USBORNE

////✓

mm
 Designed by Stephen Moncrieff
Illustrated by Kuo Kang Chen,
Lee Montgomery and Stephen Moncrieff
Comic strips illustrated by Sherwin Schwartzrock

Consultant: Peter White, Professor of Forensic Science,

University of Lincoln

Devised by Georgina Andrews

Edited by Jane Chisholm
Series designer: Mary Cartwright
Pag# 4*5 in the world of crime and detection.

chapter i: Science and law

Page 6-13 Find out what 'forensic science’ really means. Look over a
crime scene and into a trial to see how scientists can help.

CHAPTER 2:
Pag# 14-20 Examine a fingerprint up close to see its identifying features.
Learn how experts find suspicious prints at a crime scene.

CHAPTER 3: Written in blood

Pag# 21-27 Look at the patterns of blood at the scene of a burglary, and
find out what tests scientists can do to examine blood stains.

CHAPTER 4: Secrets in th# cells

Pag# 28-3*5 Find out how the discovery of DNA revolutionized detective
work, and how scientists use ONA evidence to solve crimes.

CHAPTER 5: The talking dead

Pag# 36-43 Examine a body to find out how marks left on it after death
can show when a person died, and what killed them.
CHAPTER 6:
Page 44-51 Find out how scientists can find all sorts of useful clues
about crimes from insects, animals, plants and even soil.

CHAPTER 7: The little things

Page 52-59 Search a crime scene in the woods for tiny traces left behind,
and find out how microscopes can reveal vital clues.

CHAPTER 8:
Page 60-67 Learn how a gun works, and explore the aftermath of a gun
battle to see what evidence is left behind.

CHAPTER 9:
Page 68-74 Find out how bombs work and fires start. Then learn what
scientists can do to prove who was responsible.

CHAPTER 10:
Page 75-81 Examine suspicious handwriting to see if it is genuine, and
find out what clues can be found on computer drives.

CHAPTER 11:
Page 82-89 Find out how criminals can give themselves away by their
face, voice and even the way they behave.

Page 90-91 Timeline pf tprensic science

Page 92-93 Gipssary
Page 94 internet links
Page 95 Index
Page 96 Acknowledgements
Who’s who
Many people are involved in criminal investigations. Different names
are given to people who are affected by a crime, and all the different
people who help to solve it. This section explains who they all are,
what they do - and it shows how scientists get involved.

All crimes end up hurting someone. That person is described as the victim, whether
the crime is a simple theft or a horrendous murder.

If the police have a good idea about who committed the crime, that person is called
a suspect. Suspects can be arrested and kept in prison for a short time, but they
must be treated as if they are innocent until they are proven guilty.

Anyone who saw or heard something happening that relates to a crime is a

witness. They can help the police to work out what happened. Sometimes witnesses
can become suspects, especially if they are found to be lying.

crfpe seep? invesugaw

Also known as CSIs, these people have the job of checking the scene of a crime for
evidence. They take photos and collect samples to send to labs for testing. They do
not have to be police officers or scientists, but they can be both.

Police officers are in charge of solving a crime. Senior officers called detectives piece
together all the evidence. Junior officers guard crime scenes, track down witnesses
and arrest suspects for the detectives to interview.

N Any scientist who helps the police or a lawyer by examining and testing evidence is
doing forensic science work. Some scientists specialize in this kind of work, and are
based in crime labs - these are dedicated forensic scientists.
After a suspect is arrested, he or she is put on trial for their crime.
Forensic scientists can play an important part here, too. Lots of
other people get involved in a trial as well. In some countries,
different types of people do some of these jobs.

Defendant
The defendant is the person accused of the crime. In some courts they have a
special place to stand called a dock. In others, they sit at a table with their lawyer.

1
In court, lawyers present evidence to prove that a defendant did or did not commit
a crime. In most countries, one team of lawyers - the prosecution' team - tries to
prove the defendant's guilt. The defendant has a team who argues against them.

Coroner
When a person dies and no one is sure why. a coroner may be called in. He or
she works with doctors, lawyers and witnesses in a special trial called an inquest.
The coroner decides how a person died, and whether or not it was suspicious.

I-Xpert witness
An expert witness' is not someone who saw the crime happening. Instead, it's a
scientist or expert who has examined a vital clue to a case. In court, expert
witnesses explain to the judge and jury what they discovered, and what this means.

A judge is the person in charge of the trial. He or she has the power to decide
whether or not any evidence presented is solid enough to be used. In some trials,
judges also decide on a defendant's guilt or innocence.

Many trials are presented to a jury of people who do not know anything about the
crime. It's their job to listen to the evidence presented by lawyers and witnesses, to
weigh all the arguments, and then to decide if the defendant is guilty or not.
T he word ‘forensic’ means to do with the law.
So forensic science means using scientific
knowledge and techniques to help with a
criminal investigation, especially in a trial.
But most people use it to mean science that
solves crimes.
Every day, forensic scientists are hard at work
in dedicated crime labs. They use tests to analyze
evidence from crime scenes. If the tests they use
reveal anything useful about a criminal case, the
same scientists are often also called upon to be
 SCIENCE AND LAW

W'
expert witnesses in a trial. They will explain
what the test results mean. This can make all
the difference in proving whether a person is
guilty or innocent. Everyday objects are full
of clues that can be
0
i linked to a specific
r
person. Some of them
0
Pieces pf you have more obvious clues
than others.

Stop reading for a second, and take a look

down at the floor. Can you see anything there?
If you were able to look really closely, you
would find little pieces of yourself. Minuscule
fragments of your skin, hair and clothes fall off Telephones show you

all the time without you noticing. If you know the last numbers called.

what to look for, you’ll see all types of telltale

signs that link directly to you, and you only. t
However hard you might try not to, you leave a
unique trace wherever you go. i
Now take a good look at yourself. Look under
reveal the identity of
your fingernails, and on the soles of your shoes.
the owner.
Check your pockets, and sniff your clothes. Tiny
strands from a carpet might be stuck to you.
$
Some smells from the air might be sticking to
your hair and clothes.
Dirt and litter stuc
shoe show where a
$
Everywhere you go, you always leave some traces person has just

of yourself behind, and in turn you always pick

i
up some traces of the places you’ve been to -
and of the people you've brushed against.
Normally these traces are not at all interesting,
but when a crime is committed, they become iece
drink
vital clues. These tiny traces may be able to tell their clothes.
who committed the crime, when and even how.
SCIENCE AND LAW

Almost anything found at a crime scene might

A CSI collects a
sample of blood J turn out to be evidence that helps to solve the
from a crime scene crime - from something as obvious as a blood
using* a cotton swab.
stain to something as innocent as a piece of
carpet fluff. Specially trained Crime Scene
Investigators (CSIs) collect this evidence and
then pass it on to the police detective in charge
of the investigation. Its the detectives job to
The famous fictional sort through the evidence. Some of it will need
detective Sherlock Holmes
to be tested, and the detective passes each item
was loosely based on
19th century forensic
of evidence along to the right forensic science
scientist Dr. Joseph Bell. team, and asks them what to analyze.
jp! Clues such as fingerprints and bullets are so
Dr. Bell was Queen
common to police work that there are
I Victoria's surgeon in

Scotland. He also helped specialized crime labs to test these things in

to solve a number of
many large police stations. But some crimes are
i murders through scientific

investigation of the
solved by much more unusual clues, such as
causes of death. animal hair or flecks of paint. Then, detectives
contact a relevant scientific specialist to help.
He liked to play a game
in which he picked out a
Sadly, so many crimes are committed every
stranger, and guessed
what their job was and
t day that the police and the scientists who help
them can’t investigate everything. So a lot of
where they had come

from just by looking at

forensic work is reserved only for serious
%
them carefully. crimes, such as terrorist bombings, industrial
pollution, and gruesome murder...

8
 I

Crimes solved by science No. 1

The acid bath murderer
Place: London, UK

Date: 1951

Crime: serial murder

Latest victim: Olive Durand-Deacon

Chief suspect: John Haigh, salesman

Incriminating evidence: Haigh was the last per son to see

Olive alive, and was caught trying to sell some of her furs
and pearls.

