fbi laboratory 2003 - hsdl.org

U.S. Department of JusticeFederal Bureau of Investigation

FBILaboratory2003

An FBI Laboratory PublicationFederal Bureau of InvestigationQuantico, Virginia

EditorColleen Wade

Associate EditorYvette E. Trozzi

LayoutEEI Communications, Inc.

The FBI Laboratory 2003 Reportmay also be viewed online atwww.fbi.gov/hq/lab/labannual03.pdf

FBI Laboratory 2003 Report

Table of Contents

Message from the FBI Laboratory Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

President Bush’s Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Good Morning America Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Ricin Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Sniper Attacks Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Introduction to Laboratory Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Forensic Analysis Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Scientific Analysis Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Forensic Science Support Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Operational Response Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Operational Support Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Laboratory Outreach Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Research Partnership Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Visiting Scientist Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Specialized Forensic Science Training Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Training Partnership Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Scientific Working Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Symposia for Crime Laboratory Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

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Message from the FBI Laboratory Director

During 2003 the FBILaboratory focusedits efforts on the

war against terrorism,strengthening its operationalresponse programs andexpanding its forensiccapabilities to include theanalysis of chemical andbiological weapons.

The Laboratory’s Hazardous Materials ResponseUnit trains, equips, and provides support to 21 FBIresponse teams operating across the United States.These teams have responded to numerous threatsinvolving hazardous materials and weapons ofmass destruction. The Laboratory’s new Chem-BioSciences Unit is working with the U.S. military and national laboratories to provide forensicexaminations of hazardous chemical, biological,and nuclear materials. These initiatives are beingsupported by an intensive counterterrorismresearch effort aimed at developinggroundbreaking technologies for field-portablehazardous materials detection, microbial genetics,and databases for determining the source ofchemical and biological terrorist attacks.

This year the Laboratory began developing themultiagency Terrorist Explosive Devices AnalyticalCenter. When fully operational, the Center willprovide comprehensive forensic analysis andintelligence on explosive devices used by terroriststo the U.S. military and other federal andinternational agencies.

The Laboratory also began a significant upgrade tothe Bomb Data Center’s Hazardous Devices Schoolat the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Thisis the only facility providing training for the 460state and local bomb squads in the United States.

The Evidence Response Team Unit trains the 139FBI Evidence Response Teams throughout theUnited States and coordinates deployments tomajor incidents, including the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,bombings and the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.

The FBI’s new Laboratory was selected by PresidentGeorge W. Bush as the backdrop for his nationallytelevised, live speech on the eve of the two-year

anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terroristattacks. President Bush was joined by AttorneyGeneral John Ashcroft, Homeland SecuritySecretary Thomas J. Ridge, Homeland SecurityAdvisor General John A. Gordon, and FBI DirectorRobert S. Mueller as he highlighted the progressthe United States and our allies have made in thewar against terrorism.

During the past year, the Laboratory hostedbroadcasts of ABC’s GoodMorning America and theHistory Channel’s ModernMarvels. The showsdescribed the capabilitiesand successes of forensicscience and the FBILaboratory to nationaltelevision audiences.

ii FBILaboratory2003

Dwight E. Adams

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Media coverage is a good way to build awarenessand enthusiasm about forensic science; however,the day-to-day work performed by FBI Laboratorypersonnel is more impressive. The FBI Laboratory2003 Report describes the capabilities and structureof the Laboratory. The Report also highlights somedomestic and international terrorism investigations

in which our forensic scientists andcrime scene responders assisted inthwarting acts of terrorism or bringingperpetrators to justice.

For example, the Latent Print Unitmade a pivotal “cold hit” using theFBI’s Integrated Automated FingerprintIdentification System that led to the

identification and captureof Lee Boyd Malvo andJohn Allen Muhammad.The successful resolution of

this nationallypublicized Washington, DC,area sniper-murder spree, which leftten dead, including FBI analyst Linda Franklin,reflects the commitment and resolve of ourforensic examiners.

In another example, the testimony of FBILaboratory fingerprint specialists and forensicchemists helped bring Clayton Lee Waagner tojustice. Shortly after the deadly anthrax attacks in2001, Waagner sent threatening letters claiming to contain anthrax to abortion clinics across thecountry. Waagner was convicted of 51 of 53 countscharged in his indictment.

Also this year, the Laboratory’s Hazardous MaterialsResponse Unit deployed to collect, screen, andtransport evidence from Kenneth R. Olsen’s home,car, and workspace. This search led to the firstsuccessful conviction under the Chemical WeaponsStatute for possession of ricin, a powerfulbiological toxin with the potential of killingthousands of people.

These successes are not accomplished alone, andthe FBI Laboratory continues to benefit from itspartnerships with national, state, and locallaboratories and academia.

Our most successful partnership is the CombinedDNA Index System (CODIS), which enables federal,state, and local forensic laboratories to exchangeand compare DNA profiles electronically, linkingserial violent crimes to each other and to convictedoffenders. Currently, 175 laboratories are usingCODIS; 161 of these laboratories are connected to the National DNA Index System (NDIS). To date, this system has aided more than 10,000investigations and provided more than 10,000forensic and offender matches.

During 2003 the FBI Laboratory focused itsefforts on the war against terrorism,

strengthening its operational responseprograms and expanding its forensic

capabilities to include the analysis of chemicaland biological weapons.

Regional mitochondrial (mtDNA) laboratories will partner with the Laboratory to augment theBureau’s capacity for no-cost mtDNA analysis inforensic and missing persons cases. As a result,the Bureau’s capacity to deliver mtDNA analysisto the criminal justice system is expected todouble by 2005.

The following outreach programs promoteadditional partnerships and cooperation withstate and local law enforcement and academiccommunities:

■ The Research Partnership Program is a teamingof FBI and state and local forensic scientists tofacilitate the transfer of new technologies tostate and local laboratories and to generatenew forensic databases.

■ The Specialized Training Program provideshands-on training in the forensic sciencefundamentals to laboratory personnel workingin state, local, national, and international lawenforcement agencies.

■ The Visiting Scientist Program provides aconnection between the Laboratory andacademia, offering university students,postgraduates, and faculty the opportunity to enhance their education by participating inforensic research projects at the Laboratory.

■ The Training Partnership Program provides a means for recognized training institutes towork with the FBI under a common set ofguidelines to develop training that could beoffered by any of the participants.

■ The Laboratory sponsors Scientific WorkingGroups that improve discipline practices andbuild consensus with federal, state, and localforensic communities.

For 31 years the FBI Laboratory has hosted theannual Crime Laboratory Development Symposium,which provides training in management science for state, local, and federal forensic laboratorydirectors. In conjunction with the meeting, theLaboratory hosted its first annual research anddevelopment review, which included an overviewof the Research Partnership Program andsummaries of current research and development inthe biological, chemical, and physical sciences. Fivetopics were covered: the Automation of ForensicDNA Analysis, Human Identification, ExplosiveDevices and Field Analysis, Forensic Chemistry, andValidation of the Basis for Patterned EvidenceIdentification.

At the core of the Laboratory’s effort are nearly700 highly motivated employees, whose dedicationand commitment are best reflected by theinscription mounted on a rock in front of our470,000-square-foot Laboratory building inQuantico, Virginia.

Behind every case is a victim—man, womanor child—and the people who care for them.We dedicate our efforts and the new FBILaboratory building to those victims.

Dwight E. Adams, Ph.D.FBI Laboratory DirectorFederal Bureau of Investigation

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Media coverage is a good way tobuild awareness and enthusiasm

about forensic science; however, theday-to-day work performed by FBI

Laboratory personnel is moreimpressive.

President George W. Bush Visits the Laboratory

President Bush delivered a nationally televisedspeech on September 10, 2003, from the FBILaboratory in Quantico, Virginia. The speech

focused on homeland security and progress in the United States’ war against terrorism. Hepublicly recognized Director Mueller and Bureauemployees for undertaking “so much of the hardand essential work” in combating terrorism. “TheFBI, much to the chagrin of the enemy, is fullyengaged in the war on terror,” the President said.“America is proud of your efforts.”

President Bush addressed an audience of 2,500that included Bureau and Drug EnforcementAdministration personnel, FBI Special Agenttrainees, U.S. Marines, and first responders fromlocal communities. In his speech, he called forenhanced antiterrorism legislation to aid lawenforcement.

Accompanying the President were AttorneyGeneral John Ashcroft, Homeland SecuritySecretary Thomas J. Ridge, Homeland SecurityAdvisor General John A. Gordon, and FBI DirectorRobert S. Mueller. The dignitaries were given atour of the Laboratory that included the Chemistry,Explosives, and Firearms-Toolmarks Units.

Broadcastsfrom the LaboratoryGood Morning America

On May 21, 2003, ABC television’s GoodMorning America provided the “firstbroadcast ever from inside the FBI” at the

Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. The two-hourprogram featured an interview with FBI DirectorRobert S. Mueller; an interview with SupervisorySpecial Agent Douglas W. Deedrick regarding theLisk/Silva serial-killer investigation, which took fiveyears to solve and involved the expertise of manyLaboratory examiners; a tour of the Laboratory’sfirearms collection; and a demonstration of the

Andros Mark 5 A1, a state-of-the-art robot used in explosives operations by Bomb Data Centerpersonnel.

Many of the operations of the FBI Academy werealso highlighted, including Special Agent trainingin Hogan’s Alley, defensive driving training, andadvanced firearms instruction. The Violent CrimesUnit’s 53-year-old Ten Most Wanted Fugitives listwas also covered.

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Investigations

Ricin InvestigationKenneth R. Olsen was a technician for AgilentTechnologies in Liberty Lake, Spokane County,Washington, before being terminated fordownloading illicit information from the Internetwhile at work. The information detailed how to killwith undetectable poisons, how to dispense ricin,and how to make explosives. At the time of hisarrest, approximately three grams of a suspiciouswhite powder that proved to be ricin were foundin a makeshift laboratory in his office workspace.

Laboratory Hazardous Materials Response Unitpersonnel collected, screened, and transportedevidence found in Olsen’s home, car, andworkspace. The U.S. Army Medical ResearchInstitute for Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick,Maryland, identified the powder taken fromOlsen’s office workspace as 20 percent ricin. Ricin

is a toxic protein derived from thecastor seed. It is estimated that aslittle as 0.2 to 0.4 mg may besufficient to kill a 165-poundperson if inhaled or injected.

