The detection and enhancement of latent fingermarks using infrared chemical imaging

The use of a new technique, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) chemical imaging, has been demonstrated for the enhancement of latent fingermarks on a number of surfaces. Images of untreated fingermarks on glass backgrounds with excellent ridge detail were acquired using infrared chemical imaging. High quality fingermarks on glass backgrounds were also developed using ethyl cyanoacrylate (super glue) fuming and subsequent infrared chemical imaging. This new method allows the collection of images from backgrounds that traditionally pose problems for current fingermark detection methods. The background may, for example, be highly colored, have a complex pattern, or possess other pattern or image characteristics that make it difficult to separate fingermark ridges using traditional optical or luminescent visualization. One background that has proven to be a challenging surface for the development of latent fingermarks is the Australian polymer banknote. To demonstrate the power and applicability of infrared chemical imaging, fingermarks fumed with ethyl cyanoacrylate were successfully imaged from Australian polymer banknotes.     

A test of sex determination from measurements of chest radiographs

Sexually dimorphic distinctions within the human thoracic area may include morphological as well as metric differences in the sternum and 4th rib. This research assesses the validity of a set of previously published measurements from chest radiographs and their use in contemporary forensic situations. The chest plates from 130 adult individuals of a known sample undergoing medico-legal post-mortem examination were examined at autopsy. Thoracic radiographs were taken using a Faxitron cabinet X-ray machine at 40 kV using Kodak Diagnostic Film Ready Pack X-Omat TL. Measurements were taken to the nearest millimetre using a sliding calliper. Logistic regression analysis of measurements of the sternum and 4th rib was undertaken to determine sex. Using 4th rib width and sternal area, sex was predicted at an accuracy of 95.8% for males and 90.3% for females.     

Does sexual dimorphism in facial soft tissue depths justify sex distinction in craniofacial identification?

Separation of male and female soft tissue depths into discrete groups for craniofacial identification implies that males and females differ enough from each other, with respect to this application, for this distinction to be useful. In this study, previously published soft tissue depth data were analyzed for sex separation. It was found that the variation within each sex was large while the variation between the sexes was small. Often the value of two standard deviations of the measurement for either sex was larger than the difference displayed between the means of each sex. Furthermore, opposite sex overlap in regions defined to be close to the male or female mean were found to be large and the amount of variance explained by sex was small (less than 6% on average). These results indicate that while male and female means at single craniofacial landmarks may differ slightly, and even at statistically significant levels, individual male and female soft tissue depths are often the same or very similar. On average, soft tissue depths of the face do display some sexual dimorphism but it is not marked and of little practical meaning for craniofacial identification where a single individual must be independently considered. Thus, there is little use in separate reporting of data for males and females and data should be combined to increase sample sizes.     

DNA typing: an accessory evidence in doping control

A clear positive case for anabolic steroids doping was confounded by alleged urine tampering during doping control procedures. Review of the chain of custody showed no flaws, but nevertheless the athlete was adamant that the urine sample should be analyzed for DNA in order to support her contention that she was not the donor of the sample. The results obtained showed that the urine sample that scored positive for steroids contained nuclear DNA that could not be matched to the DNA obtained from the athlete's blood. On the other hand, the same urine sample contained mitochondrial DNA whose nucleotide sequences spanning the hyper variable regions HV1 and HV2 proved to be identical to those determined in mitochondrial DNA amplified from the athlete's blood. The occurrence of an extraneous genotype is compatible with exogenous nuclear DNA admixture to the athlete's urine. Alternatively, taking in consideration the mitochondrial DNA, we could not exclude that a sibling or a maternal relative of the athlete could have acted as a donor of the urine utilized for doping control and DNA analysis. Both situations point to possible tampering of the urine by the athlete. Adjudication at CAS maintained previous national and international federation decision that there was no proof of a chain of custody flaw to justify the athlete's allegation of urine substitution after collection.     