Suspect’s statement: “Yes, I killed her! And eight others

before that! But you’ll never prove it in court, because I
destroyed the bodies with deadly acid! Hah!”

Forensic breakthrough: at Haigh’s warehouse, the police

found a pile of acid sludge on the floor. Scientist Keith
Simpson poked through the pile carefully,
and managed to find a gallstone and
a handful of false teeth that had
resisted the acid. He used dental
records in court to prove that
they belonged to Mrs. Durand-
Deacon.

Verdict: guilty

Sentence: death
SCIENCE AND LAW

Science? at the crime scene

Forensic work usually begins when the police are called to the
scene of a crime. A CSI team will seal off the scene. They have to
decide which evidence will be useful to detectives and scientists,
and then make sure it is properly collected. Police detectives will
decide which samples to send to different forensic science labs to
be analyzed. Sometimes, a scientist will be called in to examine
something big or urgent at the scene, but this is rare.
 Sf ItNCtANB LAW

Crimrscpnp: city import Office

There are many different types of evidence at this scene

for CSis to collect and for scientists to examine.

Fingerprints on the handle of the open drawer - see chapter Z

Bloodstains on the wall - see chapter 3

Saliva on the cigarette end - see chapter 4

The victim's body - see chapter 5

Insects in the packing crates - see chapter 6

Glass fragments - see chapter 7

The gun in the victim's hand - see chapter 8

The smoking remains of a fire - see chapter 9

il 110111]
1011101
Files on the computer’s hard disk - see chapter 10

CCTV camera footage - see chapter 11

 Science in the courtroom
In a trial, expert witnesses have to be cross-examined by the
defendant’s lawyer. He or she will try to show either that the expert is
not to be trusted, or that the tests they used were faulty. The case in
this comic strip is fictional, but the problem described is all too real-

you can see

EXPLAIN TO Me THIS the resr results
'COMPELLING BLOOP FOR YOURSELF.
EVIPENCE.

JUPSE

EXPERT
WITNESS

LAW7ER

PEFENPANT

THERE WERE ONLY THREE

SUSPECTS. THIS MAN'S BLOOP
MATCHeS ON EVERY TEST. THE
^ OTHERS PO NOT/ ^

12
 TO TELL THE TRUTH,
THE WHOLE TRUTH...

YOU WORK IN
THE BLOOP
ENOUGH. CALL
LABORATORY, IS
THE NEXT WITNESS.
THAT CORRECT?

ANP YOU
HELFEP PERFORM
THIS IMPORTANT
TEST, CORRECT?

BUT YOU WERE

...ANP I SAW HER
THERE ON THE PAY
OF THE TEST? SMASH THE SAMPLE BOX
ONTO THE FLOOR!

IT'S TRUE...
I PIP PROP THE BOX.
BUT THE TESTS STILL
WORKEP!

I'M AFRAIP THE <

PAMAGE HAS BEEN PONE.
ANY EVIPENCE INVOLVING
BL OOP FROM THAT LAB
IS NO LONGER ALLOWEP
AT THIS TRIAL.

PISMISSEP!
 V

Y ou can’t always see it, but whenever you

touch something, your skin leaves behind a
faint mark of sweat and grease. These marks
have a pattern which matches the tiny network
of ridges on the tips of your fingers. These
ridges are usually called fingerprints, but you
have them on your palms and feet, too.
Everybody’s ridge patterns are slightly different
- even identical twins have different ones - so
anything you’ve touched can be linked directly to
you and only you.
 WRITTEN |N SWEAT

The first person to make use of

fingerprints was a magistrate in India in the
19th century. When pensioners came to him
each month to collect their pensions, he
checked their identities using fingerprint
record cards that he’d made.
By the early 20th century, police forces
around the world had realized how useful
fingerprints could be. They began to take ink
fingerprints of every suspect arrested, so that This is a 'wanted' poster for

American gangster Pretty Boy

they could compare them with prints found at
Floyd. Police were asked to
crime scenes. identify him using his

fingerprints. These had been

taken when he was arrested a

few years earlier.

Making a match
Nowadays, specialist fingerprint officers find and
analyze suspicious prints at crime scenes. They
can quickly compare these with prints taken
from suspects. If they find at least six matching
points shared by two prints, it means they both
come from the same finger or thumb.

If you look closely at the

ridges on a finger, you

can see places

where they split or

come to an end,

a little like

in a maze.

This is a print made of the same finger

using ink. Computer programs can accurately

Join
compare two prints to see if the ridges join

or split in the same places.

WRITTEN IN SWEAT

It’s not usually hard to find clues at a crime

scene. Fingerprints in particular tend to be
found in obvious places. Look at the chest of
Fingerprint evidence
drawers below. The first place to check would
was successfully used in

a trial for the first time 0 be the handles, and any objects that might have
in the UK in 1902. been moved, such as the mug on the top.
i
Henry Jackson had
$ Fingerprint officers do have to be careful not
to smudge any prints, though, and they take
I broken into a house

and stole a box of $ fingerprints from everyone who uses the chest.
billiard balls. He left his
Most prints found on an object belong to the
$ prints on the window
sill he used to climb in $ people who use it a lot - so these prints can be
ignored. Then, any prints that don’t match these
$ and out.

i people can be regarded as suspicious.

This chest of drawers has
Fingerprints at crime scenes often show up
been burgled. A fingerprint clearly in thick dust, or in a smear of blood.
officer will dust it for prints.
These prints can be photographed. The photos
are loaded into a computer, where they will be
analyzed by a fingerprint expert.
Some prints are found by dusting an area
using a silver or black powder. The powder
sticks to the sweat, and reveals the unique print
pattern. These kinds of prints are described as
latent” prints. The sweat that fingers leave

Powder is applied with a The powder showing the The tape is stuck to a
brush. It only sticks to print mark is ‘lifted' using plastic sheet, and the
the sweaty prints. a piece of sticky tape. location is noted down
behind is usually invisible to the naked eye, but
it’s still there.
As well as finding prints, fingerprint officers
have to record exactly where they were found.
This evidence can prove that a particular person
touched something at a crime scene. Without
this information, prints are useless in a trial.

Chemicals and lights

Powder won’t reveal all latent prints, because
there are some surfaces that powder won’t stick
to - such as human skin. But scientists are
always finding new ways to reveal the invisible Before he leaves, this criminal
marks left behind in sweat. Just wiping away a wipes the light switch with a

fingerprint is no longer enough to protect a cloth to remove his prints.

criminal; only strong bleach can remove a print

mark entirely.
A variety of chemical sprays can be applied to
different surfaces to reveal latent prints.
Cyanoacrylate is a substance used in superglue.
As well as being sticky, it also reacts with Later, a fingerprint officer
human sweat and makes it white. Another sprays the area with ninhydrin.

chemical called ninhydrin reacts with human

sweat in a different way - it turns purple.
These chemicals are useful on different
surfaces. Ninhydrin can be used on wallpaper,
and cyanoacrylate can be used to show up
fingerprints on human skin. Normally, both
The print on the switch is
sprays are used with a special torch that shines
smudged and useless, but the
ultraviolet (UV) light. This makes it easier to spray has picked up latent
see the patterns in latent prints. prints on the walls.
WRITTEN IN SWEAT

Roscoe’s fingers
Some criminals wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. But
many others don’t plan ahead. In the USA in 1941, one habitual
thief thought of a way to be sure his fingerprints would never be
found again. He would remove them...

MEET ROSCOE PHILLIPS,

CAREER CRIMINAL...

EVERY TIME I GET \

ARRESTEP, THE COPS
KNOW I'M GUILTY
'COS OF MY STUPIP
k FINGERS. y

I NEEP TO FINP
A SURGEON...

FIRST, I WILL SLICE

THE SKIN FROM YOUR
YOU WANT ME
FINGERTIPS. THIS
TO REMOVE YOUR
WILL HURT. y
FINGERPRINTS?
IMPOSSIBLE!

PR PBRANPENBURG
SURGEON

I CAN PAY YOU

HANPSOMELY.