Laboratory Chemistry Unitpersonnel were deployed toFort Detrick to assist inreanalyzing the materials.When a sample of thematerial was renderedsafe, it and additionalevidence from theinvestigation were sentto the Laboratory fortesting in theChemistry andQuestionedDocuments Units.

A Chemistry Unit examiner verified thatmany of the items retrieved from Olsen’sworkspace contained traces of ricinine, an alkaloidfrom the seeds and leaves of the castor plant. Inaddition, the examiner identified the chemicalsrecovered from Olsen’s workspace and testifiedin court that they were the same chemicalsmentioned in the ricin recipes Olsen possessed.

An examiner from the Questioned Documents Unitidentified Olsen as the writer of questioned entriesappearing in numerous documents, including ahow-to-kill manual. These entries supported thegovernment’s claim that Olsen was recording theingredients and amounts necessary to producevarious poisonous recipes.

On June 19, 2002, after a ten-month investigation,Kenneth R. Olsen was arrested on federal chargesof possessing a biological weapon with intent touse it. In July 2003 Olsen was convicted on twocharges for the possession of ricin under Title 18U.S. Code Sections 175 and 229, which pertain to biological and chemical agents, respectively. This was the first successful conviction under the Chemical Weapons Statute (18 USC 229). InOctober 2003 he was sentenced to more than 13years in prison and fined $22,900 for hazardouswaste cleanup.

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Sniper AttacksInvestigationIn October 2002 sniper attacks paralyzed theWashington, DC, area. A multijurisdictional snipertask force was established to investigate multipledeaths in several states. Latent prints, DNA, trace,and questioned documents evidence was recoveredfrom some of the crime scenes and sent to theLaboratory for analysis.

Latent PrintsLaw enforcement officials from the Montgomery,Alabama, Police Department noticed similaritiesbetween the Washington, DC, area attacks and a killing in their jurisdiction. They requested thatLatent Print Unit personnel examine evidenceseized in connection with their case.

A Latent Print Unit examiner entered latentfingerprints from the Alabama evidence into theIntegrated Automated Fingerprint Identification

System (IAFIS). IAFIS returned Lee Boyd Malvo’sname. After manual comparisons of the candidateimage and the latent fingerprints developed on a gun catalog found at the Alabama crime scene,Malvo’s identity was confirmed.

This information was sent to the U.S. Immigrationand Naturalization Service to see if additionalinformation was available from Malvo’s arrestrecord for an immigration violation. The U.S.Immigration and Naturalization Service returned a second name taken from text associated withMalvo’s arrest—John Allen Muhammad.

A Unit examiner identified the suspects’fingerprints on a bag discovered at the Ashland,Virginia, shooting; on a laptop computer stolenfrom a victim in Clinton, Maryland; and oncomputer-generated documents.

The latent print examiner relayed this informationto the task force, and within 12 hours, Muhammadand Malvo were arrested at a Maryland highwayrest stop.

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DNA and TraceEvidenceA note inside a plastic bag left at the scene of the Ashland,Virginia, Ponderosa Steak Houseshooting detailed the snipers’demands. Nuclear DNA thatmatched Malvo was recoveredfrom the bag. Additionalevidence from other scenes,including a pen barrel, anotherbag, another note, and a brownglove, also yielded nuclear DNA results that directly linkedMalvo and/or Muhammad withcrime scenes. When Malvo andMuhammad were apprehended,a weapon and parts of a weaponhad nuclear DNA matching thatof the suspects.

Hairs consistent in microscopiccharacteristics to the suspects’ hairwere found in a duffel bag andon foam pieces left at a crimescene, and several hairs found on a coat at a scene exhibitedsimilarities and differences to the known hairs obtained from Malvo. These hairs weresubmitted for mtDNA analysis and associated to Malvo. Otherhairs found at a crime scene were analyzed using mtDNAtechnology and were associatedto Muhammad.

Dark-blue nylon fibers, a light-gray nylon fiber, and a whitepolyester fiber were found indebris from a bag and on acotton swab found at two of thehomicide scenes. These fiberswere consistent to fibers comprising the suspects’vehicle seats.

A brown work glove at one of the crime sceneswas found to be similar to a brown work glovefound in the suspects’ vehicle. However, smalldifferences were noted in overall length and colorof the two gloves. Trace Evidence Unit personnelasked evidence technicians from across the nation

to buy brown work gloves and submit them to theLaboratory. After examining the submitted knownsamples, personnel determined that the glove atthe scene and the glove in the vehicle appeared tohave been made by the same company. Thecompany was contacted and asked to send samplegloves for examination. The sample gloves alsoshowed slight differences from one glove toanother, even between two gloves sold as a pair.Because of this small study, the glove at the scene

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and the glove in the vehicle could not beeliminated as having been once sold as a pair.

Brown-gray cotton fibers were found stuck underadhesive stars on two different notes at crimescenes and on a cotton swab at a third scene.These fibers were found to be consistent withfibers comprising the brown work gloves from thescene and from the suspects’ vehicle.

Questioned DocumentsNotes recovered from two of the crime sceneswere submitted to the Questioned Documents Unitfor examination. Unit examiners determined thatthe same writer(s) prepared the comparablyworded portions of the notes. Indented writingand other writing were observed in a manualrecovered from the suspects’ vehicle. This writingcorresponded in wording to portions of the notesrecovered from the crime scenes. Questioneddocuments examiners also determined that twoplastic bags recovered from one of the crimescenes were similar in size, design, andmanufacturing characteristics to bags found in the suspects’ vehicle.

Investigative ExhibitsStructural Design Unit personnel built an exhibitthat demonstrated how the car used in theshootings had been modified. A full-sized,replicated Chevy Caprice vehicle trunk duplicatedthe hole found in the impounded vehicle. The holeenabled the suspect to protrude a rifle barrel outfrom the trunk. The purpose of the exhibit was toallow an expert witness to get inside the trunk anddemonstrate possible sniper and weapon positions.

Investigative and Prosecutive Graphics Unitpersonnel prepared digital images of the white vanand white box truck that witnesses claimed to haveseen at the site of several of the shootings. Four of the images were released to the media. Visualinformation specialists digitally surveyed anddocumented the shooting scenes in Virginia andMaryland, including the location of the victims,vehicles, and physical evidence. The two-

dimensional diagrams produced from this datawere used in the investigation and trials. Personnelalso prepared a diagram of the suspects’ vehicledepicting the hole in the rear-body panel, possiblepositioning of the shooter in the trunk, and thelocation and description of evidence. They alsoproduced an interactive time-line chart illustratingeach shooting from September 5, 2003, until thesuspects were arrested October 24, 2003.

In November 2003 John Allen Muhammad wasfound guilty on two counts of capital murder, onecount of conspiracy to commit murder, and onecount of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to death.

In December 2003 in a separate trial, Lee BoydMalvo was found guilty on two counts of capitalmurder and one count of using a firearm tocommit a felony. He was sentenced to life in prisonwithout the possibility of parole and fined$200,000.

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Introduction to Laboratory Sections

The successful investigation and prosecutionof crimes requires, in most cases, thecollection, preservation, and forensic analysis

of evidence. Forensic analysis of evidence is oftencrucial to determinations of guilt or innocence.

The FBI has one of the largest and mostcomprehensive forensic laboratories in the world.The forensic services of the FBI Laboratory Divisionare available to the following:

■ FBI field offices and Legal Attachés

■ U.S. attorneys, military tribunals, and otherfederal agencies for civil and criminal matters

■ State, county, and municipal law enforcementagencies in the United States and territorialpossessions for criminal matters

The Laboratory directly supports the FBI’s strategicplan with the following scientific capabilities:

■ Provides correct, unassailable, and timelyevidentiary results and objective testimony

■ Supports field office programs and operationsby improving and enhancing scientific andforensic response capabilities

■ Improves existing and establishes andimplements new technical capabilities,databases, protocols, policies, procedures,standards, and guidelines

■ Strengthens existing and establishes newliaisons, including training and burden-sharingwith national and international forensiclaboratory and law enforcement agencies

■ Improves and expands training opportunitiesfor the professional staff and recruitsadditional professional staff

■ Implements internal and external reviews,including accreditation, audits, proficiencytests, and inventories

■ Develops and manages internal and externalresearch and development projects

The Laboratory is organized into Forensic Analysisand Operational Support Branches.

Oversight and leadership for each branch isprovided by a Deputy Assistant Director.

The Forensic Analysis Branchis divided into the followingsections:

■ Forensic Analysis Section

■ Scientific Analysis Section

The Operational SupportBranch is divided into thefollowing sections:

■ Forensic Science SupportSection

■ Operational ResponseSection

■ Operational SupportSection

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Joseph A. DiZinno

Tod Alan Hildebrand

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Cryptanalysis andRacketeering Records UnitThe Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unitexamines evidence relating to criminal and terroristorganizations. Records may include ledgers,notebooks, letters, coded documents, banking andreal estate records, and intercepted e-mails orconversations. The data submitted for examinationis typically in hard copy, but in some instances, it isstored in computers, diskettes, and electronic dataorganizers. The Unit is divided into four programareas:

■ Cryptanalysis—Decrypts manual codes and ciphers found in letters, diaries, ledgers,and other types of written communications,records, and e-mails. Common users of codesand ciphers include domestic and internationalterrorists, foreign intelligence agents, gangmembers, prison inmates, and violentcriminals.

■ Drugs—Examines records relating tomarijuana, cocaine, heroin, and

methamphetamine drug-trafficking operations.Records may reveal the type of operation, typeof drug, quantity of drug sold or purchased,unit prices, method of payment, transactiondates, roles of participants, gross and netprofits, and operating expenses.

■ Racketeering—Examines records relating to sports bookmaking, loan-sharking,prostitution, illegal lottery, video-gamblingmachines, and Internet gambling. Records may reveal the type of operation, dates ofactivity, wager amounts and types, roles ofparticipants, operational accounting methods,and annual percentage rates.

■ Money Laundering—Examines financialrecords relating to white collar and organizedcrime, drugs, and domestic and internationalterrorism matters. Records may reveal thesubjects’ financial and assets interests and the movement of money through financialinstitutions and acrossinternational borders.

