An unusual homicide case with subsequent suicide

In the medicolegal literature reports on homicides followed by suicide, especially in elderly people, are rare. In the present case, the victim, a 79-year-old woman, showed a rather unusual injury pattern: 3 gunshots to the head (with only 2 entrance wounds and 3 intracranial projectiles) and 2 stabs from a knife. The tools used for inflicting the stab wounds (a hunting knife and a double-edged dagger) were left in the victim's body after the offense. The 89-year-old husband hanged himself with an aerial cable after killing his wife. The police investigations and the autopsy findings suggested a combined homicide-suicide. The motive for the offense could be a so-called delusion of poverty associated with symptoms of depression.     

The effect of luminol on presumptive tests and DNA analysis using the polymerase chain reaction.

This study was designed to test the following factors involved with processing luminol treated bloodstained evidence: 1) The reactivity of other presumptive chemical color tests, phenolphthalin (PT) and tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), following the application of the light emitting luminol presumptive test. 2) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the luminol test. 3) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the ability to obtain DNA suitable for PCR testing. 4) The ability to extract DNA from luminol treated bloodstained substrates using three extraction techniques. 5) The effect of spraying washed and unwashed bloodstains on various substrates with luminol on the ability to correctly type the DNA using PCR. Our findings indicated that luminol did not adversely effect the PCR testing and did not interfere with the PT and TMB presumptive tests for blood. It was determined that the substrate and the method of cleaning were the major factors affecting DNA yield and the ability to type the bloodstains using PCR based technologies.     

A review of low template STR analysis in casework using the DNA SenCE post-PCR purification technique

LGC has developed a method for analysing low-level DNA samples called DNA SenCE (Sensitive Capillary Electrophoresis) based on post-PCR treatment of standard 28-cycle SGMplus PCR product and demonstrated to be equally effective at enhancing profiles as 34-cycle PCR. The method has been validated and accredited and used in casework since July 2007. Inherent in the method is the initial generation of a standard 28-cycle SGMplus profile so a direct comparison of standard and DNA SenCE results for all casework is possible. Here we review DNA SenCE casework, reporting the magnitude of peak enhancement and stochastic effects seen in the DNA SenCE profiles.     

Victim's scalp on the killer's head. An unusual case of criminal postmortem mutilation

A case of unusual postmortem mutilation of a victim's body is presented. After killing his father, the son decapitated his body and dissected the scalp free, forming a mask of the father's head and neck. The young man wore the scalp-mask over his own head to imitate the father. The motive of the murder was revenge, and the postmortem mutilation was the realization of the perpetrator's fantasies, symbolically representing a penalty for the reprehensible past life of his father.     

What Happens the Morning After? The Costs and Benefits of Expanding Access to Emergency Contraception

Emergency contraception (EC) can prevent pregnancy after sex, but only if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Over the past 15 years, access to EC has been expanded at both the state and federal level. This paper studies the impact of those policies. We find that expanded access to EC has had no statistically significant effect on birth or abortion rates. Expansions of access, however, have changed the venue in which the drug is obtained, shifting its provision from hospital emergency departments to pharmacies. We find evidence that this shift may have led to a decrease in reports of sexual assault.     

Zu den verfahrensrechtlichen Implikationen der Kompetenzverteilung zwischen der EG und den Mitgliedstaaten im Bereich der Außenbeziehungen

Grundsätzlich finden in Bezug auf die Kompetenzverteilung zwischen EU und Mitgliedsstaaten für die Verhandlung völkerrechtlicher Verträge und den Erlass von „Durchführungsbestimmungen“ im Rahmen völkerrechtliche Vertragsreihe die allgemeinen Grundsätze der Kompetenzverteilung im Bereich der Außenbeziehungen Anwendung. Diese sind aber mit Blick auf die spezifische Problematik von Verhandlung und Durchführung völkerrechtliche Verträge einer Reihe von Präzisierungen zugänglich, die im Folgenden entwickelt werden. Diese Fragestellung ist allgemein im Recht der Außenbeziehungen von Bedeutung; im Umweltbereich ist sie aber wegen der Fülle völkerrechtlicher Verträge der Gemeinschaft und ihrem Charakter als i.d.R. gemischte Verträge besonders relevant. Astrid Epiney ist Professorin für Europarecht, Völkerrecht und Öffentliches Recht an der Universität Fribourg (CH) und geschäftsführende Direktorin des Instituts für Europarecht der Universitäten Bern, Neuenburg und Fribourg. Domènique Gross ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin des Instituts für Europarecht.* Der Beitrag wurde im Zusammenhang mit einem vom Schweizerischen Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung mitfinanzierten Projekt über die Kompetenzverteilung im Außenbereich zwischen EG und Mitgliedstaaten im Umweltbereich verfasst.     

College Women and Sexual Assault: The Role of Sex-related Alcohol Expectancies

This study examined the relationship between alcohol, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and sexual assaults among women college students. Participants completed measures of sexual behaviors, sexual victimization experiences, sex related alcohol expectancies, and drinking habits. Based on participants’ responses women were categorized as having experienced no assault, unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape. It was observed across groups that relative to controls, women reporting attempted rape and rape consumed higher levels of alcohol. Within group comparisons revealed that relative to controls, victimized women endorsed higher levels of sex-related alcohol expectancies. In the prediction of severity of sexual victimization, regression analyses revealed an interaction between alcohol consumption and expectancy of vulnerability to sexual coercion. At higher levels of alcohol consumption women endorsing high vulnerability to sexual coercion experienced more severe victimatization. Implications of the findings are discussed. This work was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree by the first author under the direction of the third author.     

A critical review of some basic considerations in post-secondary education evaluation

Following on a short review of North American program evaluation experiences in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, a summary is given of the major problems observed in such evaluation efforts. With this background assessment, the remainder of the paper attempts to specify objectives and criteria that seem appropriate in post-secondary program evaluation in the 1970's. Some attention is devoted to problems of implementing changes in efficiency through increasing productivity by a number of alternative strategies. Finally, some tentative suggestions are made as to possible routes to implementing program evaluation in post-secondary education.