WELL, THERE IS
ONE IPEA I HAVE. aaaaaAARGhi
 WRITTtN IN SWEAT

SAY! THIS
UNFORTUNATELY, HE
FELLA'S SOT NO
STILL WASN'T VERY
FINGERPRINTS.
GOOD AT IT.

HANDS UP,
VILLAIN/

WITH HIS NEW

IS THAT \
HANDS, ROSCOE
RIGHT? LEMME
RESUMED HIS
TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
CRIMINAL WAYS.
AT THAT SAFE...

YOU KNOW, A ROSCOE'S

MAN HAS UNIQUE STORY SPREAD
MARKINGS ON HIS AROUND THE
WHOLE HAND. US PRISON
SERVICE.

AND THIS PRINT I

NO ONE HAS
FOUND LOOKS AN AWFUL
TRIED REMOVING
LOT LIKE A HAND WITH
THEIR FINGERTIPS
SMOOTH FINGERTIPS...
SINCE.
WRITTEN |N SWEAT

Fingerprints on file
You can’t tell anything about a person just from
0 their fingerprints. All you can do is to see if they
The Federal Bureau of

p Investigation (FBI) is the

match any suspicious prints. But what if there is
central crime-fighting no suspect? Then detectives must turn to their
gg force for the entire United
records of fingerprints collected from criminals
* States. It has a collection |||

of over 50 million
in the past.
|| individual prints, all Host countries keep a huge database with the
belonging to people
fingerprints of anyone who has ever been
^ convicted of a crime.
Databases like this can M convicted of a crime. So, whenever a suspicious
fail if a person’s print was W print is found at an important crime scene,
t recorded badly, or if a

person's fingerprints
$
fingerprint officers can check to see if it
matches a print in their database. Some people
change, for example if

■ they have an accident argue that everyone should register their

that leaves scars. $ fingerprints, so that the database has no gaps.
But other people think this is a bad idea,
Fingerprints are still the
single most common
t because if anything goes wrong with it, innocent
' *<&* piece of evidence that
w people could be arrested. What do you think?
convince a judge and jury

to find someone guilty.

$
In some countries, people carry identity cards with them.
i These cards have a record of a person s fingerprint on
them, so it s impossible to use someone else s card.

Many identity cards show An electronic version

photos of the person they of the fingerprint
identify. Photos are is stored on the
much easier to gold chip.
forge than
fingerprints.

Other unique
markings can be
Serial numbers
held on ID cards,
make it harder for
such as a scan
people to make
of your eye.
fake cards.
P umping around inside a typical human, there
are at least 9 pints (5 1.) of thick, red, sticky
blood. And, as you’ll know if you’ve ever had a
nosebleed or cut your finger, blood gets
everywhere - and it leaves stains.
After a murder or a violent attack, there will
often be bloodstains at the crime scene. Blood
can reveal all kinds of vital clues about a fight.
An expert in blood spatter patterns can tell how
many people were involved, what weapons they
used, and what order things happened in.

21
WRITTEN IN BLOOD

Detectives call on experts to examine the

patterns that bloodstains are found in. They also
send samples to serologists - scientists who
study blood and other body fluids.

Because blood makes such a

big mess, it's surprisingly common to
find really obvious clues in it. like this mark
left on the floor by a missing weapon.

>y
If enough clean blood is found, serologists can
run tests on it. They can try to identify how
many different peoples blood is at a scene, and
Drops of blood from one big then work out which bloodstains came from
sample can be treated with an which person. This can help to prove who
anti-agent' to test for a
person's blood group.
started the fight, and who held which weapon.
The first forensic blood tests were invented in
; -■.» _ Blood the early 20th century. German Paul Uhlenhuth
v > ■< from
V
- 7
' * found a way to prove that a stain was actually
Type A
blood. And Austrian Karl Landsteiner discovered
that human blood comes in four main types - A,
Blood
B, AB and 0 - as well as many subtypes. A
from
Type B simple lab process called electrophoresis can
tell which type a sample of blood belongs to.
Blood reacts with different This can prove that blood did not belong to
anti-agents depending on
whether it is type A. B. AB
someone, which is vitally important as it can
or 0. quickly clear up a false arrest.

22
Crimes solved by science No. 2
The carpenter’s apron
Place: Gohren, Germany

Date: 1901

Crime: double murder

Latest victims: Peter and Hermann Stubbe

Chief suspect: Ludwig Tessnow, carpenter

Previous history: Tessnow had been accused of murdering

two girls, and of slaughtering a local farmer’s sheep. But there
was no solid evidence to convict him of these crimes.

Incriminating evidence: Tessnow’s apron was found, covered

in red-brown stains.

Suspect’s statement: “Of course there are lots of stains on

my apron. They are wood dye. I am a hard-working carpenter,
and I have many cans of dye in my
workshop. Now leave me alone.”

Forensic breakthrough: the local

magistrate had read about Paul
Uhlenhuth’s new test. He sent
across the apron, and Uhlenhuth
found many wood dye stains -
but also 17 human blood stains,
and 9 sheep blood stains.

Verdict: guilty

Sentence: death
WRITTEN |N BLOOD

Patterns in blood
»
Some forensic scientists are experts in blood
spatter patterns. They look at the way blood
spreads out on the wall or floor to guess what
kind of weapon was used, where the victim was
standing, and how many times they were hit.
Experts can usually tell the difference between
blood from a bullet wound, a knife or a
baseball bat.
Some blood spatter patterns can be caused by
several different weapons, and patterns will
A thin streak
look different if the blood hits a smooth surface
means the blood
came from an such as glass, or a rough surface such as a
angle. The tail carpet. Experts will match up the blood patterns
points in the direction
with the other evidence found as best they can.

Thick spatters show that a

large amount of blood came
out all at once.

Blood pumps away from

i a person's heart quickly

through arteries. It goes Y .• •
back into the heart
%
slowly through veins. So
.• 4 • . • 4^ *» •
A spray of tiny spatters means
if an artery gets cut. blood hit the wall really
lots of blood can spurt , perhaps after a hit with
out. and it can spray heavy bat or even a bullet.
really far. If a vein gets
\
i cut. blood will drip out
of the body fairly slowly.

t Some blood spatters at

crime scenes aren't from
i
cuts, though. They come
A roundish spatter happens
I from blood that flies off
the end of a weapon.
when blood drips straight
down onto a smooth surface,
for example after a simple cut.
 WRITTEN IN BLOOD

The missing masterpiece?

Below you can see a fictional crime scene with
blood spatters all over it. In this type of 3
Thieves often cut
p paintings out of their
situation, a police detective will ask a blood
frames to make it easier
spatter expert and a serologist to help him or ^ to carry them away.

her work out what happened.

Art dealers should be
These two kinds of forensic scientists do an
able to recognize when
important job, but its the detective who has to the edges of a famous

put all the pieces together. He or she will painting are missing.
This information can be gif
inspect the crime scene and talk to any
used in court to prove
witnesses, as well as checking any test results that a painting was

that the scientists provide. Seeing how all these stolen.

pieces fit together might help to solve the crime.

Samples of blood from this

crime scene would be
carefully put into bags
and sent to a serology
lab to be examined.

In reality, police
would examine more

The police were called in by a cleaner, clues than just the blood

who says that a thief stabbed him and but in this case the blood

stole a painting. tells quite a tale on its own.

WRITTEN IN BLOOD

The cleaner’s sw*u«u«

;he cleaner's statement came
11 .„rt
* thp floor when tnis & j

%$£££ rs
"irlone and called for help.”