Forensic Analysis Section

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Firearms-Toolmarks Unit Firearms-Toolmarks Unit examiners can determinethe general condition of a firearm and whetherthe firearm is mechanically functional or in acondition that could contribute to an unintentionaldischarge. Personnel perform trigger-pullexaminations and examinations to determinewhether a firearm was altered to fire in the full-automatic mode. Obliterated and/or alteredfirearm serial numbers can sometimes be restored.Firearms can be test-fired to obtain knownspecimens for comparison to evidentiaryammunition components such as bullets, cartridgecases, and shotshell casings. Comparisons of suspect

firearms can be made with firearms depicted insurveillance images.

Fired bullets can be examined to determinegeneral rifling characteristics, such as caliber andphysical features of the rifling impressions, and the manufacturer of the bullets. The microscopiccharacteristics on evidence bullets can be comparedto test-fired bullets from a suspect firearm todetermine whether the evidence bullet was firedfrom that firearm.

Unit personnel also examine cartridge cases,shotshell casings, shot pellets, rifled slugs, waddingcomponents, and muzzle attachments.

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Espionage InvestigationIn August 2001 FBI Special Agentsarrested Brian Patrick Regan atWashington Dulles International Airportas he was boarding a flight to Switzerland.Searches of Regan’s baggage resulted in thediscovery of several coded messages. Regan,a former Air Force intelligence analyst, wascharged with three counts of attemptedespionage and one count of illegally gatheringnational security information.

Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unitexaminers worked closely with other FBINational Security Agency analysts andcryptanalysts to decipher the coded messages.All but three of the messages were decrypted.The deciphered messages included secretinformation about weapons systems as well aslocations of two Swiss banks. The discovery ofadditional partially coded messages on Regan’shome computer led to the decryption of a seriesof double-enciphered letters containing offersto sell top-secret government information toIraq and Libya.

In January 2003 a Unit examiner provided expertcryptanalysis testimony at Regan’s trial in federalcourt in Alexandria, Virginia. Regan wasconvicted on the espionage counts relating toweapons systems but acquitted of chargesrelating to Libya. Before he could be sentenced,Regan entered into a postconviction agreementin which he accepted a life term with no chance

of parole and pledged full cooperation with thegovernment.

After the trial, Unit personnel participated indebriefing interviews with Regan. Informationwas gained from Regan that resulted in thedecryption of the three messages that had not previously been decrypted, as well as ofadditional coded messages found during thecourse of the interview process. The decryptionsled Special Agents to 19 drop-sites throughoutVirginia and Maryland where more than 20,000pages of classified documents, CD-ROMs, andvideotapes were found, prompting the U.S.Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to refer to the case as “one of the largestespionage schemes of all time.”

Space Shuttle ColumbiaDisasterOn February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbiawas minutes from landing at the Kennedy SpaceCenter in Florida. During reentry into Earth’satmosphere, a thermal breach in the leading edgeof Columbia’s left wing caused a structural failurethat resulted in a total breakup of the vehicle.

In order to determine the exact location of thebreach, NASA conducted a failure analysis thatincluded reassembling recovered debris items. Thisreconstruction would show the path taken by thehot gases as they penetrated the orbiter’s skin.The skin was covered by thousands of sequentiallynumbered ceramic tiles that were severelydamaged by the excess heat, impact, or both.

NASA requested assistance from the Firearms-Toolmarks Unit in recovering serial numbers fromdamaged tiles in order to more accurately placethese tiles in their proper locations during thereconstruction. With the assistance of SpecialPhotographic Unit personnel and usingalternate-light-source instrumentation, Unitexaminers uncovered several serial numbercharacters that had previously been invisible to the naked eye.

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Firing a questioned firearm and ammunitioncombination into test materials at known distancescan duplicate patterns of gunshot residue. Thesepatterns serve as a basis for estimating muzzle-to-garment distances.

Evidence toolmarks can be compared to test marks from recovered tools. In the absence of a questioned tool, toolmark examinations candetermine the type of tool(s) that produced thetoolmark and whether the toolmark is of value forcomparison. Toolmark examinations also includelock and key examinations.

Fracture examinations can be conducted in orderto determine whether two or more pieces ofevidence were at one time joined together andsubsequently broken apart.

Latent Print UnitsLatent Print Unit personnel examine latent printson evidence submitted to the Laboratory. Latentprints are impressions produced by the frictionridge skin on human fingers, palms, and soles ofthe feet. Unit examiners analyze and comparelatent prints to known prints of individuals tomake identifications or exclusions. The uniqueness,permanence, and arrangement of the frictionridges allow Unit examiners to positively matchtwo prints and to determine whether an area of a friction ridge impression originated from onesource to the exclusion of all others.

Fingerprint specialists examine crime sceneevidentiary materials using chemicals, powders,lasers, and alternate-light sources to detect anddevelop latent prints. In instances in which a latentprint has limited quality and quantity of detail,

FBI Disaster SquadLatent fingerprint examiners form the nucleus of the FBIDisaster Squad. Since 1940 the Disaster Squad has responded toover 225 disasters worldwide and identified more than half thevictims by fingerprints or footprints. Members of the Squadassist in printing the deceased at disaster scenes, collectingantemortem fingerprints of victims, and identifying theirremains by friction ridge skin.

IAFISIn 1999 the FBI implemented the Integrated AutomatedFingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Although IAFIS isprimarily a ten-print system for searching an individual’sfingerprints to determine whether a prior arrest record existsand then maintaining a criminal arrest record history, thesystem also offers significant latent print capabilities. Using IAFIS, a latent print examiner can digitallycapture latent print and ten-print images and perform the following functions:

■ Enhance image quality

■ Compare latent fingerprints with suspect ten-print records from the criminal fingerprintrepository

■ Search latent fingerprints against the ten-print fingerprint repository when no suspects havebeen developed

■ Automatically search new arrest ten-print records against an unsolved latent fingerprintrepository

■ Create special files of ten-print records to support major criminal investigations

Using the IAFIS fingerprint search capability against data from the FBI’s Criminal Justice InformationServices Division, which maintains the world’s largest repository of fingerprint records, the LatentPrint Unit personnel have made identifications in cases when no known suspects were named forcomparison purposes and in cases when latent prints on crime scene-related evidence were notidentified with suspects named in the investigation.

Unit personnel use special techniques to examine fingers and hands of unknown deceased individualsto obtain identifiable prints. Automated searches of identifiable prints can be conducted using theIAFIS database, which contains over 44 million criminal fingerprint records and approximately 2million civil fingerprint records. If classifiable prints are obtained from all ten fingers, manualsearches can also be conducted in the civil fingerprint file.

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Unit personnel may perform digital processing or microscopic examinations in order to makeconclusive comparisons.

Unit examiners also compare latent prints with the known prints of victims and/or suspects.

Questioned Documents UnitQuestioned Documents Unit personnel examineand compare data on paper and other evidentiarymaterials. Included are examinations ofhandwriting, hand printing, typewriting, printing,erasures, alterations, and obliterations. Impressionsin the surface of paper, such as those fromindented writing or use of a check writer or dryseal, are also evaluated by Unit examiners, as areshoeprint and tire tread impressions.

In addition to data contained on the surface ofdocumentary evidence, data within paper or othersurfaces, including watermarks, safety fibers, andother integral features, may be components ofdocument examinations.

Unit examiners also match torn or perforatededges of items such as paper, stamps, or matches.Other Unit examinations include analyses oftypewriter ribbons, photocopiers, facsimiles,graphic arts, and plastic bags.

The Unit also maintains databases, including theAnonymous Letter File, Bank Robbery Note File,National Fraudulent Check File, Watermark File,and Shoeprint File.

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Scientific Analysis Section

Chem-Bio Sciences Unit Chem-Bio Sciences Unit personnel develop andmaintain the FBI’s ability to provide high-qualityforensic examinations of hazardous chemical,biological, and nuclear materials and relatedevidence by:

■ Providing analysis to detect traces of chemical,biological, or nuclear materials to support theprevention, investigation, and prosecution ofterrorist activities

■ Providing forensic examinations of hazardousmaterials and conventional evidencecontaminated with these materials

■ Ensuring that forensic analysis of hazardousmaterials and conventional evidencecontaminated with these materials isrepresented by expert courtroom testimonyand defensible scientific analysis

The Unit’s mission includes the followingchallenges:

■ Technical personnel with specialized trainingmust process evidence that is extremelydangerous in costly safety facilities.

■ Hazardous materials encompass a complex andbroad range of science and technology,including chemistry, microbiology,biochemistry, and physics.

■ Conventional evidence, such as fingerprints,materials, devices, toolmarks, and traceevidence, that has been contaminated withhazardous materials must be exploited.

■ Examinations must be performed under highquality assurance and control standards.

To augment the Laboratory’s capabilities, theUnit is coordinating the resources of federal andprivate laboratories that are capable of handling,processing, and analyzing chemical, biological,and radiological terrorism evidence. Unitpersonnel are pursuing cooperative laboratoryinitiatives with the U.S. Department of HomelandSecurity. The Unit also has agreements with thefollowing laboratories:

■ Edgewood Chemical/Biological ForensicAnalytical Center, Edgewood area, Maryland

■ U.S. Army Military Research Institute ofInfectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland

■ Savannah River Technical Center, U.S.Department of Energy, Savannah River site,South Carolina

■ Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring,Maryland

■ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,Livermore, California

Unit personnel are exploiting advances inbiotechnology that promise highly specificidentification of disease-causing organisms by examining their DNA. Much work remains to be done in this area, and the Unit is building Laboratory resources to develop new“bioforensics” methods. Chem-Bio Sciences Unitpersonnel will establish standardized, validatedprocedures and train Laboratory examiners inchemical, biological, and radiological safety. This will allow the Laboratory to employ its well-developed conventional forensics resources to examine hazardous evidence.

Chemistry UnitThe Chemistry Unit is dividedinto the following programareas:

■ General Chemistry—Conducts chemicalcharacterizations ofunknown solids orliquids. Chemists identifyspecific dyes andchemicals used in banksecurity devices andanalyze items such asclothing or currency forthe presence of thesedyes and chemicals.Personnel compare stainsor markings to suspectedsources, detect thepresence of lubricantsand compare tosuspected sources, andcompare the formulations of known andquestioned ink (e.g., pens, typewriters, stamppads). Chemists determine pharmaceuticalidentification of constituent composition,active ingredients, quantity, and weight. Unitpersonnel also analyze controlled substances todetermine identity and quantity.

