crime scene investigation (suic
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Crime Scene Investigation
(SUICIDE)
CHAPTER 2
INTRODUCTION
SCENE SECURE
PHOTOGRAPHY
SKETCH UP
EVIDENCES
METHODS OF SUICIDE
INTRODUCTIONCSI: documentation of the conditions at the
scene and the collection of physical evidence
CSI thoroughly documents the scene by taking
photographs and drawing sketches
A suicide method is any means by which one or more persons
purposely kills themselves
main objective of CSI is to collect as many evidences to rebuild
up what actually happen in the crime
In suicide cases, the investigation will finally
lead to whether the death is really a suicide case as
claimed or homicide.
SECURING THE CRIME SCENE
The core area of the crime scene where most of the evidence is concentrated
• Prevent evidences so that not lost, not destroyed or exaggerated by people who are not responsible
A special plastic rope to just surround by the police pending the arrival of well control specialist forensic.
• also involves process of removing all unnecessary personnel from the scene.
PHOTOGRAPHYCrime scene photography records of how the body was found, position and the nature of it mortal injuries
provides an accurate account of physical evidence that cannot be altered
Can be documented for later inspection
Sketching the Crime Scene
Sketching helped forensic scientist especially in writing chemical report
not necessary too detailed just enough with a site plan events, location and items of evidences found as a space room and surrounding
The distance between the material evidences of the victim should be noted that this information maybe useful in the future
Taking the Evidences
Goal
Body examination
Biological evidence
Chemical Evidence
goal •to find, collect and preserve all physical evidence that might serve to recreate the crime •identify the perpetrator in a manner that will stand up in court.
Body examination •a visual examination of the body and surrounding area at the scene, taking pictures and detailed note.•take the body temperature and the ambient room temperature to assist in determining an estimated time of death
Biological evidence •of biological evidence are hair, nail and body fluid such as saliva and others.•easily degraded•bring to the lab and perform DNA analysis etc
Chemical evidence •Examples of chemical evidence are petrol, glass fragment, paint, electric cables etc.•Easily found in the crime scene•often found along with biological evidences like gun powder and blood stain in firearm suicide
Before moving the body
Take note!!
Murder• When
someone knowingly causes the death, or injuries
resulting in death, of another person.
Manslaughter• When
someone causes the death of another through extreme
indifference to human life.
Self defenses• When
someone causes the death of
another in order to protect
himself or his family.
Suicide• The deliberate
taking of one's own life.
Hanging
Jumping from high
Poisoning
Drowning
Firearm
Cut
Suicide Method
Hanging Suicide
The common hanging tools used are rope, an electrical cord or a belt
Hanging compresses the veins, but arterial blood flow continues, causing small bleeding sites on the lips, inside the mouth and on the eyelids
As with ligature strangulation, the face and neck are congested with blood and become dark red.
Hanging always leaves an inverted V bruise and are easy to tell from ligature strangulation (murder), which leaves a straight-line bruise.
victims may drug themselves in an attempt to summon up the courage to carry out the act.
ligature marks around the neck area as the process of hanging can be sometimes a tricky one and may need several attempts.
Various knot positions in suicide hanging attempt
Hanging suicide using rope
Poisoning
immediate effect, within minutes to avoid them from suffering.
not poison which can act slowly, over a long period
of time.
Pesticide poisoningDrug overdosing
Carbon monoxide poisoning
relatively painless death, no muss, no fuss, no blood to mess up the
bedding
Carbon monoxide poisoning: hand turns red
Firearm suicide
Firearms include a wide range of handguns and
rifles, revolver, shotguns,
semiautomatic pistol.
People rarely shoot themselves in the eye or abdomen. It is also virtually impossible to shoot yourself in the
back.
Distance of gun from the body: at contact
or near contact range
Type of wound: A contact wound creates
presumption of suicide rather than homicide.
Angle of the shot: Most suicide shots are angled slightly
upward.
Number of shots fired: After one shot, even if a suicide victim is not dead, he would likely
be unconscious or physically unable to fire a second time
Firearm suicide
victim left a suicide note, or was known to
have personal problems, or if there was evidence of drug
use or drinking, suicide is likely.
A suicide victim will rarely shoot through
clothing
Evidence of a struggle: If there are scratches,
cuts, bruises, homicide is likely.
Wound sites often depend on the type
of weapon that is used:
Presence of gunpowder residue and
blood on victims’ hand
Cuts and StabbedDefensive cuts: In a homicide, there will be defensive cuts on the palms of the victim's hands and on the underside of her arms as she tries to fight off her attacker.
Number of wounds and their location: A murder usually involves multiple stab wounds to the side, back or stomach. In a suicide, while there may be additional cuts across the wrist and tentative test stabbings to see if it will hurt, or to work up courage, there will usually only be one wound and most likely in the chest.
Location of the murder weapon: In a suicide, the weapon will be at the scene with the victim's fingerprints on it. In a homicide, the weapon is often missing.