Cast? closed
mm
In the hospital, the detective has just listened to
blood fact the cleaners story. But it doesn’t match up with
Just like fingerprints, the patterns of blood found at the crime scene.
9 blood is very difficult to Perhaps the cleaner can’t remember what
clean away. So even if it
happened very clearly - or perhaps he’s lying.
can t be seen, there
i might still be blood at a One part of his story has been confirmed by
crime scene. the serologist, though: there were two people at
CSIs use chemical sprays
the scene. The blood on the floor all seems to
and UV lights to search
for blood, just like come from the cleaner (it has been matched
looking for latent prints. with his blood type), but the blood spatters
0 around the painting and on the broomstick
This photo shows a
latent boot print that have a different blood type. So, two people
showed up after being 0 were at the scene, and two people were
sprayed with luminol.
injured - but did they really get into a fight?
I The detective believes that the cleaner and the
thief may be friends. The cleaner let the thief in
through a side door, then they hit each other to
make it look as if a fight happened.
Take another look at the crime scene, and see
what the detective thinks happened. Perhaps the
cleaner will change his story...
 WRITTEN IN BLOOD

The broom has blood on one The blood by the phone is the

end. It's likely that the cleaner cleaner's. But the shoeprints

really did attack the belong to somebody else.

intruder with it. The intruder must have

left after the cleaner
reached the phone.

There are bloodstains on the wall

underneath where the painting used to be.
So the cleaner must have hit h\m after the
intruder had already cut the painting out.

Arresting the cleaner is one thing, but the police If there was a fight, it's
surprising that there isn't more
still need to find the thief and prove that he
blood and damage at this crime
was involved. The next chapter explains how a scene. Perhaps the cleaner let
serologist can do this, thanks to a chemical the intruder stab him to make
his story more convincing.
known as DNA, which can be found in blood.
 CHAPTER

A ll too many crime scenes are covered in

blood, whether it belongs to one victim,
many victims, or even the criminal who did it.
Serologists have been able to find out some
information about blood for over a hundred
years, but a major breakthrough happened in
1955, when scientists discovered DNA. Now,
serologsts can connect a bloodstain directly to
the particular person the blood came from.
Dioxy-ribo-Nu-cle-ic Acid, to use its full name, is
the chemical that controls how our bodies are

7.8
 .SECRETS IN THE CELLS

built. It does this by controlling the cells in our body. These are the
building blocks that people are made of. DNA itself is an incredibly
complicated chemical, made up of billions of parts known as
genes. Genes help to control different things, such as the length of
your toes or the size of your memory.

This is a cluster of Inside most cells is Inside each nucleus

You inherit all your DNA from your parents. Whenever a new
Exactly half the genes in your DNA come from scientific technique is
developed, it takes time
your mother, and half from your father. There
before most people
are so many ways in which these two halves can understand it. Judges
combine that it’s impossible even for your and juries can be slow
to trust scientists when
brother or sister to have exactly the same code
they talk about new
even as a coincidence. Only identical twins or techniques in a trial.
clones share the same DNA. $ For about 20 years,
clever lawyers were able
Host bloodstains contain the DNA of the person
they came from. But detectives had to wait a i to persuade juries that
genetic fingerprinting
I
few years before they could use this information. was based on unreliable
science. It is true that
In 1985, British scientist Alec Jeffreys worked
scientists can make
out a way to extract and compare DNA from mistakes that affect the
two separate samples. Using this technique, results. But the science
of DNA is reliable, and is
$
serologists compare DNA from a crime scene
now trusted in courts all
with DNA from a suspect. This process is often over the world.
described as genetic fingerprinting. Its one of ■m

the most common tests in forensic science.

29
 Enderby, UK, 1987. The police were after a man who had murdered
two women. The first ever forensic DNA test quickly proved that the
chief suspect was innocent. And so a new kind of manhunt began...

IN LOCAL NEWS, POLICE ARE ALRIGHT. I'M

I'VE GOT A CRIMINAL LOOK, IAN... I'LL
STILL HUNTING FOR THE THEY CANT
RECORD. IF I GIVE NOT FROM
PAY YOU £100 IF
ENPERBY KILLER. ALL MEN DO THIS!
BLOOD, I'M BOUND ROUND HERE,
YOU PRETEND TO
AGED I6-3H ARE REQUIRED TO ANYWAY.
WHY'S \ TO GET INTO
GIVE A BLOOD j,
THAT, ) TROUBLE. A
kL SAMPLE.
COUNT

A FEW WEEKS LATER, IAN WAS K YOU REMEMBER THAT ^

GETTING DRUNK WITH FRIENDS DNA THING UP IN ENDERBYT REALLY?

IN A LOCAL PUB. COLIN PAID ME £100 TO GIVE YOU KNOW, THEY

MY BLOOD INSTEAD NEVER DID FIND
OF HIS. THE KILLER.

MY MATE
TT COLIN, HE'S Kip 0 w
mi A REAL )\ yj[
J|^ WEIRDO. J Pip , W TD BETTER
OH TELL THE POLICE
YEAH? ABOUT THIS!

RATS! CAUGHT
THE POLICE RUSHED TO THE BAKERY WHERE OUT BY My OWN
COLIN WORKED AND ARRESTED HIM. hv BODY. ^

HE AGREED TO GIVE THEM A SAMPLE OF HIS

BLOOD THIS TIME. SURE ENOUGH, HIS DNA
MATCHED WITH SAMPLES ON BOTH VICTIMS.
COLIN PITCHFORK IS STILL IN PRISON TODAY.
 SECRETS IN THE CELLS

DNA prpfilp
Since 1985, scientists have developed many
new ways to process a DNA sample. They all DNA tests are also used
Ei
require special equipment and chemicals, but to prove that people are
related to each other.
the specific method used depends on how large
If a child doesn't know
the sample is. One of the most common who his or her genetic

methods is known as Short Tandem Repeat father is. a DNA

paternity test can #5*
(STR) analysis. In this process, the serologist
help them to find out
chemically highlights 13 sections of human the answer.

DNA. These 13 sections are then printed onto a $ Relatives don't share
exactly the same DNA
sheet called a profile. Samples of DNA that
profiles, but they will
have been taken from several different places $
match in more places

can be printed onto the same profile, so it’s than two unrelated
people would.
easy to see if they match.

The lines on the

Each person's profile
profile vary in thickness
spreads down the page, a
depending on a person's genes.
little like a long bar code.

Rllllllllllllllll 111 CRIME SCENE

SAMPLE

The first profile

Miiiiiiaiiiiiii SUSPECT 1
shows the crime
scene sample. The

iiiiiiiiii SUSPECT 2 rest show samples

taken from a
number of

miiiiiii SUSPECT 3
different suspects.

III IIMI SUSPECT 4

Suspect 4 has a profile that matches the

evidence profile very closely. And all the
other suspects can be ruled out.
SECRETS IN THE CELLS

One reason why DNA can be found at many crime scenes is

because criminals don't know how to clean it up. DNA can be
found in all types of things, and is often too small
to see without looking very closely.

W JBP iHF jy .jp" ^ar «®r jbt ^sar ^

Crime seen?: office burglary
CSIs found no fingerprints in the room, but there are all sorts of places to check for DNA.
Where would you look?

• Any objects that have definitely had human contact: saliva on the apple core, skin cells on the
ring, hair on the hairbrush.

• Anything that is out of place: knocked over chair, plant pot. sweat marks on the pieces of
paper. All of these might have flakes of hair and skin from the burglar.
 SECRETS IN THE CELLS

DNA can be found in so many things that it can

seem as if every crime scene is littered with the
stuff. This in itself can be a major problem for
detectives. DNA evidence is amazingly useful, v When gathering evidence
from a murder scene. CSIs
but only if it's big enough or clean enough for a -At
$ need to wear protective
scientist to use. coveralls. This is to make
sure that they don't drop
0 any of their own DNA
onto the scene.

DIVA difficulties
Crimes that take place on the street, or in a
busy building, can be very awkward for the
police when they are looking for clues. There
will be a lot of DNA in the area because of
all the people who walk through it every
day. Even if there is something obvious,
like a pool of blood, it could be
contaminated with DNA from other
peoples skin or hair that may have
fallen into it.
Another sad problem is that there is
so much DNA evidence from crime
scenes that serology labs often have
huge piles of evidence to examine, much
of which will turn out to be useless.
Its not all bad news for detectives, though.
DNA can remain at a crime scene for years.
Even bones that are thousands of years old still
contain DNA that can be extracted and tested.
Scientists are improving analysis techniques all
the time, and DNA may soon overtake
fingerprints as the most common evidence used
in solving crimes.
SECRETS IN THE CELLS

Samples of human body tissue must be

carefully collected and tagged. Different types
of bags, jars and tubes are used to keep the
evidence safe.

