Forensic Science 2.2 - Essay Example

Evaluation on a report on a crime scene in which a key piece of evidence was used and determination of the best collection method for the evidence NameUniversityEvaluation on a report on a crime scene in which a key piece of evidence was used and determination of the best collection method for the evidenceThe article has been taken from the official website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The article’s headline states 30 year old Murder Solved, Fingerprint Technology Played Key Role’.

The crime occurred in 1978, when a sixty one year old man was killed in his apartment by being stabbed. The investigators at the crime scene deduced that the killer had probably tried to clean off the blood and all other tools or evidences of the crime in the apartment before he left the crime scene and for that purpose they collected evidences of palm prints and latent fingerprints from the victim’s bathroom. Moreover, the victim’s car was also stolen and found dumped in the state of Illinois.

The investigators collected some more latent prints from the car but however no more leads could be discovered related to the crime scene. These fingerprint evidences were searched against finger print files of local and state fingerprints but no matches were found and the case went dead. However, as the name of the article states the upgrade to better technological facility played a bigger role in solving this crime. In late 2008, the case was reopened due to an inquiry made in the ‘Omaha Police Department’.

The latent prints were again searched against fingerprints of perpetrators but this time a new technology was used that didn’t exist in 1978 known as ‘The ‘FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)’ it consists of known records of around seventy three million criminal subjects. The IAFIS concluded possible suspects in even less than five hours and after thorough identification over a period of several days a suspect was positively identified. Another FBI official working with laboratory personnel’s and analysts reviewed all the original evidences collected and also possible background data on the suspect and it was found that the suspect lived only a little farther from where the car of the victim was dumped and the suspects name was found on a classified advertisement which was found in the victim’s apartment.

Upon these discoveries the FBI ordered the suspect, who was already in prison for burglary charges, to take a DNA test and as hoped the DNA was a perfect match with the DNA recovered from the place where the crime was committed. The DNA combined with the identified finger prints lead to the suspect being convicted for murder and life long sentence in prison. (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2012). Since this was such a prolonged case a well-documented course of action was needed to figure out the crime scene and make hypothesis about how the scene of crime would have been committed.

A thorough sketching of the body the angle that he might have been placed in, whether he was moved from one place to another, any trails of evidences showing possible signs of the killers movements in the house, places the killer could have been at, photographs of the body showing any possible bite marks etc which could lead to figuring out how the killer was killed, videos of the crime scene to later evaluate possible evidences missed during the search, fingerprints for identifying the person and the crime suspect in question, DNA sample evidences should be swabbed from all areas of the department for possible identification incase of cross checking.

Moreover, since the car was stolen, that area where the car was present should definitely be checked for fingerprint and DNA evidences, the neighbor’s should be inquired about the happenings of the crime scene to obtain additional evidences. Furthermore, the clothing and all other such physical evidences related to the crime should be duly stored for further laboratory analysis and all these evidences should be duly preserved so that they can be worked upon the course of time till the case is being solved.

And in this crimes instance a very long period of time. Lastly, since this case involves a murder through stabbing, it involves blood and physiological fluid to be collected for documenting samples of DNA and it also involves taking latent fingerprint samples which are the hardest to find since they are almost invisible the best collection method for documenting blood and fluids is cutting the physical evidences like clothes or carpets and swabbing and scraping the site for further evidences.

(Forest et al 2008). For finding latent prints the physical evidences can undergo the powder method to identify the prints, photographic evidences can be taken and the prints are lifted using rubber tape. Moreover, the site of the murder and also the site where the car was stolen from should both be undergone with the identification method for latent prints superglue fixing method for non porous surfaces and powder method for porous surfaces, upon identification of finger prints they should also undergo photography and be collected through the taping method.

These are the best collection methods for the evidence in question. (Sheridan, S 2013). Reference: Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2012, September 11). Fingerprint Technology Played Key Role. FBI. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/september/30-year-old-murder-solvedForest, P. R., Gaensslen, R. E., & Lee, H. C. (2008). 3. Forensic science: an introduction to criminalistics (pp. 107-241). New York: McGraw-Hill.Sheridan, S. (2013, June 20). Techniques for Collecting and Analyzing Fingerprints.

Forensic Science in North Carolina. Retrieved October 13, 2014, from http://ncforensics.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/techniques-for-collecting-and-analyzing-fingerprints/