■ Toxicology—Conducts toxicological analysesof biological specimens or food products fordrugs, drug metabolites, and poisons andinvestigates claims of product tampering.

■ Paints and Polymers—Analyzes paint chipsfor comparison to suspected sources. Personneldetermine automotive make, model, and yearfrom suspected paint samples and maintain the National Automotive Paint File. Scientistscompare plastics to suspected sources.Personnel determine tape composition,construction, and color for comparison tosuspected sources and determine themanufacturer of suspected adhesive tape,make tape identifications with the torn or cutend of the tape and a roll of suspected tape,

and maintain the National Forensic Tape File. Caulks, sealants, and adhesives can becompared by color and composition tosuspected sources.

■ Metallurgy—Performs examinations onevidence from air, rail, and maritime disasters.Damage and failure analyses, strength-of-materials issues, specifications fraud,fabrication evaluation, corrosion assessment,product tampering, sabotage, and applianceand device functionality examinations areperformed in the Unit.

■ Elemental—Examinations of bullet lead, arsenic in biological specimens, glasscomposition, lamp bulbs, speedometers,stabbing instruments, and materialscomparisons associated with homicide, arson,and accident investigations are performed.

■ Instrumentation Operation and Support—Calibrates and maintains analyticalinstruments, evaluates new technology, andmaintains the Unit instrument database andarchived data.



Mother’s Day PoisoningHemoutie “Geeta” Raghunauth’s last meal was a special lunch prepared and served by her husband,Ganesh, on Mother’s Day 2000 in a suburb of Toronto, Canada. Within hours of the meal, Geeta and herunborn child were dead. Initially investigators thought that her death was a suicide because toxicologicalanalyses of autopsy samples performed by the Centre of Forensic Services in Toronto and the FBILaboratory’s Chemistry Unit found large doses of temazepam, a sedative drug, and cyanide. But as theinvestigation progressed, investigators theorized that Ganesh staged a suicide by sedating Geeta withtemazepam-spiked food and then force-feeding her cyanide.

Prior to his wife’s death, Mr. Raghunauth collected information from coworkers and the Internet aboutcyanide and medical procedures. He also asked a friend to get him some cyanide to “get rid of a skunkproblem.” Furthermore, Mr. Raghunauth was having an affair, and the couple became engaged threeweeks prior to Geeta’s death.

Chemistry Unit personnel performed many of the toxicological analyses on the evidence from this case. In April 2003 an examiner from the Chemistry Unit provided expert testimony at the trial of GaneshRaghunauth by explaining the results of the toxicological analyses and offering expert opinion regardingthe results.

In June 2003 a jury found Ganesh Raghunauth guilty of first-degree murder. He received a mandatory lifesentence and will not be eligible for parole for 25 years.

Anthrax Threat LettersIn November 2003 Clayton Lee Waagner was tried in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for sending threat lettersallegedly containing anthrax to abortion clinics across the country.

Two and a half years earlier, Waagner escaped from custody while awaiting sentencing on federal firearmscharges. After a series of bank robberies and carjackings, Waagner initiated a campaign of mass mailings toabortion clinics in the fall of 2001. All of the approximately 500 letters sent claimed that the recipient hadjust been exposed to high levels of anthrax. The alarm generated was severe because the letters followedclosely on the mailing of deadly anthrax powders a few weeks earlier in Florida, New York, New Jersey, andWashington, DC.

After Waagner’s arrest in December 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the letters, envelopes and the powders in theenvelopes, and other items of evidence were submitted to the Laboratory for examination. Fingerprintsfrom Waagner were identified on threat letters that he had left with antiabortion activist Neal Horsleyduring a visit to Horsley’s residence. Comparisons conducted by the Questioned Documents Unit showedthat letters sent out during the mass mailings matched one of the letters recovered from Horsley. Thepowders analyzed in the Chemistry Unit were shown to be consistent with flour or chalk dust. The Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention, which had already verified that the powders were negative foranthrax, determined that the chalk dust powders contained a bacillus used as an insecticide.

During Waagner’s two-week trial (at which he acted as his own attorney), a Laboratory latent printexaminer established a physical connection between Waagner and the threat letters, and a Laboratorychemist testified regarding the chemical and biological analysis of the powders.

The jury found Waagner guilty on 51 of the 53 counts charged in the indictment, including threatening tosend a weapon of mass destruction. He faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

CODIS UnitThe Unit manages the Combined DNA IndexSystem (CODIS). CODIS blends forensic science andcomputer technology into a tool for linking violentcrimes. It enables federal, state, and local forensiclaboratories to exchange and compare DNAprofiles electronically, thereby linking serial violentcrimes to each other and to known offenders.

The highest level in the CODIS hierarchy is theNational DNA Index System (NDIS). There are 161NDIS participating sites consisting of 110 local DNAindex systems and 51 state DNA index systems.

Using two indexes, CODIS generates investigativeleads in crimes where biological evidence isrecovered from the crime scene. The forensic indexcontains DNA profiles from crime scene evidence,and the convicted offender index contains DNAprofiles of individuals convicted of felony sexoffenses and other crimes. An index for DNA from missing persons has been added to CODIS,allowing federal, state, and local law enforcementlaboratories to identify missing persons andrecovered human remains.

Accomplishments as of October 2003

Convicted Offender Samples in NDIS 1,566,552

Forensic Samples in NDIS 75,394

Missing Persons 94

Forensic Hits 2,787

Offender Hits 7,630*

Investigations Aided 10,358

Laboratories 175

NDIS Participating Sites 161

Note: *6,608 at State DNA Index System; 1,022 at NDIS

DNA Analysis UnitsDeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is analyzed in bodyfluids, stains, and other biological tissues recoveredfrom evidence. The results of DNA analysis ofquestioned biological samples are compared withthe results of DNA analysis of known samples. Thisanalysis can associate victim(s) and/or suspect(s)with each other or with a crime scene.

Two sources of DNA are used in forensic analyses.Nuclear DNA (nDNA) is typically analyzed inevidence containing blood, semen, saliva, bodytissues, and hair that have tissue at their root ends.Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is typically analyzedin evidence containing naturally shed hair, hairfragments, bones, and teeth.

DNA Analysis Unit 1 examiners and biologistsanalyze body fluids, body fluid stains, clothing,envelopes, and other types of evidence recoveredin violent crimes, counterterrorism efforts, and other investigations. Examinations includeidentifying and characterizing blood and semenusing traditional serological techniques, as well as sampling items of evidence where biologicalmaterial may have been deposited (e.g., envelopeflaps, masks, gloves). When a stain is identified or a sample is collected, it is characterized by DNAanalysis using short tandem repeats, a polymerasechain reaction-based technique. The results of theanalyses are compared to results obtained fromknown blood and/or saliva samples submitted fromthe victims and/or suspects.


DNA Analysis Unit 1 personnel manage the FederalConvicted Offender Program. Unit biologistsprocess reference samples to add to NDIS of CODISfor searching and comparison with convictedoffender profiles and other crime scene samples. In addition, Unit personnel generate nDNA profileson unidentified remains, missing persons, andrelatives of missing persons to contribute to theNational Missing Persons Database.

Scientists in DNA Analysis Unit 2 use mtDNAanalysis that is applied to evidence containingsmall or degraded quantities of DNA from hair,bones, and teeth. The results of the analysis arecompared to blood and/or saliva submitted fromthe victims and/or suspects. The Unit examinesevidence that prior to developing this techniquemay not have been suitable for significantcomparison purposes using nDNA analysis. TheUnit also manages the National Missing Persons

Database. This program analyzes DNA samplesfrom unidentified human remains and fromrelatives of missing persons. The results are enteredinto the Missing Persons Indexes of CODIS.


Four Regional mtDNA Laboratories SelectedRegional mtDNA laboratories will partner with the Laboratory to augment the Bureau’s capacity forno-cost mtDNA analysis in forensic and missing persons cases. As the partner laboratories becomeoperational during the next two years, the Laboratory’s capacity to deliver no-cost mtDNA analysis tothe criminal justice system will double. Cases will be submitted directly to regional mtDNA laboratories.

In May 2003 the Laboratory notified forensic laboratories participating in CODIS of plans tocompetitively select partner laboratories. In June 2003 a briefing was held in Arlington, Virginia, andapproximately 35 state and local crime laboratories sent representatives or requested materials. Twelveapplications were received. Selected laboratories share the following traits: They are statewide, full-service forensic laboratories, and they are accredited in DNA and trace evidence with established nDNAand CODIS programs.

On September 30, 2003, the FBI awarded multiyear, cooperative agreements to the following agencies:

■ Arizona Department of Public Safety, Phoenix, Arizona

■ Connecticut State Police, Meriden, Connecticut

■ Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, St. Paul, Minnesota

■ New Jersey State Police, Trenton, New Jersey

The agreements provide for the Laboratory to train and equip regional mtDNA laboratories andauthorize casework that meets FBI quality standards. Partner laboratories will be responsible formtDNA analysis, reporting results, and testifying, if necessary.

The Laboratory is building long-term partnerships with state and local forensic laboratories to providecritical forensic services that it cannot provide by itself. The initial term of agreement is three years butmay be renewed indefinitely for two-year periods. All partner laboratories should be fully operationalby September 2005, although some capacity may be available sooner.

Sexual Assaults in Houston,TexasA series of sexual assaults involving juvenile victimsoccurred in Houston, Texas, during the latter partof 2003. Authorities believed the attacks wereserially related, with imminent potential ofanother assault. The FBI’s Houston Office deliveredevidence related to these investigations to theLaboratory on the evening of November 6, 2003.DNA Analysis Unit 1 personnel took custody of and inventoried the evidence. They conductedserological examinations throughout the night,identifying semen in two cases. The examinationteam then worked diligently for 18 hoursprocessing samples for DNA analysis.

By the early morning hours of November 8, 2003,DNA-typing results were obtained. The DNAinformation unexpectedly demonstrated that the sources of semen in each case were differentindividuals, ruling out the possibility of a serialattacker. The DNA profiles from each case weresearched in NDIS, and two previously convictedoffenders were identified as the semen sources of the DNA in each case.