*v***cs

DNA on trial
FICTION FACT
Once a suspect has been accused of a crime, any
§ DNA samples that link that person to the scene
.a
CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation is one of * of the crime, or to the victim, or a murder
-•* the world's most popular
weapon, can be very compelling to a judge and
TV shows. It has helped
people to realize that jury. Many people on juries already know a little
DNA and other tiny clues about DNA evidence, and they understand that it
can be found at all kinds
is unique to a person.
of crime scenes.
The science used in the In fact, DNA has become so well-known that
show is accurate, but some juries expect it to feature in any trial,
real crime labs don't all
especially a murder. This is sometimes called the
have brand new
eauioment. and tests ‘CST effect, named after the long-running TV
series about a forensic science team.
But DNA evidence is not always relevant. For
example, DNA found on a murder weapon can
prove that a particular person touched it, but it
can’t prove how the DNA got there. As with all
branches of forensics, DNA evidence usually
needs to be combined with witness testimony to
paint a full picture of what happened. Just
sometimes, though, DNA is a crucial witness...
Crimes solved by science No. 3
An innocent man
Place: Baltimore, USA
Date: 1983
Crime: murder
Victim: Dawn Hamilton
Chief suspect: Kirk Bloodsworth, ex-marine
.
Incriminating evidence: 1 Eyewitness report of a man seen
running away from the scene matches Kirk’s description.
Z. Kirk was reported by friends as acting strange that day.

Suspect’s statement: “I’d just had an argument with my wife.

That’s why I was acting funny. I never saw the girl.”
Verdict: guilty
Forensic breakthrough: DNA testing didn’t exist in 1983,
but 10 years later, stains on the
victim’s clothing were finally senf ' ■*
for DM analysis.
New verdict: this DNA did not
match Kirk Bloodsworth’s - and
he was finally released.
Case closed: in 2003, the real
killer was found using a DM
database search: K. S. Ruffner.
His DNA was on file because he
was in prison for another crime.
CHAPTER *

M urder investigations often begin with a dead

body. If you know how to examine it and
what to look for, a body can tell you a lot about
what happened, even though it can’t talk.
Who is it? When did they die? How did they
die? These are the key questions for a detective
hoping to catch and convict the killer. The who’
is often the trickiest part, but finding out how
and when a person died is usually a
straightforward matter for a doctor who
specializes in death, known as a pathologist.
 THE TALKING DEAD

Time of death
Knowing the exact moment when a person died
helps the police to trace their movements
before they died, and can reveal who the last
person was to see them alive.
Pathologists can examine four different things
to estimate when a person died:

I How stiff is the body? Once blood stops pumping through the
muscles, they start to get stiff. This is called rigor mortis. It begins
about three hours after death. Two days later, the muscles relax
again, and the body unstiffens.

fi How warm is the body? Living bodies have a constant

temperature of 37°C ;98°F). After death, they cool down by about 1°
per hour, until they are the same temperature as the room they're
in. Pathologists need to know exactly where a body has been since
it died. Bodies cool down more quickly under water, for example.

3 What's in the stomach? It can take more than 30 hours to

digest a meal fully. Food passes through the stomach after about
two hours, and then sits in the intestines. After death the body
stops digesting. So if pathologists find any food, they can guess
the length of time between a person's last meal and their death.

*r. What's in the eyes? Eyeballs contain a small amount of the

chemical potassium. After death, the amount of potassium in the
Pathologists and
eye increases at a steady rate.
surgeons use many of
the same tools. Here
If the body is found just a few hours or days you can see two
types of scissors for
after death, all these methods can provide a
cutting, and a syringe
good idea of the exact time of death. But and kidney dish for
none of them is perfect. What happens to a collecting samples.

body after death depends on where it is,

too. Bodies will decompose much
more quickly in a hot or wet
place, for example.
THE TALKING DEAD

The telltale pizza

Illinois. USA. 1983. While David Hendricks was on a business trip
his wife and three children were found at his home, murdered
with an axe. Hendricks soon became the chief suspect. The big
question: at exactly what time did Hendricks leave the house?

I-I-I PICKED UP MY
CH-CH-CHILDREN FROM
SCHOOL, AS-AS NORMAL

"I TUCKED THE CHILDREN THIS PHOTO SHOWS THE CONTENTS

INTO BED, PACKED OF THEIR STOMACHS. YOU CAN
MY BAG. I KISSED MY STILL SEE PEPPERONI!
WIFE GOODBYE AND LEFT
THE PATHOLOGY
AT MIDNIGHT EXACTLY."
REPORT SAYS YOUR J
CHILDREN DIED JUST J
AN HOUR AFTER THE J
MEAL

WE KNOW YOU
HENDRICKS TRIED
WERE HOME WHEN
TO CHANGE HIS
YOUR FAMILY DIED,
STORY, BUT IT
v DAVID. /
WAS TOO LATE.

A JURY FOUND
HIM GUILTY. HE
RECEIVED FOUR
LIFE SENTENCES.
 THE TALKING DEAD

li^apifn^rs of death
A dead body doesn't always mean there was a
murder. Pathologists first try to find the physical
cause of death, before trying to work out why it
happened. From a medical point of view,
people only die when their heart stops beating,
or their brain shuts down, or, most commonly,
if their lungs stop breathing.
Pathologists can usually determine which of
these three events occured first. Then, they may
This pathologist's report shows
be able to detect an external cause. But this
the areas on a body that have
doesn't always give evidence of a crime. Even if been injured, and describes
a body shows signs of having been attacked, the likely causes of those injuries.

person might have died of something entirely

unconnected, such as an infection. DEAfH'FACT /
In some countries pathologists work with
When a body is first
people called coroners. It's the coroner's job to
found, it is carefully
decide whether or not a death is suspicious. photographed by a CSI.
Coroners don't just look at the body. They also Then it is taken to a
morgue, where it can
question any witnesses, and they will w
Pr
be stored in a chilled
decide if the witnesses' statements compartment
match with the physical evidence to prevent it from
decomposing
left on the body.
t before it is
examined.
These two technicians are
recording the details of a body t
that has just been delivered to
Wm
the morgue. ■<
THE TALKING DEAD

The operation to examine a dead body is

called an autopsy, or a post mortem. Here are
some of the things a pathologist might be
able to find.

The angle and depth of a Damage to the skull shows that

wound can reveal what
the head was hit. but you have to
type of weapon
look at the brain to see how badly.
was used.

Tiny or enlarged pupils

often mean that the
person has taken drugs, or
has been poisoned.

Bruises made by hands

or a cord show the
A tiny hole in the skin is
victim was strangled.
evidence of being injected - by
drugs or poison, or air. An air bubble
trapped in a vein can kill someone.

Bullet entry wounds are quite

small. If they were fired from
close range, there will be
burn marks around the edge. After death, blood collects at the
bottom of a body, leaving pink marks
called lividity marks. These can show
the angle a person lay after they died.

40
 THE TALKING DEAD

••• and on the Inside

AUTOPSY FACT
If the brain is damaged on
Thin slices of organs,
I
the opposite side of the
head from a bruise, it means including the brain, are
the real damage was from put onto slides and kept
a fall, not a blow to - for future examination.
the head. /j0

If a person died
because of a fire, Blood is tested to see if a
there would be soot person died from an infection
in the lungs.

Half-digested pieces of
food show how long ago
Bullets can be extracted
the person ate a meal.
for testing by ballistics
and firearms experts.

Poisons usually
leave traces in hair
bones and some
organs.

