NCJ Number
60827
Date Published
1979
Length
82 pages
Annotation
WRITTEN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS, THIS INTRODUCTORY BOOK ON FORENSIC MEDICINE EXPLAINS THE ROLES OF EXPERTS, AUTOPSIES, VARIOUS LABS, ARSON SQUADS, AND THE TESTS USED TO SOLVE CRIMES.
Abstract
FOLLOWING WHAT APPEARS TO BE A DOUBLE MURDER OR A MURDER-SUICIDE, POLICE INVESTIGATE THE SCENE, A MEDICAL INVESTIGATOR APPROXIMATES THE CAUSE OF DEATH, CRIME LAB PERSONNEL COLLECT EVIDENCE, AND A PATHOLOGIST PERFORMS THE AUTOPSIES. CLOTHING IS REMOVED FROM THE BODIES, WRAPPED, AND LABELED. ALL LOOSE HAIRS, FIBERS, AND PIECES OF FOREIGN MATERIAL ARE COLLECTED, SEALED IN PLASTIC, AND LABELED. SCRAPINGS ARE TAKEN FROM THE LIPS AND SKIN, AS WELL AS FROM THE FINGERNAILS, FOR LATER EXAMINATION AT THE CRIME LAB. ALL THE PATHOLOGIST'S WRITTEN REPORTS, RECORDED OBSERVATIONS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS ARE HELD ON FILE AND AVAILABLE IF THE CASE GOES TO TRIAL. THE MEDICAL INVESTIGATOR'S DETERMINATION OF THE TIME OF DEATH IMMEDIATELY RULED OUT SEVERAL SUSPECTS, WITH THE LAB INVESTIGATORS SUPPLYING THE EVIDENCE (FINGERPRINTS, LINT AND HAIR SAMPLES, THE MURDER WEAPON, GREASE SMUDGES, AND PAINT CHIPS) TO ARREST THE SUSPECT. THE FBI LABORATORY, WHICH IDENTIFIED THE SUSPECT IN THIS CASE FROM FINGERPRINTS, WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1932 AND SERVES POLICE LABS AND OFFICES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, BY EXAMINING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AND IDENTIFYING PEOPLE, CHEMICALS, PAINT SPECIMENS, ETC. THE FBI LABORATORY ALSO CONTAINS HUGE REFERENCE FILES AND A SOFT X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETER, WHICH CAN IDENTIFY ANY SUBSTANCE WITHOUT DAMAGING OR DESTROYING THE SUBSTANCE. UNLIKE THE CRIME LAB SPECIALIST, THE FIRE MARSHAL FOCUSES ON THE CRIME SCENE IN CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION, SINCE MOST EVIDENCE CANNOT BE REMOVED FOR LAB STUDY. THE FORENSIC DENTIST EXAMINES THE JAW OF THE DECEASED AND COMPLETE DENTAL CHARTS TO IDENTIFY THE VICTIM WHO IS TOO BADLY BURNED OR MUTILATED TO BE RECOGNIZED. FORENSIC DENTISTRY HAS PROVEN VALUABLE IN SOLVING A NUMBER OF CRIMES BY IDENTIFYING BITE MARKS. THE ROLES OF THE POLYGRAPH EXPERT, THE FIREARMS EXPERT, THE CORONER, THE TOXICOLOGIST AND CRIME LAB COMPUTERS ALSO ARE NOTED. THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FORENSIC MEDICINE IS EXAMINED BRIEFLY AS WELL AS ITS CURRENT USE IN AN INVESTIGATION TO ESTABLISH THE CAUSE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE'S DEATH. AN INDEX, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND SOME PHOTOGRAPHS ARE INCLUDED. (WJR)