On the basis of this information, local lawenforcement, in conjunction with FBI officials, wasable to quickly locate and apprehend both subjects.

Murdered ChildOn August 13, 1998, 11-year-old Angelica Padilladisappeared while delivering newspapers inWillimantic, Connecticut. Seven hours later, herpartially clad body was found in the woods behindher apartment building. She had been hit in thehead with a blunt object and her throat slit soseverely she was nearly decapitated. Jose Torres,who also lived in the apartment building, wasaccused of killing Angelica.

The Connecticut State Police Forensic Laboratoryfound a semen stain too small for conventionalnDNA testing on the victim’s shorts. An extract ofthe stain was sent to the FBI Laboratory for mtDNAtesting. The mtDNA type matched that of Torres.

A DNA Analysis Unit 1 examiner testified inConnecticut Superior Court regarding this evidencein February 2002. On March 11, 2002, Torres wasfound guilty on capital felony and murder chargesand sentenced to life in prison without possibilityof parole.

Skeletal Remains IdentifiedRussell Jordan was 16 years old in 1982 when he was last seen alive. In 1995 skeletal remainswere discovered by a Los Gatos resident who waswalking his dogs along a hiking trail in NovitiatePark in California. The head and hands weremissing from the recovered remains. Items foundwith the body, particularly a belt buckle with aSchlitz beer insignia, led the Los Gatos-MonteSereno Police Department to think that theremains were those of Russell Jordan.

A portion of the recovered remains was sent to the FBI Laboratory’s National Missing Persons DNA Database program. The bones were processednumerous times without suitable results. Scientistsfrom the Laboratory’s Counterterrorism andForensic Science Research Unit worked withpersonnel from the National Missing Persons DNADatabase program to develop a DNA extractionprotocol that would increase the amount of DNAthat could be extracted from bones. In late 2002research on and validation of the improved boneextraction protocol was complete.

The Russell Jordan case was reexamined, and the bones yielded enough DNA for an mtDNAcomparison. The mtDNA profile from therecovered remains was compared to the mtDNAprofile from Russell Jordan’s mother. The profileswere the same.

On December 18, 2003, Sean Clark Viehweg,Russell Jordan’s high school classmate, plead nocontest to voluntary manslaughter. He will beeligible for release in two years.


Explosives UnitExplosives Unit personnel examine evidenceresulting from an apparent explosion and/orrecovery of an explosive device. Examinations arebased on the premise that components andaccessories used to construct the devices survive theexplosion, although disfigured. The examinationscan accomplish the following:

■ Identify the components used to construct thedevice, such as switches, batteries, detonators,tapes, wires, and fuzing systems

■ Identify the explosive main charge

■ Determine the construction characteristics

■ Determine how the device functioned or wasdesigned or intended to function

■ Determine the specific assembly techniquesemployed by the builder(s) of the device

■ Preserve the trace evidence potentially presentin the devices so it is not destroyed ordamaged during the examinations

Unit personnel also provide field support andperform bombing crime scene investigations. Theysearch bomb-making factories and safe houseswhere bombs or bomb components may beencountered. Explosives Unit personnel managethe Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center.


Terrorist Explosive DeviceAnalytical CenterSince September 11, 2001, the FBI’s primary missionhas been to prevent further acts of terrorismagainst U.S. citizens and interests, at home andabroad. FBI assets dedicated to investigatingterrorism have more than doubled in the past two years. Joint terrorism task forces are nowoperational in every FBI field office. Dozens of FBISpecial Agents and analysts have been deployedoverseas to work closely with U.S. military andforeign intelligence to obtain information aboutterrorists before they strike.

The Laboratory is developing the TerroristExplosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) toforensically exploit and disseminate intelligence on improvised explosive devices used by terrorists.According to a recent U.S. Department of Statereport, more than 85 percent of all terroristattacks against U.S. interests and citizens duringthe past five years involved improvised explosivedevices, also known as homemade bombs. Unlikemanufactured military ordnance, these bombsoften reflect the unique characteristics orsignature of the terrorist organizations orindividuals making them. It is intelligence of thisnature that may help identify terrorists beforethey strike American targets.

TEDAC is a multiagency effort that serves as the primary center for improvised explosive device-related information and provides jointrecommendations for improvised explosive device disposal methods. TEDAC is establishingrelationships among agencies to foster the best data collection, maintenance, and database sharing.Current TEDAC partners include the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; CentralIntelligence Agency; National Security Agency;Defense Intelligence Agency; Naval ExplosiveOrdnance Disposal Technology Division; NationalGround Intelligence Center; and military commands.In addition, TEDAC includes British military, lawenforcement, and intelligence agencies.

TEDAC’s primary mission is to exploit the terroristreliance on improvised explosive devices for offensiveand defensive intelligence, technical, and tactical use.This will be accomplished through communication,forensic analysis, and the fusion of resources.

Trace Evidence UnitThe Trace Evidence Unit identifies and comparesspecific types of trace materials that could betransferred during a violent crime. These tracematerials include human and animal hair, textilefibers and fabrics, ropes and cords, soil, glass,building materials, feathers, and wood. Physicalanthropology (skeletal remains) examinations,coordinated with the Smithsonian Institution,are also performed to help identify humanremains and assist in determining possible causeof death.

The physical contact between a suspect and avictim can result in the transfer of trace materialssuch as hair, fibers, soil, and glass. Theidentification and comparison of these materialscan often link a suspect to a crime scene or tophysical contact with another individual. Tornpieces of fabric can be positively associated to adamaged garment, and broken pieces of wood or glass can be positively fitted together.

The Unit maintains reference collections of humanand animal hair, natural and man-made textilefibers, fabrics, feathers, soil, and wood.

Pipe Bomb in SantaAna, CaliforniaOn June 15, 2003, Hai Duc Le was in his 1990 Toyota Cressida in Santa Ana, California, when abomb exploded in his car. Le was seriously injured and takento a hospital. Explosives Unitpersonnel examined the crimescene and found remnants of a PVC pipe bomb that had split into two pieces, with anapparent low-explosive filler. Theendcaps had been attached withdouble-sided tape. Roofing nails,pipe pieces, and filler were foundinside and outside the car. Aremotely controlled transmitterand receiver were also recovered.Le’s wallet contained receipts forthe purchase of pipe, endcaps,and other items.

An interview with Le’s brother led to the discovery in the brother’s car of three bottles of Pyrodex(a propellant for use in muzzle loading and black powder cartridge arms), a purchase receipt forthem, nails, and screws. A search of Hai’s residence led to the discovery of other items, includingcorrespondence between Hai and a U.S. Congresswoman about a relative’s immigration matter.Although Hai’s vehicle was parked in a strip mall where the Congresswoman’s satellite office islocated when the device functioned, it is not known if she was the intended victim. A nearbyVietnamese cafe could also have been the target.

Hai Duc Le was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction. He was also charged with carryingand using a destructive device, attempted arson, possession of an unregistered firearm (i.e., a pipebomb), and the illegal making of a destructive device. His brother, Hien Duc Le, was charged as anaccessory after the fact and with obstructing justice for allegedly concealing evidence. Hai Duc Lecould be sentenced to 35 years to life in prison.



Forensic Science Support Section

Counterterrorism andForensic Science ResearchUnitThe Counterterrorism and Forensic ScienceResearch Unit researches, develops, and deliversnew technologies and methodologies to advanceforensic science and fight terrorism. The Unit alsomanages the Research Partner Program, VisitingScientist Program, and Specialized Forensic ScienceTraining Program, which are described in theLaboratory Outreach Programs section.

Unit scientists are responsible for research anddevelopment, validation studies, and transferringnew forensic procedures and protocols toLaboratory caseworking units. They also publishresults of completed research projects in peer-reviewed scientific journals, present findings atscientific meetings, and provide advanced technicaltraining in formal classes and training symposia.Unit scientists provide expert advice and guidanceto state and local law enforcement agencies.

Through outsourced and internal research anddevelopment, Unit personnel executed more than100 projects in 2003, including 51 in biologicalsciences, 22 in chemical sciences, and 36 in physicalsciences. The Unit is divided into three areas:

■ Biology—Unit scientists initiated a majorproject to automate forensic DNA analysis. This research will help eliminate the backlog of convicted offender samples to be added to CODIS and will benefit the Laboratory’scaseworking units as well as forensiclaboratories across the country. Although each step in the process will be addressedseparately, the outcome of this project will bean integrated system for “hands-off” analysis.Efforts also continue to streamline mtDNAanalysis, including evaluating and validating a faster method for postamplification DNAquantitation.

■ Chemistry—The chemical sciences group hasexpertise in separations, mass spectrometry,and portable instrumentation for field use. Anisotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometryprogram was introduced in 2003 to compareotherwise indistinguishable forensic samples.Other efforts of this group range from thedevelopment of a new explosives analyzer that

combines screening and confirmation in asingle analysis to the implementation of a new protocol to colorimetrically determine thepresence of invisible pepper spray residue onclothing.

■ Physical Sciences—Materials analysis,molecular spectroscopy, imaging, and latentfingerprint and document examinations arespecialties in physical sciences. A major effortof this group is the hyperspectral imaging of questioned documents and obliteratedhandwriting in order to providespectrochemical analysis. In addition, a preciseaiming mechanism was developed for anexplosive device disrupter, and statisticalanalysis of fingerprint uniqueness is nearingcompletion this year.

Evidence Control UnitAll evidence administrative management andtracking from receipt to disposition was shiftedfrom Laboratory examiners to the Evidence ControlUnit in 2003. Examiners are now able to analyzeevidence full time without the burden ofadministrative functions of evidence processing.

Early in 2004 Unit personnel will integrate theLaboratory Information Management System(LIMS), an automated evidence-tracking system.LIMS will provide a paperless process for evidencetracking, quality and inventory control, caseworkdocumentation, and direct administrativereporting.

Unit personnel also provide evidence managementleadership and training to FBI evidence techniciansand examiners as well as to federal, state, and local law enforcement agency personnel byestablishing policy for evidence receipt, handling,packaging, transfer, and storage. The Unit’s goal of restructuring evidence management will providequality and efficient customer service to theforensic science and law enforcement communitythrough active liaison, communication, andleadership.