If a person drowned in a river or

COME’
lake, there will be tiny plants called
diatoms in the bone marrow. They t

won't be present if an already dead

>>Burroughs w,4. o-oif *
body was thrown in.
Crimes solved by science No. 4

Place: Bradford, UK
Date: 195?
Crime: murder
Victim: Mrs. Elizabeth Barlow
Chief suspect: Kenneth Barlow, nurse
.
Incriminating evidence: 1 Mrs. Barlow drowned in the bathtub.
Her husband, a nurse, said he had tried to resuscitate her, but
.
there were no splashes around the room. 2 Mr. Barlow had been
married before; his ex-wife had also died young.
Suspect’s statement: “I was asleep and didn’t go to check on her
until it was too late.”
First impression: not guilty. The pathologist suspected poisoning
rather than drowning, but could find no trace of poison.
Forensic breakthrough: a thorough
examination by two pathologists
finally revealed two injection marks
in Mrs. Barlow’s buttocks. Minute
traces of insulin were found in
the holes. Insulin is a chemical
that the body produces itself.
But injecting an extra dose
can kill a person...
Verdict: guilty
Sentence: life in prison
 THE TALKING DEAD

Facial reconstruction

Autopsies can be valuable for finding out how

and when a person died. But if you don’t know
the identity of the body they don’t often help to
solve the crime.
If no one recognizes the face, or if it is too '| g. %

badly damaged, the first things to look for are

Pegs are placed to mark out the
any unique markings. Fingerprints and DNA thickness of muscle and skin.
analysis can help, but only if the person was
listed on a criminal database. Any tattoos or
birthmarks should be noted on a missing
persons report. But these will only show up on
a fairly well-preserved body.
Victims of a fire may have little left to reveal
their identity - beyond teeth and bones. Luckily,
Following the pattern of the
these can be helpful, too. Dentists keep very
skull, the face muscles are
accurate records of teeth, which police can use rebuilt with clay.
to compare with teeth found at a crime scene.
And, although skulls might look very similar to
the untrained eye, experts can tell gender, age
and ethnic background just by looking at them.
It’s also possible to reconstruct a person’s face
around their skull using clay.

Glass eyes are put into the

A skull can't reveal everything about a face. Nose shape, sockets, and a layer of fake
skin tone, and hairstyle all have to be guessed at. skin is added over the muscles.
 S ometimes the best clues about a crime don’t
come from the people involved, but from the
world around them. People up to no good in
the woods will disturb the plants and trees,
leaving evidence behind. Insects and other
animals at the scene of a crime might hold
subtle clues.
First on the scene at most murders are not the
police, but swarms of flies that eat dead flesh.
Experts called entomologists study insects, and
they will be called in to examine them.

44
 CLUES FROM MATURE

A bug’s life
CSIs collect samples of maggots, flies, and insect
Chinese scientist Song Ci
remains that they find on and around a body. wrote a collection of
f.
To an entomologist, these are clues that can famous criminal cases in

reveal where a body was when a person died, the 13th century. One
was solved by insects:
0
and how long ago they died. Pathologists can A man was found
only tell the time of death on a newly dead murdered in a field. It
was obvious that a farm
corpse. But entomologists can work on corpses
worker had killed him.
days or even months after death. but which one? A clever
First they identify the species of insect. Then, detective asked them all
to place their sickles on
they check what stages of growth each insect is
the ground. Flies
at, for example, maggot, larva or pupa. The swarmed around one
variety of stages of insect found show how long sickle. The killer had

ago the person died. They can also tell what 9 wiped off the blood, but
the flies were still
eara

time of day a person died, because some insects attracted to the smell.
only come out by day or by night. 9
Bluebottles and blowflies Maggots hatch in a few Finally, the maggots make
like to lay their eggs on hours. Over the next week, cocoons next to the body.
very fresh bodies. they grow and change. After twelve days, they
emerge as adult flies.

These are some of the most common insects

found on dead bodies near to towns.

A springtail maggot An adult bluebottle fly An adult blowfly

CLUES FROM MATURE

People kill animals for food, clothing, and in

Insects live all over the
world, in almost every
some cases, medicine. In the last hundred years,
kind of environment. scientists have learned that many species will
Forensic entomologists
i can use this fact to
die out completely if we don’t protect them. So,
in most countries it is illegal to kill rare animals,
help the police solve
certain crimes, such as even if they can be used to make useful things.
smuggling.
Since the discovery of DNA profiling, it is easy
Smugglers bring illegal

0 goods from one part of

the world to another.
for scientists to prove what species a sample of
fur or bone powder comes from, making life
Insects often get into
0 the packing crates they
harder for illegal hunters and traders.
use. and travel around
the world with them.
Entomologists can look
Man’s friends?
at these insects and tell
exactly where the Experts can train certain breeds of dog to hunt
crates have come from, for missing people by giving them a scent to
helping police to
follow. These are known as sniffer dogs. They
tackle the crime
at its source. can also be used to find other things with a
distinctive smell, such as illegal drugs. Trained
dogs can help CSIs to look for traces of a
suspect or certain types of chemicals at a
crime scene. A forensic scientist examines the
things sniffer dogs uncover, to find out what
they are.
Dogs aren’t the only creatures with a
strong sense of smell. Scientists have
discovered that, in just a few hours,
they can train a swarm of wasps
to sniff out drugs and chemicals
used to make bombs. The wasps
will hover menacingly above
a suspect...
 CLUES FROM MATURE

Soil can be found in a wide

Insects can show how long a body has been
variety of textures and shades.
dead, but they won’t often be able to help find Looking at the details makes it
the criminal responsible. Luckily, nature hides possible to match soil from a
shoe with soil from a
plenty of other clues. Leaves, seeds and soil get
particular place.
stuck to people very easily, especially to the
soles of their shoes.

Diatoms are incredibly small

plants that live in water. Soil
with diatoms in it
probably comes from
Chemists use litmus paper
a place by a stream
to test the acidity of soil.
or river.
Some soils are more acidic
than others.

Plant seeds often stick to a Different types of soil look

shoe, or are found in soil on different, even to the naked
a shoe. A plant expert called eye. This gritty soil isn't found
a botanist can tell where everywhere.
they have come from.

A thorough CSI should take careful samples of

soil and the things hidden in it from the area
around a crime scene. Later on, these can be
compared to samples of dirt and soil found on Under a powerful microscope,

a suspect’s clothes and shoes. If an expert finds it's possible to find bacteria
hidden in soil. These can be
enough matching material in the two samples,
traced to a particular area.
this can be used as evidence in court.
Crime-solving scientists No. 1

Name: Dr. Patricia Wiltshire

Base of operations: United Kingdom, present day
Occupation: forensic botanist
Methods: Dr. Wiltshire scours crime scenes and dead bodies to
look for tiny remains of plants, especially seeds and pollen. She will
insert a special stick into the corpse’s nose, which is a great place
to find pollen grains. Her detective skills have earned her an
international reputation as a crime-solver.
Recent case: Well Wood, UK, and Tirana, Albania 2004.
Crime: murder of Dritan Perdoda
Clue 1: the body was found in a grave that had been carefully dug
out. The grave site contained remains of unusual types of pollen.
Chief suspect: Ritzvan Matranxhi, a man who had entrusted
money to Perdoda, and who had recently fled from the UK to his
home town of Tirana, capital of Albania.
Clue 2: Dr. Wiltshire flew out to
Tirana, and searched Matranxhi’s car
- a car registered in the UK. Sure
enough, she found traces of the
same type of pollen as in the grave
in Well Wood.
Verdict: guilty
Sentence: 23 years in prison
 CLUES FROM NATURE

Reading wood
FAKl
Plants aren’t only useful to detectives when
A famous violin called the
they’re found in the wild. Even after a tree has
Messiah hangs in the
been cut down, treated, and made into Ashmolean museum in

furniture, it still contains plenty of clues. the UK. It is said to be

the work of renowned
Every year that a tree grows, a visible line
violin maker Stradivarius.
appears in its trunk, known as a growth ring. In 1998. an expert

Every tree that grows in the same forest will examined the growth
rings on the violin and
have similar growth rings, but examined up
declared that the tree it
close they are as unique as human fingerprints. was made from was cut

Experts called dendrochronologists can tell how down in 1730 - several

years after Stradivarius
old a tree is - and where in the world it has
died. But other experts
come from - by examining growth rings. These disagree with this dating.

growth rings are visible in furniture, where they

are seen as lines called wood grain. •>-«CS

Furniture can often have other markings, too.