Ear piercing affects earprints: the role of ear piercing in human identification

Previous research conducted into the use of the human ear in the field of forensic identification has focused upon the use of grids and manual methods to measure and catalogue the different anatomical features of the ear. To date, few have considered the importance of the presence of ear piercings and their possible role in human identification. This study aims to highlight the common distribution of piercings of both ears in both genders and to explore the effect of piercings on earprints. The presence of a piercing may, in part, help to explain why partial and not whole earprints are sometimes recovered from a scene of crime (suggesting that the offender's ears may be pierced). The presence of piercings through the tragus and the superior part of the helix are shown to be infrequent and thus may be used to assist the identification of a body, due to its relative rarity with respect to piercings found in other areas of the ear.     

Incidental myocardial infarction in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV?

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV is an illness that often leads to premature death due to arterial rupture or dissection and is characterized by very fragile connective tissue. This report documents the death of a 30-year-old man with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV from myocardial rupture and cardiac tamponade following a myocardial infarction. We believe that Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV contributed to the coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial rupture in this young man and that this disease led indirectly to his death by myocardial infarction, an unusual cause of death in this syndrome.     

Development and evaluation of a standard method for the quantitative determination of elements in float glass samples by LA-ICP-MS

Forensic analysis of glass samples was performed in different laboratories within the NITE-CRIME (Natural Isotopes and Trace Elements in Criminalistics and Environmental Forensics) European Network, using a variety of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) systems. The main objective of the interlaboratory tests was to cross-validate the different combinations of laser ablation systems with different ICP-MS instruments. A first study using widely available samples, such as the NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 reference glasses, led to deviations in the determined concentrations for trace elements amongst the laboratories up to 60%. Extensive discussion among the laboratories and the production of new glass reference standards (FGS 1 and FGS 2) established an improved analytical protocol, which was tested on a well-characterized float glass sample (FG 10-1 from the BKA Wiesbaden collection). Subsequently, interlaboratory tests produced improved results for nearly all elements with a deviation of < 10%, demonstrating that LA-ICP-MS can deliver absolute quantitative measurements on major, minor and trace elements in float glass samples for forensic and other purposes.     

Empirical analysis of the STR profiles resulting from conceptual mixtures

Samples containing DNA from two or more individuals can be difficult to interpret. Even ascertaining the number of contributors can be challenging and associated uncertainties can have dramatic effects on the interpretation of testing results. Using an FBI genotypes dataset, containing complete genotype information from the 13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) loci for 959 individuals, all possible mixtures of three individuals were exhaustively and empirically computed. Allele sharing between pairs of individuals in the original dataset, a randomized dataset and datasets of generated cousins and siblings was evaluated as were the number of loci that were necessary to reliably deduce the number of contributors present in simulated mixtures of four or less contributors. The relatively small number of alleles detectable at most CODIS loci and the fact that some alleles are likely to be shared between individuals within a population can make the maximum number of different alleles observed at any tested loci an unreliable indicator of the maximum number of contributors to a mixed DNA sample. This analysis does not use other data available from the electropherograms (such as peak height or peak area) to estimate the number of contributors to each mixture. As a result, the study represents a worst case analysis of mixture characterization. Within this dataset, approximately 3% of three-person mixtures would be mischaracterized as two-person mixtures and more than 70% of four-person mixtures would be mischaracterized as two- or three-person mixtures using only the maximum number of alleles observed at any tested locus.     

Child murder committed by severely mentally III mothers: an examination of mothers found not guilty by reason of insanity. 2005 Honorable Mention/Richard Rosner Award for the best paper by a fellow in forensic psychiatry or forensic psychology

Forensic hospital records of 39 severely mentally ill mothers adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity for filicide (child murder by parents) were analyzed to describe characteristics preceding this tragedy and to suggest prevention strategies. Almost three-quarters of the mothers (72%) had previous mental health treatment. Over two thirds (69%) of the mothers were experiencing auditory hallucinations, most frequently command hallucinations, and half (49%) were depressed at the time of the offense. Over one third (38%) of the filicides occurred during pregnancy or the postpartum period, and many had a history of postpartum psychosis. Almost three-quarters (72%) of the mothers had experienced considerable developmental stressors, such as death of their own mother or incest. Maternal motives for filicide were predominantly "altruistic" (meaning murder out of love) or "acutely psychotic" (occurring in the throes of psychosis, without rational motive). Psychiatrists should perform careful risk assessments for filicide in mothers with mental illnesses.