Quality Assurance andTraining UnitThe Quality Assurance and Training Unit managesthe following functions:

■ Develops and maintains quality assurancepractice standards, general guidelines forstandard operating protocols, and the qualityassurance manual

■ Develops, coordinates, and reviews qualityassurance programs, including calibrating andmaintaining instruments and equipment andthe proficiency testing program, whichincludes internal and external testing

■ Performs quality audits to verify for managersthat established quality policies and programsare being followed

■ Coordinates and manages the accreditationprogram

■ Coordinates and implements the qualityassurance training programs

The Laboratory Library supplies forensic scienceinformation to FBI and national and internationalscientists and examiners. The information supportsevidentiary examinations, prepares examiners forcourtroom testimony, and facilitates research and development to further forensic scienceknowledge, techniques, and instrumentation.

The Library staff publishes Forensic ScienceCommunications, a quarterly, online, peer-reviewed forensic science journal. The journal is a means of communication among internationalforensic scientists and may be viewed atwww.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm.

The Library staff also publishes the Handbook of Forensic Services, a set of guidelines andprocedures for collecting, preserving, packaging,and shipping evidence. The Handbook describesthe forensic examinations performed by the Laboratory and may be viewed atwww.fbi.gov/hq/lab/handbook/intro.htm.

Unit personnel coordinate forensic science coursedevelopment and training for new Special Agentsand National Academy students. They also ensurethat standards are met for on-the-job training ofLaboratory examiners and technicians. The Unit


organizes the annual Symposium on CrimeLaboratory Development for state and localforensic laboratory managers.

Special Photographic UnitThe Special Photographic Unit is the FBI’s primaryimaging operation and provides operational,investigative, and forensic photography, includingsurveillance photography and concealmentinstallations, technical assistance, cameraequipment repair, and camera and darkroomequipment procurement. Unit personnel capture,process, and produce photographic images usingtraditional silver-based photographic processes anddigital-imaging technologies. The Unit is dividedinto three subunits:

■ Forensic Studio—Provides photographicsupport and services to the FBI. The supportincludes forensic, crime scene, evidentiary,special-event, venue, direct vertical, andoblique-aerial photography, including vertical-aerial mapping. Photographers go to majorcrime scenes, shootings involving SpecialAgents, and other operational andinvestigative photographic assignments.

■ Field Support—Processes film and produceshard-copy photographs, includingenlargements for court presentations.Personnel install equipment in regionalminilaboratories, provide the supplies tomanage the laboratories, and train fieldphotographers to operate the equipment. Thesubunit is responsible for the digital darkroomprogram, which includes purchasing, repairing,installing, and training. Personnel design andinstall photographic concealments. They arealso responsible for procuring new cameraequipment, repairing existing photographicequipment, and helping field offices withnewly adopted photographic equipment.

■ Training—Provides six hours of basic andcrime scene photography training to new FBI Special Agents. Unit specialists teach thefollowing classes to Special Agents and fieldsupport personnel: Basic, Intermediate, CrimeScene, Surveillance, and Digital Photography.The Unit also trains police agency personnel inPolice Photography, Forensic Photography I,and Forensic Photography II.


Operational Response Section

Bomb Data CenterBomb Data Center specialists develop techniques,technology, and equipment that minimize thehazards associated with bomb disposal. The Centeradministers the Hazardous Devices School, whichtrains and certifies public-safety personnel inrender-safe technology for explosive devices.Center personnel serve as a liaison between thelaw enforcement and intelligence communities toensure rapid and accurate notification of threatsituations and trend analysis in bombing incidents.The Center provides on-site technical support to public-safety bomb squads upon request and administers the FBI’s Special Agent bombtechnician program. The Center provides trainingand selects, procures, and distributes specializedequipment to public-safety bomb squadsresponding to chemical, biological, and radiologicalweapons of mass destruction threats.

Bomb Data Center personnel publish an annualstatistical summary and the following publications:General Information Bulletin, Investigator’sBulletin, and Special Technician’s Bulletin. They also produce additional bulletins and intelligencesummaries upon request or to highlight new orunusual hazardous devices. Last year the Centerpublished 31 bulletins and other summaries.



Evidence Response Team UnitThe Evidence Response Team Unit supervises and coordinates Evidence Response Teams (ERTs)throughout the FBI. ERTs are groups of well-trained and well-equipped Special Agent andsupport personnel who specialize in organizingand conducting major evidence-recoveryoperations and crisis sites. These personnelrespond to complex searches and major crisis sites

with the most current techniques, procedures,and equipment to ensure that critical evidenceis identified and gathered for forensic analysis.Each ERT typically consists of a team leader andseven members who have specific responsibilities.The team may include a photographer, sketchpreparer, evidence log recorder, evidencecustodian, evidence collector/processor, andspecialists such as bomb technicians and forensicanthropologists. ERTs are structured primarily for

Hazardous Devices SchoolThe groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hazardous Devices School was held October 28, 2002. The $25 million project is being funded by the FBI to enhance state and local bomb squads’ ability to respond to a weapons of mass destruction incident. The school will include 3 administrative andclassroom buildings and 14 practical-exercise training villages. The new facility is located on 295additional acres near the existing Hazardous Devices School at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,Alabama. The project is scheduled to be completed by September 2004. The new facility will improvethe Hazardous Devices School’s ability to meet the needs of the 451 accredited bomb squads in theUnited States.

The existing school has been at the Redstone Arsenal since 1971 and provides basic and recertificationcourses for 2,600 public-safety bomb technicians in the United States. The school also offers specialtycourses for bomb squad personnel, including a Robot Course, an Advanced Access and DisablementCourse, and an Executive Management Course for managers who are not bomb technicians. TheHazardous Devices School also teaches an Explosives Handlers Certification Course for FBI personnelwho are not bomb technicians but who need to handle explosives.

Every summer Special Agent Bomb Technician Annual Training is held at the Hazardous Devices School.In addition, the Bomb Data Center sponsors field training for Special Agent bomb technicians and stateand local bomb squads.

■ One-week Regional Technicians Seminars are taught ten times a year by Bomb Data Centerpersonnel, field Special Agent bomb technicians, and Hazardous Devices School instructors atlocations selected by host FBI field offices. These seminars provide sustained and specializedtraining in new techniques, procedures, and equipment.

■ Field office Postblast Seminars are taught by the field office’s Special Agent bomb technician.Center personnel provide technical support, instructional materials, and explosives. The five-dayprograms are designed to train state and local police, task force members, and FBI Special Agentsin basic postblast crime scenes. Special Agent bomb technicians also provide recognition training in explosives and explosive devices.

■ Explosive Device Recognition and X-Ray Interpretation is taught to FBI mailroom and tour routepersonnel and to police officers assigned to FBI Headquarters, the Washington Field Office, and FBI facilities in Quantico, Virginia.

■ Bomb Data Center personnel teach specialized, unique courses to meet specific needs. The LargeVehicle Bomb Counter Measures Course has been incorporated into the regional training seminarschedule. A Practical Applications Course is being planned for the Colombian National Police bombsquad personnel during 2004.

FBI casework but can also provide forensicsupport to other agencies when authorized.

In overseeing the ERT program, the Unit assists FBI field offices in organizing, operating, training,providing logistical support, and funding ERTs. TheUnit also researches equipment and techniques toensure that ERTs are conducting searches in a safe,efficient, and professional manner.

In addition, the Unit conducts forensic sciencetraining for all FBI Special Agent classes and fornational and international law enforcementmanagers attending the FBI National Academy.

Evidence collection and documentation havebecome more sophisticated. ERTs handle crimescenes and complex searches and must stay abreastof forensic technological advances. In order tomeet this challenge, the Evidence Response TeamUnit provides and coordinates basic and advancedtraining for all ERT personnel in FBI field offices.

The Unit provides a two-week Basic EvidenceResponse Team Course for all new ERT members. In 2003 Unit personnel taught eight basic coursesto more than 200 ERT members.

After the basic course, team members may takeadvanced courses designed to address specificsituations commonly encountered by ERTs.During 2003 more than 650 team membersreceived advanced training. Examples ofadvanced courses are:

■ The Postblast Crime Scene Course teachesstudents to manage bombing crime scenes and collect improvised explosive devicescomponents.

■ The Explosives Unit and Hazardous MaterialsResponse Unit assist the Evidence ResponseTeam Unit with a Mass Disaster Course. The

course simulates bombing crime scenescomplicated by the presence of tissuefragments from victims.

■ The Forensic Anthropology Course is heldannually at the University of Tennessee.Students gain experience in recovering humanremains at the University’s AnthropologyCenter, known as the Body Farm.

■ San Diego Regional Computer ForensicsLaboratory personnel assist the EvidenceResponse Team Unit with a Digital EvidenceCollection Course that teaches students how toproperly recover stored data from computers,facsimile machines, personal digital assistants,pagers, and cellular telephones.

■ Specialists from the Latent Print Units teachthe Advanced Latent Print Course. Students aretaught to locate, document, and recover latentfingerprints, which are often present at crimescenes. Field office ERT photographers assistwith this course.

■ Coordinated with the Evidence Response Team Unit, the Shooting Trajectory Course ispresented by personnel from the Firearms-Toolmarks Unit.


Underwater Search andEvidence Recovery TeamsThe Evidence Response Team Unit, inconjunction with the New York Office, initiatedin 2003 four additional underwater searchteams, with a fifth team to be fully operationalin 2004. These teams are trained in ice, cave,and wreck diving in order to conduct forensicsearches and retrieve evidence.

Technology-Assisted SearchTeamsThe Evidence Response Team Unit maintainsequipment and specialized personnel toconduct searches for evidence buriedunderground and beneath hard surfaces. TheTechnology-Assisted Search Team is available to respond to an FBI field office request or toassist foreign countries upon request from theLegal Attaché.


Columbia Space Shuttle DisasterOn February 1, 2003, ERTs from the FBI’s Dallas,Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans Officesand members of the Laboratory’s EvidenceResponse Team Unit responded to the ColumbiaSpace Shuttle crash site. ERT members developedprotocols for collecting and inventorying recovereditems that were adopted by the federal, state, andlocal agencies also responding to the disaster. The ERTs were responsible for locating, securing,documenting, and assuming custody of humanremains. The teams were further tasked withlocating, documenting, and collecting sensitivecargo and components of the shuttle.

