An Illicit Love Affair During the Third Reich: Who is My Grandfather?*

More than 60 years after an illicit love affair had occurred between Erika H, wife of a Wehrmacht soldier, and a Polish slave worker during World War II, we could clarify the blood relationships of her daughter Uta. When Erika H had become pregnant both of the men could have fathered the child. Erika H was found guilty of fraternization and imprisoned at Ravensbrück concentration camp. She gave birth to Uta and died there in 1944. Uta survived the war as did Erika's husband Gustav, who accepted Uta as his child. Blood samples from family members were taken and DNA extracted. A panel of 16 short tandem repeat (STR) loci were amplified and separated by capillary electrophoresis and the likelihoods calculated using the MLINK software. The combined genotypes yielded a cumulative likelihood ratio of over 200,000 against paternity of Gustav H. This case serves to illustrate the utility of STR profiles for complex deficiency kinship analysis.     

Anthropological measurement of lower limb and foot bones using multi-detector computed tomography

Anthropological examination of defleshed bones is the gold standard for osteological measurement in forensic practice. However, multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) offers the opportunity of three-dimensional imaging of skeletal elements, allowing measurement of bones in any plane without defleshing. We present our experiences of the examination of 15 human lower limbs in different states of decomposition using MDCT. We present our method of imaging and radiological measurement of the bones including sex assessment. The radiological measurements were undertaken by three professional groups--anthropology, radiology, and forensic pathology--both at the site of scanning and at a remote site. The results were compared to anthropological oestological assessment of the defleshed bones. We discuss the limitations of this technique and the potential applications of our observations. We introduce the concept of remote radiological anthropological measurement of bones, so-called tele-anthro-radiology and the role that this could play in providing the facility for standardization of protocols, international peer review and quality assurance schemes.     

Detection of pretreated fingerprint fluorescence using an LED-based excitation system

Abstract:  Optimization of a light emitting diode (LED)-based excitation system for the detection of pretreated fingerprint fluorescence is described. Fluorescent ridges can usually be excited by irradiation with forensic light sources such as xenon arc lamps or quartz-halogen lamps with high-power output and suitable filters. However, they are too expensive for many crime laboratories in smaller organizations. We concentrated on LEDs which have advantages over conventional light sources in that they are simpler and of lower cost, but the power output and quality of each individual LED unit is not sufficient for the detection of weak fluorescent ridges. To resolve this subject, blue and green LED arrays composed of ninety LED units were adopted and suitable low pass filters for them were designed. An experimental system, consisting of blue and green LED arrays with the suitable low pass filters for illumination, high pass filters for viewing, a digital camera and a computer, was tested. The fluorescent images of cyanoacrylate ester fumed/rhodamine 6G stained fingerprint on white polyethylene sheet and weak fluorescent ridges of ninhydrin/indium chloride treated fingerprint on white paper were successfully detected and photographed. It was shown that the improvement of LED beam in intensity and quality can compensate the disadvantages, resulting in well-contrasted images.     

Frontal sinus accuracy in identification as measured by false positives in kin groups

The aims of this study were to verify if frontal sinuses can uniquely identify individuals belonging to family groups using Cameriere methods and to test if kinship can affect the proportion of erroneous identifications. For this purpose, we compared the proportion of false-positive identifications in a sample of 99 individuals within 20 families with a control sample of 98 other individuals without kinship. The results show that the combined use of SOR and the Yoshino code number allows personal identification with a small probability of false positives (p < 10(-6)), even when kinship is taken into account. The present research confirms the importance of studying anthropological frameworks for identification, which leads to reliable methods and allows for both quick and economic procedures.     

An unusual case of child head injury by coat hanger*

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children suspected of child abuse. Penetrating cranio-facial injuries are generally rare in the pediatric age group and are caused by both accidental and inflicted mechanisms. We report an unusual case of a 2-year-old female who was admitted to a pediatric emergency room with an industrial stainless steel coat hanger impaled in her skull. Pertinent clinical forensic medicine examination, coupled with home inspection and interviews by the local law enforcement, revealed a horrible episode of domestic violence.     

Projective risk variables in early adolescence and subsequent disinhibitory psychopathology

The objective was to examine early adolescent projective risk indicators for the development of antisocial behaviour as related to adult personality traits, psychopathy, and violent behaviour over the life span. Assessment data included Rorschach (Rr) ratings (at age 11-14 years), personality inventories (EPQ-I and KSP scales), and a shortened Psychopathy Check List (PCL) (administered at age 32-40 years), obtained from a group of 199 male subjects; and smoking habits (at age 36-44 years) obtained from 125 of those subjects. Results, controlled for intelligence, indicated that the high and very high risk groups, as determined by level of total Rr risk scores, were (1) significantly higher on self-rated IVE Impulsiveness, the anxiety-related KSP Muscular Tension, and nonconformity traits, as compared to the low Rr risk group--the very high risk group also scoring significantly higher on the EPQ Psychoticism scale, related to aggressiveness and cruelty; (2) higher on clinically rated PCL total sum and factor scores; and (3) they were overrepresented among Ss with subsequent violent offence, and Ss with heavy smoking habits. The results are discussed in terms of the possible usefulness of psychodynamic oriented cognitive-emotional indicators in the search for underlying mechanisms in the development of disinhibitory psychopathology.     

Compulsory psychiatric care in Sweden: development 1979-2002 and area variation

As in many other countries, the Swedish legislation on compulsory psychiatric care has been revised several times during the last four decades. Great regional differences within the country in the use of compulsory psychiatric care have been reported. The aims of this study were to describe the development of compulsory psychiatric care in Sweden 1979-2002, and to analyse differences between two groups of counties, one group with high and one with low civil commitment rates, in terms of psychiatric care structure, resources and processes. Data on civil commitments and forensic psychiatric care in Sweden 1979-2002 were collected from public statistics. At least one responsible person in leading position (administrative manager or chief psychiatrist) in each of the included counties was interviewed. The total number of involuntarily hospitalised patients decreased about 80% between censuses in 1979 and 2002, but the rates of forensic patients were unchanged. No clear-cut differences were found in the analyses of structure, resources and processes of psychiatric services between counties with high and counties with low levels of compulsory care. The equality before the law may be questioned. The importance of leadership is emphasised for future analyses.     

Validation of an Abbreviated Version of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms in Outpatient Psychiatric and Community Settings

This study examined the effectiveness of an abbreviated version of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS-A) in identifying malingered mental illness. The SIRS-A is comprised of 69 items drawn from the SIRS (R. Rogers et al. 1992, SIRS: Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.), substantially reducing the administration time. A simulation design was used with three samples; 87 psychiatric outpatients who responded honestly were compared to 29 community-dwelling adults and 24 psychiatric patients instructed to malinger psychopathology. The SIRS-A generated sensitivity comparable to or exceeding that of the SIRS normative data, but specificity was poorer; many genuinely impaired patients were misclassified as malingering. Although these findings suggest the SIRS-A may be an effective means to assess malingering in psychiatric populations, further research assessing the reasons for the elevated false positive rates is necessary.