Presence of a note: A suicide victim will almost always leave a note.
Stabbing through clothing: Typically a suicidal stabbing is to the bare skin and the clothing may be removed or pulled aside to affect this. Stabbing through clothing, even if there's only one wound, may indicate homicide.
DROWNING
Drowning is a type of suffocation; the water prevents oxygen from
getting to the brain
slow, agonizing death with the victim struggling desperately to
stay alive
suicidal drowning is very uncommon
Homicidal or suicide drowning is almost impossible to prove by an
autopsy
surrounding facts have to be taken into account, such as other
wounds, signs of struggle (overturned furniture, etc), or the
presence of a suicide note
MURDER VS SUICIDE DROWNING
Shallow water: Drowning in shallow water could indicate either an accident or murder, especially if the victim is
undressed. A killer will remove the victim's clothing to make it look like an accident. If the body is fully clothed, it is most likely
a suicide since the victim does not want to be found nude.
Jumping From High
The act of jumping from high altitude, for example, from a window balcony or roof of a high rise building, cliff, dam or bridge.
Death because the effects of physical and the internal injuries at their body
People have jumped then survived with major injuries and permanent disabilities
SUICIDE JUMPER
Analyzing The
Evidence
Latent fingerprints and
impressions
Primer Gunshot Residues (GSR)
Analysis
Chemical (drug and unknown
chemical)
Ballistics Analysis
Questioned documents
Serology and DNA
Latent fingerprints and impressions
Develop latent fingerprints; analyze and compare fingerprints
Latent fingerprints may be detectable on cartridges and expended shell casings.
latent because they are transferred via a substance on the skin ridges to an object.
On a gun, such substances could include cleaning solvents or gun oils.
Usually, the substances consist of perspiration mixed with oils from sebaceous glands.
increased temperature and low humidity decrease the persistence of fingerprints.
Brass retains the fingerprints better than nickel-plated materials.
Ballistic AnalysisBallistics is the area of Forensic Science
that deals with firearms; in the
practice of murder.
identify rifling patterns, marks made by using
suppressors (silencers), shell
casings, powder burn and many other different areas
relating to the use of firearms and the
evidence they leave behind.
Ballistics is the science of the
motion of projectiles and firearm
Interior ballistics is the study of projectiles in
weapons
External ballistics is the study of
projectiles in the air.
Terminal ballistics is the study of
projectile penetration of solids
Wound ballistics is the study of
projectile penetration of tissues
Range Muzzle-target distance Wound characteristicsHard Contact
Muzzle jammed "hard" against skin.
Edges seared by gases and blackened by soot ("baked" into skin)
Loose Contact
Muzzle in light but complete contact with skin
Soot deposition in band around wound (can be wiped off).
Angled Muzzle at acute angle to skin with only part of circumference in contact
Eccentric seared blackened zone contact around wound widest on side opposite muzzle; larger eccentric zone of soot deposition (can be wiped off).
Incomplete
Muzzle in contact with contoured skin surface resulting in muzzle-skin gap (variant of angled contact)
Variably located seared blackened contact zone adjacent to wound
Near Contact
Muzzle a very short distance from skin (grey zone between contact and close range)
Wide blackened zone of soot baked into seared skin around wound (may not be distinguishable from loose contact).
Angled NearContact
as above but muzzle at acute angle to skin
Eccentric seared blackened zone and larger paler zone as in angled contact but widest on same side as muzzle (contrast angled contact).
Primer Gunshot Residues (GSR) Analysis
Analytical methods include atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).
Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis (SEM-EDA)
atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to identify the primer residue qualitatively.
For these methods, samples must be obtained from the skin surfaces of a victim at the scene
The method of collection for residue is carried out in the field directly onto the gummed surface of a chuck, or holder, applied to the surface (skin or other material) to be tested.
The chuck, with the residue on the surface, can be directly prepared for examination in the SEM
Serology and DNAConduct body fluid analysis,
including DNA analysis for blood stains found on gun in firearm suicides for identification and
comparison.
Questioned documents
Conduct handwriting comparisons
The presence of suicide note must be investigated to
detect forgery
An analyst will use a magnifying glass
and sometimes even a microscope in the comparison process.
An analyst is looking for a wide array of individual traits:
Curves, slants, the proportional size of letters (relationship between size of short and tall letters and between the height and width of a single letter),
the slope of writing
the use and appearance of connecting lines (links) between letters..
analyst will try to find examples of each letter in each placement
Letter form
Line form
How smooth and dark the lines are which indicates how much pressure the writer applies while writing and the speed of the writing.
Formatting
The spacing between letters, the spacing between words, the placement of words on a line and the margins a writer leaves empty on a page. It also considers spacing between lines. In other words, do strokes from words on one line intersect with strokes in words on the line below and above it?
Example of Kurt Cobain’s Death note
Courtney’s handwriting