The Evidence Response Team Unit’s UnderwaterSearch and Evidence Response Team from the NewYork Office also responded to the disaster site,implementing a plan for the underwater recoveryof shuttle debris. The Underwater Search andEvidence Response Team deployed its side-scansonar and remotely operated vehicle to marktargets to be explored. The members conducted

numerous dives over a ten-day period. These divesled to the recovery of significant components ofthe Space Shuttle Columbia.

ERTs across the country, from Pennsylvania toArizona, were also involved in collecting potentialshuttle debris.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,BombingsOn May 12, 2003, vehicle bombs were detonated inthree residential compounds—Eshbiliya, Al-Hamra,and Vinnell—occupied by westerners in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia. Nine Americans were among thetwenty-three people killed.

The Laboratory’s Explosives Unit and EvidenceResponse Team Unit and the Washington FieldOffice’s ERT traveled to Riyadh to investigate thecrime scenes. FBI personnel conducted line searchesand collected bombing vehicle parts, weapons,ammunition, and human remains from thebombing scenes.

Hazardous MaterialsResponse UnitThe Hazardous Materials ResponseUnit was established to counter the threat of terrorism involvingchemical, biological, radiological,and nuclear materials and to handle an expanding caseload ofenvironmental crimes. The Unitleads an integrated effort involvingspecialized response teams, a national training program,interagency liaison, technicalassistance to FBI field andHeadquarters offices, and thedevelopment of field-responseprograms. The Unit also trains,equips, and certifies FBI field officepersonnel for hazardous materialsoperations.

There are currently 19 hazardousmaterials response teams operatingin the larger FBI field offices thatare supported by the HazardousMaterials Response Unit trainingprogram. These teams arecomposed of more than 230response personnel, predominantlyFBI Special Agents, who requireresponse equipment, medicalmonitoring, and 240 hours ofspecialized training. The Unit alsoprovides training to personnel inother field offices to increase thetotal number of hazardousmaterials response teams.

Training courses currently provided to hazardousmaterials response teams include HazardousMaterials Operations, Weapons of MassDestruction, Crime Scene Technician, Biology of Hazardous Materials, Chemistry of HazardousMaterials, and radiological courses. Unit personnelare also developing new course curricula:Hazardous Materials Team Leader Management,OSHA Recertification, and Radiological DispersalDevice Crime Scene.

The Hazardous Materials Response Unit assists theFBI’s International Training and Assistance Unit inproviding weapons of mass destruction

counterproliferation training. In 2003 Unitpersonnel taught 11 weapons of mass destructioncourses in Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, and Romania.

The Hazardous Materials Response Unit providesguidance and support to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for State and Local DomesticPreparedness Support and the FBI’s Weapons ofMass Destruction Operations Unit. The Unit alsoprovides technical instruction and support to thetactical training and operations of the FBI’s CriticalIncident Response Group for Weapons of MassDestruction, which includes SWAT (special weaponsand tactics) teams, hostage rescue teams, andbomb technicians.



Operational Support Section

Administrative UnitThe Administrative Unit’s responsibilities includeoverseeing, coordinating, facilitating, and ensuringcompliance with FBI and Laboratory policies,procedures, and guidelines governing the securityprogram and other administrative and asset-management matters.

The following highlights the Unit’s support andservices:

■ Ensures compliance with security issuesinvolving personnel, facilities, communications,information, operations, classification, andconfidential-trash disposal

■ Manages personnel issues, including funded-staffing levels; position vacancies; postings;promotions; reassignments; performance plansand appraisals; awards; and the equalemployment opportunity, employee assistance,and internship programs

■ Manages the mail and messenger services,including receiving and shipping packages andmail

■ Oversees the operation and assignment ofapproximately 150 vehicles

■ Ensures compliance with procedures andtracking mechanisms for inventory control,acquisitions, supplies, and propertymanagement

■ Coordinates other initiatives, such as inspectioninterrogatories

Facility Services UnitThe Facility Services Unit is responsible for thehealth and safety of Laboratory personnel andoversight of the Laboratory facility.


■ Manages the health service facility, which isstaffed by a full-time registered nurse whoorganizes employee health and fitnessprograms

■ Ensures compliance with the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, U.S.Department of Transportation, OccupationalSafety and Health Administration, and otherfederal, state, and local safety regulations andstandards

■ Coordinates hazardous-waste disposal. Reviewsand/or establishes procedures for storing andinventorying chemicals and reagents

■ Ensures compliance with perimeter-securitypolicies and procedures, and installs andcalibrates perimeter-security devices

■ Maintains and modifies the Laboratory facility,including the grounds and fitness center, andcoordinates facility usage during special events

■ Oversees the food-service operations

Investigative and ProsecutiveGraphics Unit The Investigative and Prosecutive Graphics Unit,working in the Laboratory and the field, conductscrime scene surveys and witness interviews in order to plan, design, coordinate, and produceinvestigative aids and demonstrative evidence insupport of FBI and national investigations. Thissupport is provided in four program areas:

■ Crime Scene Survey, Documentation, andReconstruction—Conducts crime scenesurveys and prepares documentation toproduce two- and three-dimensional victimand crime scene reconstructions and computer-animated modeling depicting bullet trajectoryanalysis, line-of-sight analysis, and vehicularand human movement analysis.

■ Forensic Facial Imaging—Conducts witnessand/or victim interviews to prepare compositedrawings, two- and three-dimensional facialreconstructions from skeletal remains, facialage progressions, postmortem reconstructions,digital photographic manipulations andretouches, and wanted flyers.

■ Demonstrative Evidence—Provides enlarged documents, charts, maps, diagrams,photographic collages, floor plans, link-analyses, flow-and-check kite charts, time lines,technical renderings, and interactive and/oranimated electronic demonstrative evidenceused for court presentations.

■ Director’s Office Support—Provides supportto the FBI Director’s Office for the President

and his staff, the Attorney General, Congress,the Department of Defense, other nationaland foreign officials, and the news media. Unitpersonnel also provide direct support to theFBI’s Strategic Information and OperationsCenter, the Counterterrorism Division, andother operational FBI Headquarters Divisions.

Planning and Budget UnitThe Planning and Budget Unit oversees theLaboratory’s financial requirements. Unit personnelmonitor and track congressionally appropriatedfunds and coordinate and facilitate expending thefunds according to government regulations.


■ Plans, compiles, analyzes, and formulates theLaboratory’s financial requirements

■ Acquires funds for the Laboratory and ensuresadherence to contract regulations

■ Monitors financial accounts to coordinate andfacilitate expending funds

■ Helps implement project-managementstandards and procedures by preparing andreviewing project-control documentation,automated tools and techniques, progressreporting, and training

2003 Accomplishments

■ Managed expenditures totaling more than$140,000,000

■ Processed 3,538 financial transactions

■ Developed and implemented an online projectand account management system

■ Coordinated the development of theLaboratory’s program plan

■ Supported the relocation of personnel andequipment to the new Laboratory buildingfrom FBI Headquarters

■ Facilitated furnishing the new Laboratory

■ Coordinated special events, including theLaboratory dedication ceremony and a visitfrom the President



Structural Design Unit The Structural Design Unit is responsible forplanning, designing, and developing demonstrativeevidence to support expert testimony during a trial.Three-dimensional scale models, exhibits, anddisplays are created to reconstruct crime scenes and clarify for the jury the location and spatialrelationships of victims, perpetrators, witnesses,evidence, buildings, and vehicles.

Buildings and terrain where crimes have beencommitted are reconstructed from on-sitemeasurements, aerial and on-site photographs,maps, witness interviews, computer-aided designfiles, and blueprints. Bomb devices are replicatedfrom remnants found at the crime scene.Mannequins are created to illustrate the locationof wounds. Scale models of vehicles involved incrimes are constructed.

Scale-surveillance models are also created to aidlaw enforcement personnel in extricating hostages

during crisis-response scenarios. These three-dimensional models provide realistic and accuratedepictions of building layouts, including elevations,entryways, stairs, and obstructions.

Convenience-Store MurdersShortly after midnight on July 6, 1997, threepeople, including a 14-year-old girl, were brutallymurdered and left in a walk-in cooler at a LakeCharles, Louisiana, convenience store. All had beenshot multiple times in the head with a single 9 mmpistol. The telephone lines had been severed, thevideo surveillance tape was removed, and morethan $10,000 was missing from the safe.

No suspects were produced in the initialinvestigation, and after four weeks the FBI wasasked to enter into a joint investigation with amultiagency violent crimes task force. One witnessprovided details that were aired on Fox TV’sAmerica’s Most Wanted program. The televisedinformation yielded tips that led investigators toThomas Frank Cisco, Jr.

Cisco failed his polygraph, refused furtherinterviews, and provided an alibi for the night ofthe murders. However, his alibi was disproved, andhe then confessed to the killings. Although he laterrecanted his confession, he was identified in aphysical lineup by the witness who had providedinvestigators with the details that were aired onthe television broadcast.

Structural Design Unit personnel created a scalemodel of KK’s Corner convenience store, someareas of the parking lot, and models of the victims,suspects, and witness. The scale model was usedduring trial testimony on the direct- and cross-examination and helped the jury visualize thecrime scene and the witness statements.

On October 17, 2000, Cisco was found guilty on allthree counts of first-degree murder and sentencedto death.


Police Officers KilledTwo Beaufort County, South Carolina, sheriff’sdeputies responded to a domestic disturbance callat a mobile home on the evening of January 8,

2002. Five people livedthere—two owners anda young couple withtheir six-month-oldbaby. The officers weretold that a woman wasbeing held against her will. The youngwoman, who fearedfor her life, handed herbaby to the ownersand stepped out of the home. Upon beinggiven permission tosearch the premises,

the deputies cautiously proceeded single file intothe bathroom and bedroom. Abdiyyah benAlkebulanyahh fired multiple rounds with asemiautomatic rifle through the bedroom closet.One deputy was killed instantly, but the other was able to fire his clip before he was killed. The assailant, slightly wounded in the gunfight,dropped his weapon and ran away. He wasapprehended a short time later.