Old wood can attract woodworm, which chew
out tiny tunnels in it. Stains from dyes that
carpenters use leave a chemical trace. Forensic
scientists can examine these details on even a
tiny splinter. For example, splinters of wood
found on a victim can be traced to a wooden
bat owned by a suspect. This kind of evidence is
known as fragmentary evidence.

The grain visible in this violin

can be examined by a
dendrochronology. They will
be able to tell how old the
wood is. and can even guess
when the tree was cut down.
(tuts from nature

Most murders are committed by people who already know their

victim. But when someone famous is killed, it can be very hard
to narrow down a list of suspects. Read this story to see how
Australian forensic scientists used a whole variety of clues from
nature to pinpoint just one man.

ON JUNE 1ST, I960, THE

THORNE FAMILY WON THE THAT MONEY

FIRST AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY. SHOULD BE

MINE!

NOT EVERYONE
WAS HARRY
ABOUT THIS...

8 YEAR-OLD GRAEME WAS

KIDNAPPED A MONTH LATER. POOR GRAEME
WAS FOUND DEAD
SIX WEEKS LATER,
WRAPPED IN A
BLANKET.

THE KIDNAPPER GIMME

MADE HIS $25,000 OR
DEMANDS... ELSE!

...BUT WAS NOT

HEARD FROM AGAIN.

5
 THIS FUNGUS IS
SIX WEEKS OLD.
THE BOY MUST
HAVE BEEN HERE
All ALONG.

THESE
SEEPS ARE
FROM A RARE
CYPRESS
TREE.

MOST OF
THESE HAIRS
BELONG TO
A PEKINGESE
DOG.

THIS PINK DUST

COMES FROM
MORTAR ON A
HOUSE.

RIGHT. WE'RE LOOKING FOR A MAN WHO LIVES IN A PINK

HOUSE NEAR A CYPRESS TREE. HE OWNS A PEKINGESE BRADLEY HAD LEFT HE'S TAKEN
DOG, AND HE PROBABLY LEFT TOWN SIX TOWN RECENTLY, BOUND A BOAT, WE'LL
'—- WEEKS AGO. ^aasfi FOR THE PORT. CHARTER A
PLANE!

AUSTRALIAN POLICE
WERE WAITING FOR
HIM IN SRI LANKA.

WELCOME TO
COLOMBO. YOU'RE
UNDER ARREST!
SIR, WE'VE GOT
POSTMAN HERE WHO DELIVERS
TO A MR. STEPHEN BRADLEY OF
23 MOORE STREET. IT'S THE ONLY PINK
HOUSE FOR BLOCKS, AND HE HAS A
THE SHEER VARIETY OF EVIDENCE WAS ENOUGH TO
CYPRESS TREE AND A LITTLE DOG.
SECURE A LIFE SENTENCE FOR STEPHEN BRADLEY.
CfMfflTBER'

Its said that no two snowflakes look alike. But

this isn’t so amazing - if you examine anything
up close, it’s almost impossible to find two
things that look exactly alike.
Take two same-value coins. Even though they
were made by the same machine, you can easily
tell them apart if you look carefully. Over time,
coins pick up dirt and scratches that make them
more and more different. This happens to all
kinds of things, and these unique markings can
help to solve a crime.
 THE LITTLE THINGS

It) the '»r

The magnifying glass has been the classic symbol for a

detective in crime novels and films for over a hundred years. This
simple tool is still used by CSIs to hunt for small clues. But to
magnify the details on objects of all sizes, microscopes are the tool
of choice in a crime lab. Forensic scientists of all specialities
use them, from pathologists to experts on tools and glass.

Tiny specks of glass and Small strands of cloth

metal are out of place might have belonged
in these woods. Where to the criminal s
did they come from? clothes or gloves.

Wheel tracks reveal

what kind of car was This mark in W
being driven. They the ground is unique

might even have their to the shovel that

own unique patterns. was used here.

After he's finished burying his victim, the criminal will pick up his shovel and drive off. He’s
confident that the police will not suspect him. He doesn’t realize that this crime scene is full
of tiny traces that forensic scientists can analyze...

53
THE LITTLE THINGS

A pair of tweezers is
Anything from a tiny shard of glass to a thread
used to collect a tiny
thread. A microscope will
of green cloth might turn out to be the vital
reveal exactly what it is. clue in cracking a case. Criminals often leave
these clues behind because they can’t see them.
And many people don’t realize how much
information forensic scientists can get out of
these fragments using modern technology.
Powerful microscopes can show things in such
detail that an expert can see what material
something is made from, and uncover any
unique impurities in that particular object.
Broken glass, for example, is common at
Strands from hair or
many crime scenes. CSIs sometimes also find
clothing; look very different ; glass shards in a suspect’s house, or on their
under a microscope.
clothes, or in their car. Detectives send all these
shards to a glass expert, to find out if they all
come from the same windowpane.
Glass is not unique in the same way as DNA,
but there are many variations for experts to
find by examining the texture and thickness. An
Hair from a house cat
expert can study glass shards by shining a light
through them, and then say if all the shards
came from the same windowpane.
Even if CSIs only find glass at the scene of the
4% crime, the same tests can reveal to an expert
Polyester from a shirt
where this type of glass was made. Then, a
detective can contact the companies that make
it, trace every shop that sells it, and start
investigating their customers. It’s a slow method,
but it often helps to identify a suspect -
Wool from a sweater
particularly if the glass is rare.

54
Crime-solving scientists No. 2

Name: Edmund Locard

Base of operations: France, 1895-1966
Occupation: professor of forensic medicine
Methods: Locard pioneered a principle that has become
central to all of forensic science - the exchange principle. It
is the observation that people leave traces behind and pick up
traces wherever they go. With this in mind, Locard routinely
inspected crime scenes and suspects to look for tiny clues.
Classic case: Lyon, France, 1921
Crime: murder by strangulation of Marie Latelle
Chief suspect: Emile Gourbin, Marie’s boyfriend
Clue 1: Locard scraped some muck out of Gourbin’s
fingernails, and examined it under a microscope. He found
traces of skin, blood, and a pink powder.
Clue 2: Marie’s bedroom i
contained a box full of the same
pink powder: it was part of her
makeup kit.
Confession: Gourbin was so
astonished at what Locard
found that he admitted he had
strangled Marie.
Verdict: guilty
Sentence: death
THE LITTLE THINGS

CRIME FACT
A lasting ImprRssipn
Forensic scientists don’t even need an actual
CSIs will make plaster
g casts of any useful object to examine. They can also obtain
® impressions they find. information by looking at the impressions an
object leaves in the ground, on a building, or
even on a person. Experts can examine a shoe
print or a wheel track to find its unique
markings, which can then be matched to the
shoe or car wheel that left the impression. CSIs
First, the area around the will take a plaster cast of such impressions to
impression is enclosed send to experts and to use as evidence in court.
with a metal rim.

Teeth and tool marks

When people bite down on something, their
teeth leave a unique pattern. It’s the same with
Plaster is poured in tools, such as saws, hammers or bolt cutters.
carefully to fill the area.
These kinds of tools all work by grinding
against an object until it breaks. Sometimes, the
tool will get a tiny amount of damage to its
cutting edge, which gives it a unique ‘tooth
mark’ the next time it cuts something. These
marks are easy to see under a powerful
microscope.

