access the mass spectra library.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Text Crimes, Sex Crimes, and Murder
Text Crimes, Sex Crimes, and Murder
At the BA Festival of Science in Liverpool on September 8, Dr Tim Grant, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, will describe how language analysis is increasingly playing a key part during police investigations and court cases to help identify the author of incriminating material, whether it be a threatening note, documents planning a terrorist attack or a sexually explicit chat room conversation involving an adult and a child.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080908073841.htm
ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2008) — Text and instant messaging may soon cease to be an anonymous method of communication as advances in forensic linguistic research make it possible to identify the sender and also predict the gender and age of the author with some degree of success.
At the BA Festival of Science in Liverpool on September 8, Dr Tim Grant, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, will describe how language analysis is increasingly playing a key part during police investigations and court cases to help identify the author of incriminating material, whether it be a threatening note, documents planning a terrorist attack or a sexually explicit chat room conversation involving an adult and a child.
He believes that, despite public concerns about the growth of a surveillance society, the ability to identify authorship of electronic communications is beneficial.
Linguistic evidence demonstrating who sent a particular text message has been significant in a growing number of cases where criminals have attempted to use them as alibis. These include difficult murder cases where victims’ bodies were never found, such as the recent prosecution of David Hodgson, who was convicted in February of the murder of his ex-lover Jenny Nicholl. Her body has never been found.
Dr Grant explains: ‘Jenny Nicholl disappeared on 30th June 2005. A linguistic analysis showed that text messages sent from her phone were unlikely to have been written by her but, rather, were more likely to have been written by her ex-lover, David Hodgson. A number of stylistic points identified within texts known to have been written by Jenny Nicholl were not present in the suspect messages. Instead, these were stylistically close to the undisputed messages of David Hodgson.
Hodgson was convicted partly because, in text messages he sent on her phone after she disappeared, he spelled "myself" as "meself". In her own text messages, Nicholl had spelled the word "myself".
‘The kind of features we were interested in were the shortening of “im” in the texts from Nicholl contrasting with “I am” in the suspect messages and the lack of space after the digit substitution in items such as “go2shop” contrasting with “ave 2 go”’.
Dr Grant has put together a database of more than 7000 texts as part of his research into text messaging style and variation between individuals and groups of individuals. The public can contribute to his ongoing research by submitting text samples to http://www.forensiclinguistics.net/texting. His study seeks to establish base rate information for certain features in texting language, and will also highlight how groups of people who text one another frequently grow more similar in their texting style.
Based on techniques that were first used to measure similarity between marine ecosystems, and then applied to the analysis of sexual crime, Dr Grant has now developed a method to quantify people’s style of text writing. His technique, which assigns a numeric measure of stylistic difference between any two texts, encourages the move from expert opinion based evidence to more methodologically rigorous and empirically tested techniques.
‘Forensic linguistics is a relatively new forensic science but the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners opens a linguistic subregister this month and this will give easy access to reputable practitioners and help cement its position as a key forensic science,’ said Dr Grant.
‘In addition to this formal recognition we are seeing an expansion in casework, particularly in the area of electronic communication – SMS, IRC (internet relay chat) and email. In these kinds of communication it is relatively easy to be, or at least feel, anonymous – new technologies have created an anti-social phenomenon of mass anonymity, and the ability to identify the writer can only be beneficial for society.’
Dr Grant will be presenting this material in his talk at the BA Festival of Science, ‘The BA Joseph Lister Award Lecture – Txt crimes, sex crimes and murder: the science of forensic linguistics’.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Sweat Profiling
Dr. John Bond, a scientist & researcher at the University of Leicester claims that he has found evidence to support his theory that: criminals who eat processed foods are now more likely to be caught by the authorities due to his new discovery. He explains how eating processed foods can result in leaving significantly more traceable evidence at the scene of the crime. At a conference at the University, Dr. Bond explained that fingerprint marks made more of a corrosive impression on metal if they had a higher salt content.
With this new discovery Dr. Bond later talked of his idea of creating a new type of profile, the "Sweat Profile". It states that he and his fellow colleges are still in the process of discussing it, but this new profile could lead to even more evidence that could potentially lead to identifying a criminal.
His research showed that his technique can reveal the marks of a finger print long after the actual print was whiped away. For example, Dr. Bond said his teqnique would allow for the fingerprints left on a small calibre metal cartrige case to be seen even after the gun was fired. So if a bullet was found at the scene of the crime, a fingerprint could be found on the metal and matched to the perp.
Dr. Bond said: “On the basis that processed foods tend to be high in salt as a preservative, the body needs to excrete excess salt which comes out as sweat through the pores in our fingers. So the sweaty fingerprint impression you leave when you touch a surface will be high in salt if you eat a lot of processed foods -the higher the salt, the better the corrosion of the metal."
Its amazing how this discovery can aid tremendously in the field of foresic science. One amazing aspect of Dr. Bond's discovery is that in cases that deal with terrorist, where the evidence is normally obliterated, if a piece of metal or shard of glass is found with sweat residue an easier assessment of the scene will be made. Dr. Bond near the end of the article gives his last remarks of how he described his study of sweat is a process of intelligent fingerprinting and how using this new form of "fingerprint" to tell us more about the individual, rather than simple identification.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080915210509.htm
With this new discovery Dr. Bond later talked of his idea of creating a new type of profile, the "Sweat Profile". It states that he and his fellow colleges are still in the process of discussing it, but this new profile could lead to even more evidence that could potentially lead to identifying a criminal.
His research showed that his technique can reveal the marks of a finger print long after the actual print was whiped away. For example, Dr. Bond said his teqnique would allow for the fingerprints left on a small calibre metal cartrige case to be seen even after the gun was fired. So if a bullet was found at the scene of the crime, a fingerprint could be found on the metal and matched to the perp.
Dr. Bond said: “On the basis that processed foods tend to be high in salt as a preservative, the body needs to excrete excess salt which comes out as sweat through the pores in our fingers. So the sweaty fingerprint impression you leave when you touch a surface will be high in salt if you eat a lot of processed foods -the higher the salt, the better the corrosion of the metal."
Its amazing how this discovery can aid tremendously in the field of foresic science. One amazing aspect of Dr. Bond's discovery is that in cases that deal with terrorist, where the evidence is normally obliterated, if a piece of metal or shard of glass is found with sweat residue an easier assessment of the scene will be made. Dr. Bond near the end of the article gives his last remarks of how he described his study of sweat is a process of intelligent fingerprinting and how using this new form of "fingerprint" to tell us more about the individual, rather than simple identification.
Copy and Paste into URL To Ready Article...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080915210509.htm
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