Because of the large number of projectiles and their trajectories, the crime scene wascomplex, making charts and photographs difficultto understand. The Beaufort County Sheriff’sDepartment asked Structural Design Unitpersonnel to make a three-dimensional model toclarify the crime scene. Unit technicians gathereddata at the crime scene and, in cooperation withSouth Carolina Law Enforcement Division ForensicLaboratory personnel, designed and created amodel. A large portion of the mobile home andfurniture was re-created. The differentcaliber weapons were placed in the modeland identified by color. A Unit visualinformation specialisttestified in court as to theaccuracy of thereconstructed crimescene. The defendant,Alkebulanyahh, wasfound guilty andsentenced to death.

Rodney Joel BlachDuring a three-day period in March 1998, sixexplosive devices were planted at four privateresidences and at the Alameda County water towerin Fremont, California. Four of the devicesdetonated, another exploded during a render-safeprocedure, and the sixth was safely disarmed. Onedevice was under the floorboards of a roominhabited by a 17-year-old girl, who barelysurvived, and two other bombings were inresidences belonging to the current and formerFremont chiefs of police.

Investigators focused their inquiries on RodneyJoel Blach, a 54-year-old former Chicago policeevidence technician. He had links to all theintended victims, and investigators discovered hisalibi was suspect when a 31⁄2 hour discrepancy wasdiscovered. He was arrested in October 1999 andcharged with 11 felony counts of premeditatedattempted murder, arson, and possessingexplosives.

For the trial, Structural Design Unit technicianswere asked to re-create the crawl space underthe current chief of police’s house. This wasaccomplished after an intensive crime scene surveyin which Unit personnel spent hours under thehouse, on their backs with flashlights, gatheringhundreds of critical measurements. The modelfeatured several removable pieces that revealedan intricate three-dimensional view of the subfloorarea. The model was used throughout the four-month trial and during jury deliberations.

Blach was convicted on all 11 charges and wassentenced in September 2001 to 37 years to lifein prison.

Laboratory Outreach Programs

Research PartnershipProgramThe Research Partnership Program, which iscoordinated by the Laboratory’s Counterterrorismand Forensic Science Research Unit, is an effort ofFBI, state, and local scientific personnel to improveforensic science. Research and developmentprojects and database building are funded through the Program. These projects leverage the experience of state and local forensicexaminers for research purposes in disciplines thattypically require extensive examiner training andexperience to interpret results.

The primary goals of the Program are as follows:

■ Enhance the transfer of new forensictechnologies and procedures to caseworkingexaminers in state and local forensiclaboratories by collaborative research anddevelopment, testing, and validation studies

■ Facilitate the implementation of protocolsdefined by scientific working groups

■ Catalyze the development of national forensicdatabases

In 2003 three internal research projects wereimplemented in the Program.

■ Permanence of Friction Ridge SkinDetail—Permanence is one of thefundamental principles of the friction ridgediscipline that permits identification. Althoughpermanence is supported by the biologicalsciences, it has yet to be studied empirically by comparing fingerprints over time. Thisproject will use the expertise of state and locallaboratory latent print examiners to study the permanence of friction ridge skin detail.

■ Messenger RNA Profiling of HumanSemen—The goal of this project is to developa set of messenger RNA assays that can beincorporated into an automated sperm-searching protocol. Four partner laboratorieshave been identified to participate. Initially,the partners will consult on developing plans for validating and establishing a statelaboratory system. Representatives will returnto the FBI to conduct validation work and thenrepeat the validation in their own laboratories.

■ Automotive Carpet Fiber Database—Automotive carpet fibers are frequently found in abduction and homicide cases whenvictims were transported in vehicles. The FBILaboratory’s Trace Evidence Unit can determinethe make, model, and year of vehicles on the basis of physical, optical, and chemicalinformation searches in the Automotive CarpetFiber Database. The contributions from stateand local forensic laboratories will permit thedatabase to be updated, maintained, andrendered effective as an investigative tool.

A Research Partner Program update was held on September 22, 2003, in conjunction with theannual Crime Laboratory Development Symposiumin Minneapolis, Minnesota. The update featured 19 technical presentations by Laboratory researchpersonnel and external contractors covering thebiological, chemical, and physical sciences. Includedwere the following presentations:

■ Automation of Forensic DNA Analysis

■ Explosive Devices and Field Analysis

■ Forensic Chemistry

■ Human Identification

■ Validation of the Basis for Patterned EvidenceIdentification


Visiting ScientistProgramThe Visiting Scientist Program provides aconnection between the FBI Laboratory andacademia. The Program offers university students,postgraduates, and faculty the opportunity to enhance their education by participating inforensic research initiatives at the Counterterrorismand Forensic Science Research Unit using state-of-the-art equipment.

The program furthers the Unit’s mission byproviding additional scientific expertise tocomplement that of the staff scientists.Experienced staff scientists guide the visitingscientists’ research by serving as mentors. Eachvisiting scientist is assigned one or two priorityprojects. The visiting scientists spend three monthsto three years working in the laboratories inQuantico, Virginia. At the end of their tenure, they are required to submit detailed reports and/ortechnical papers for publication in peer-reviewedscientific journals. In 2003 program fundingallowed the FBI to offer this opportunity to 30visiting scientists.

The Counterterrorism and Forensic ScienceResearch Unit established an interagencyagreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the science education programsadministered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Scienceand Education. Interested people may apply toparticipate in the Visiting Scientist Program at thefollowing website: www.orau.gov/orise.htm.

Specialized ForensicScience TrainingProgramThe Specialized Forensic Science Training Programoffers one- to four-week courses in a wide range of disciplines. In 2003, 85 courses were provided for federal, state, local, and international forensiclaboratory examiners, investigators, and other lawenforcement professionals.

The Program provides general training in thefundamentals of forensic chemistry and biologyand provides training in the use of specificscientific techniques for identifying, collecting,preserving, and evaluating physical evidence. Thecourses provide hands-on training to enhance basic


skills and procedures and to introduce attendees tonew or more advanced techniques.

In addition, periodic symposia stimulate discussionof techniques and issues relevant to each discipline.

The following are examples of courses taught byLaboratory examiners and research scientists in2003:

■ Crime Scene Investigation

■ Crime Scene Photography

■ Evidence Response Team Training

■ Examination of Footwear Impression Evidence

■ Forensic Analysis of Paints and Polymers

■ Forensic Facial Imaging

■ Forensic mtDNA Analysis

■ Infrared Spectrometry of Trace Analysis

■ Introduction to Hairs and Fibers

■ Latent Fingerprint Photography

■ Postblast Bombing Investigation

■ Racketeering Records Analysis

■ Techniques in Firearms Identification

Training PartnershipProgramThe Training Partnership Program is a collaborationwith federal, state, and local training institutes todevelop and provide standardized and validatedforensic science courses that could be offered byany of the partners. Benefits of the TrainingPartnership Program include broad content review and approval and expanded geographicaccessibility.

Some courses are provided in traditional classroomsettings, and others are distance-based through the FBI Virtual Academy. The Virtual Academy was established to provide a single, comprehensivelearning solution to the forensic science, lawenforcement, and judicial communities. Lawenforcement agencies may register at thefollowing website so personnel can take advantageof the training offered through the FBI VirtualAcademy: https://fbiva.fbiacademy.edu.

The following institutions are working with theLaboratory to become training partners, andadditional collaborations are expected as thisProgram develops.


■ California Criminalistics Institute, Sacramento,California

■ Illinois State Police, Springfield, Illinois

■ Midwest Forensics Resource Center, hosted atIowa State University, Ames, Iowa

■ National Center for Forensic Science, NationalInstitute of Justice, hosted at the University ofCentral Florida, Orlando, Florida

■ U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,Washington, DC

Scientific WorkingGroupsSince the early 1990s, the Laboratory hassponsored Scientific Working Groups to improveforensic science discipline practices and buildconsensus with federal, state, and local forensiccommunity partners.

In 2003, 21 Scientific Working Group meetingswere held. The Groups’ quality assurance,operations, validation, training, and examinerqualification guidelines were published in ForensicScience Communications, an online peer-reviewedjournal published by FBI Laboratory personnel.

Currently, the Laboratory sponsors the followingGroups:

■ Scientific Working Group for ForensicDocument Examination (SWGDOC)

■ Scientific Working Group for Friction RidgeAnalysis, Study and Technology (SWGFAST)

■ Scientific Working Group for Materials Analysis(SWGMAT)

■ Scientific Working Group for MicrobialGenetics and Forensics (SWGMGF)*

■ Scientific Working Group for Scent DetectionDogs (SWGDOG)*

■ Scientific Working Group on Bloodstain PatternAnalysis (SWGSTAIN)

■ Scientific Working Group on DNA AnalysisMethods (SWGDAM)

■ Scientific Working Group on Firearms andToolmarks (SWGGUN)

■ Scientific Working Group on ImagingTechnologies (SWGIT)

■ Scientific Working Group on the ForensicAnalysis of Chemical Terrorism (SWGFACT)*

*New groups established in 2003 to address forensic analysisand handling of evidence related to biological, chemical, andradiological terrorism threats and cases

Symposia for CrimeLaboratoryDevelopmentSince 1973 the Laboratory has sponsored an annualSymposium for Crime Laboratory Development toprovide management training for directors andsenior managers of publicly funded forensiclaboratories in the United States.

The 31st symposium was held September 23–25,2003, at the University of Minnesota’s CarlsonSchool of Management. The theme of thesymposium was Achieving Excellence ThroughPartnership. Commander Kirk Lippold, formerCommander of the U.S. Navy’s USS Cole, was thespeaker for the opening plenary session. Instructorsfrom the school’s Executive Masters of BusinessAdministration program provided graduate-levelmanagement training for more than 225 attendeesfrom federal, state, and local forensic laboratories.


Forensic ScienceCommunicationsForensic Science Communications is a peer-reviewedforensic science journal published quarterly on the Internetby FBI Laboratory personnel. The journal is a means ofcommunication between forensic scientists, permittinginformation of value and interest to be rapidlydisseminated among scientists and other interested persons.

Submissions to the journal may include letters to the editor;review, research, or feature manuscripts; book reviews; andtechnical notes or case reports.

Manuscripts and other information relating to the journalshould be sent to

Managing EditorForensic Science [email protected]

Forensic Science Communications may be viewed online atwww.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm

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