Fiber Case Analysis

At 2:00 a.m., a call was received pertaining to a disturbance at a residence. The complainant stated that there was yelling and screaming, and possibly two loud noises that may have been gunshots. When the police arrived to investigate, no one was home and there were no signs of any crime that would give them probable cause to investigate further. A report was written and the officers left the scene.

(Scene One)

The body of a man was found at 7:00 a.m. behind a strip mall about three miles from the above-mentioned residence. The body, which is wrapped in a blanket, is fully clothed wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, brown leather shoes. Preliminary examination of the body revealed a gunshot wound to the head, some minor cuts and bruises on the face and arms, consistent with a physical struggle, and another gunshot wound entering and exiting the right shoulder. The trajectory is unclear. The blanket is brought to the laboratory and the clothing removed and also submitted. A fiber was discovered in the sole of the victim’s shoe. (See photograph ME 3).

(Scene Two)

An autopsy reveals that the actual cause of death was a stab wound in the chest that punctured the heart. (See photograph ME 1). The gunshot wound to the head occurred postmortem. (See photograph ME 2). The bullet was removed and sent to the lab. A known hair sample is sent to the laboratory. (See photograph ME 4) The Medical examiner observed a fiber under a fingernail on the victim’s right hand. (See photograph ME 5) The lab removed fibers from the victim’s clothing. (See item 3)

Upon hearing about the body scene, the officers who originally responded to the scene of the disturbance notified the homicide investigators and related the incident. At the same time the identity of the man revealed that he was a part-time business associate, (illegal drug related), with the owner of the residence where the disturbance took place. A search warrant was obtained and a scene investigation began.

(Scene Three)

The residence of the original disturbance was searched for evidence of the homicide.

No blood was found. The floor was very clean and smelled like pine scented floor cleaner. The rose colored carpet had a damaged area about two inches long. A known sample of this carpet was collected and sent to the lab, (item 1). The wall in the adjacent room had a hole in it. A projectile, (item 2), was removed and brought to the lab. The subject was interviewed. Suspicious cuts on the inside of his left hand were observed, (this subject is left-handed). He could not adequately explain how they got there. (See photograph S1). A search of his vehicle trunk revealed a large kitchen knife in the trunk. Dried blood was found on the blade along with a hair. (See photograph S2).

(Laboratory Data)

The victim was wearing a red shirt. Fibers from the shirt produced the Infra-red spectrum labeled as IR#1. Red fibers were found on the projectile, (item 2) and the IR#2 was collected from these fibers. These fibers were found to be polyester.

The carpet from the house, (item 1) was subjected to an Infra-red analysis and the result was IR#3. The combings (fibers removed from the victim’s clothing, (See item 3) ) produced three fibers. The one on the left (it’s rose colored, don’t let the light fool you) produced the IR#4.

Given: This is what actually happened.

The victim goes to the subject’s house. An argument starts and turns into a fight. The victim runs to the kitchen and grabs a large kitchen knife and goes back to the living room only to find the subject pointing a gun at him, (note: never bring a knife to a gunfight). The victim drops the knife and runs into the kitchen. The subject fires a round low, striking the carpet, which ricochets up and flesh wounds the victim in the shoulder. The subject then picks up the knife and stabs the victim in the chest. The knife slips in his hand and he cuts himself. The subject then shoots the victim in the head about a few seconds later to make sure he was dead. The subject wraps the victim in a sheet and a blanket and drags the body to the garage and puts the body in the trunk along with the knife. He goes back into the house and cleans up. He then drives the body to where it was found.

Questions:

1) What did the lab do with each piece of evidence shown?

2) Discuss the morphology of all hairs and fibers in all photographs and photomicrographs

3) Explain the different tests

4) Discuss the significance of the findings

5) The picture with three different fibers (nylon, cotton, and wool) depicts transfers from the carpet at the scene, the sheet, and blanket. What techniques would you use to identify and compare these fibers?

6) The picture with the bullet and fibers depicts a transfer most likely from what possible sources? What techniques would you use to determine their most likely source of origin? Tell me (it’s your choice) what that source was and give me the analytical data to back up your conclusions.

7) What other hair and fiber evidence is also present at this scene?

8) Discuss in detail how this case can be reconstructed, (pieced together to show the course of events), by physical evidence.

Answer the above questions and submit a single word file to me with all your answers by Thursday at midnight. I encourage the class to discuss the case using the Module 2 bulletin board. I will monitor the questions in case the class can not resolve it amongst yourselves. Good luck!