The scratches on this

screwdriver will leave unique
marks on any doors a burglar
uses it to force open.
 THE LITTLE THINGS

To double-check that a mark was made by a

particular tool, a scientist will use the tool on a fEETH FACT ,
test object, to see if it leaves exactly the same Human and animal *
teeth marks. teeth also leave marks
¥ on the things they bite.
Scientists who specialize 0
in studying tooth
evidence are called
Forensic databases forensic odontologists.
isit Two murderers. Ted
Every kind of tool leaves a unique mark after Bundy and Gordon Hay.
it’s used. Sometimes the impressions are too were both found guilty

faint or dirty to be studied properly. And unless in court as a result of

bite marks they'd left
detectives have a suspicious tool to compare the on their victims.
4*1
markings with, close examination can’t help Odontologists compared
1

them solve a crime. In this situation, it’s the the marks with their

things about tools that are not so unique that $ teeth, and found a dm
positive match.
can be helpful. Even a faint impression can be
enough to reveal what kind of tool was used,
Fast-changing fashions are a
giving detectives a way into an investigation.
great help to detectives. Many
Dedicated forensic scientists have spent shoe manufacturers change the
years using different types of tools on style of their shoe soles every
few months, so it's easy to
different surfaces. They take a photo of 2|Jv
tell when a shoe was
each mark, and file them in a huge bought. New sole
database. In a similar way, wheel and v-f/...

1 »
patterns are
automatically
shoe manufacturers add pictures of all
loaded into a
their designs to police databases. database.
The idea is that fellow forensic
scientists can access these databases to
look for photos that match marks found at
a crime scene. Many marks can be linked to
one specific model and brand of tool. It’s then
possible to trace that brand from the factory it
was made in to the shops where it was sold, in
the same way as using glass evidence. i§

57
THE LITTLE THINGS

The hacksaw horror

In 1981, Mrs. Leah Rosenthal was reported missing. She had
just been to visit her son Danny in Southampton, UK. Danny
seemed very unconcerned about his mother, which made the
police suspicious. Danny’s father Milton lived in France, and
detectives hoped he could help. Instead, the plot thickened...

DANNY 'S House, WHAT'S All

SOUTHAMPTON THIS BLOOD,
DANNY?

DETECTIVE
MIKE SAYCE.
I'M INVESTIGATING YOUR pr CHICKEN
MOTHER'S DISAPPEARANCE. BLOOD, SIR. I'M
MIND IF I TAKE A LOOK INSIDE? EXPERIMENTIN' WITH 'EM.
§ ' Usss

PARIS, MR. MILTON HMMM. A MOP

FRANCE ROSENTHAL? AND A HACKSAW
BLADE. CURIOUS.
MR. ROSENTHAL
IS MISSING. .

^ MISSING? ^
I'M DETECTIVE SUE HIS
SIMS, MAY I TAKE APARTMENT IS
A LOOK? UPSTAIRS. -i:
 INGS

TWO MISSING
PARENTS, A BROKEN
HACKSAW, AND ONE
INSANE CHILD. .

HE MUST HAVE 1
CUT THEM UP, BUT
WHAT HAPPENED TO
All THE PIECES?

A FEW WEEKS LATER, PART SEE - TEETHMARKS YOU'RE RIGHT. BUT

OF A MAN'S LEG WAS FROM A HACKSAW! WE HAVE TO BE SURE
FOUND IN A RIVER JUST ITS THE SAME SAW. GET
OUTSIDE PARIS. \ ME A LUMP OF
CLAY. ^

I'VE PUT THE SAW

WE FOUND BACK
TOGETHER.

HACKSAWS LEAVE W'

SHAPES IN THE THINGS
THEY CUT.

SAYCE AND SIMS PROVED THAT THE HACKSAW BLADE FOUND IN MILTON ROSENTHAL'S APARTMENT HAD BEEN USED TO CUT
THE LEG FROM THE RIVER. DANNY WAS FOUND GUILTY, AND WAS SENT TO A PSYCHIATRIC PRISON FOR TREATMENT.

59
 T he noise of a gunshot is loud enough and
rare enough in many parts of the world that
unexpected bangs are reported and investigated
by the police, even if it turns out that no crime
has been committed. Police officers have to
write careful reports about every shot they fire.
The science of how bullets move through the
air is called ballistics. Its common to refer to
any forensic work involving guns and bullets as
ballistics, although police officers and experts
also call it firearms investigation.

60
 GOING BALLISTIC

Most guns work in the same way. Pulling the

trigger makes a small hammer smack into the
the bullet case. A mixture of chemicals inside
w Guns are one example
r
the bullet case then explodes, forcing the bullet
to fly out of the gun. The bullet moves faster
of a larger group of
weapons called firearms.
0
Any weapon that uses a
than the speed of sound, so it makes a bang.
This all leaves lots of evidence after a shooting
propellant to shoot out $
objects at high speed is
incident: used bullets, empty bullet cases, classed as a firearm. As
well as all kinds of
chemical residue from the bullet, bullet holes
guns, this includes some
and of course the guns used. A firearms expert spray cans, that shoot'
uses these clues to solve different problems: dangerous liquids such
as pepper spray.
which bullets came from which gun, who was
holding a gun, or where they shot from.

Anatomy of a gun Gun barrel Bullet Case Firing pin

This kind of gun is a
semiautomatic. After each
shot, it pushes an empty
case out of the top of the
gun. and moves a new
round into the firing
position.

Bullet rounds are

made up of several
different parts:

The actual bullet is

the round piece at
the top.
Beneath the bullet is
an explosive chemical
The bullet is held
called a propellant.
inside an outer
shell called the At the bottom of the round is
case. a chemical primer that sets
off the propellant.
GOING BALLISTIC

Which gun was used?

The police won’t always find a gun at the scene
A bullet case often has
of a shooting, but it’s rare for them not to find
a serial number
stamped on it. bullet holes and bullets. Ballistics experts can
tell what type of gun was used by looking at the
bullets. Bullets need to fit very snugly inside a
gun, so many guns only work when using the
right type of bullet. When they are fired, grooves
inside the gun barrel, known as rifling, leave
marks called striations on each bullet.
The firing pin leaves a small hole in the bullet
case, too. A gun will leave exactly the same
markings on every bullet and case that it fires.
So, to prove that a particular gun was used to
fire a particular bullet, a firearms expert simply
fires off a round using the suspect gun. Then he
or she can examine the two bullets and the two
cases. If the markings on both bullets and cases
The firing pin of a gun match, they must have been fired from the
leaves a unique mark
on each case.
same gun. Some bullets are too mangled to see
the striation marks on them, but used cases

After they hit their target, bullets get squashed. How much they get
squashed depends on how far away and how hard the target is.
Ballistics experts can estimate how far away a shot came from by

20m
 GOING BALLISTIC

always have a visible firing pin mark. A shooter

has to collect them if he or she doesn’t want to
get caught. In 1838. William Stewart
In 1923, an amazingly useful forensic tool became the first person

called the comparison microscope was invented in America to be sent

.-■f

to prison because of
specifically to compare two bullets. The bullets ballistic evidence.
are placed on a slide, and the examiner looks He was accused of

through a single hole to see close-ups of them murdering his father to

get a quick inheritance.
side by side. This way, the examiner can easily At the autopsy, a
compare the markings on both bullets to see number of round

whether or nor they match up. This microscope bullets were found.
These unusual bullets
is useful to many branches of forensic science. were sent to a local
gunsmith, who
recognized them. He
had made them

WhQ fired the gun? himself, especially for

William Stewart's gun.

When a trigger is pulled, the primer in the back

of the bullet reacts with the propellant, causing
an explosion. It also creates new gases which
spit out of a hole in the top of the gun. These
gases are called gunshot residues.
Anyone who has held or fired a gun can have
traces of residue on their clothes and hands. The
primer and propellant in the bullet round both
create gases. Guns themselves can also leave
residue on a person from the oil used to keep
them working. CSIs will use a treated swab to
wipe the hands of any suspect as soon as they
can. The swab can be tested to see if it has any
gun residues on it. However, gun residues are all
A swab picks up traces of dirt
very similar, so swab tests can’t prove which gun on a person's hands. A special
a suspect used. dye turns purple if the dirt
contains any gun residue.
GOING BALLISTIC

Last night this New York diner was the scene The position and angle
the hole in this door
of a gun battle. Two police officers (in blue) behind it
chased a gang of three criminals (in red) t
the diner. A detective will try to match
the evidence found at the scene with
statements given by the survivors.

CSIs try to find every bullet that was

fired. The easiest place to start
looking is inside a bullet hole.

After shooting, some

guns will automatically
eject the case that
bullet was in. At this
scene, the positions of
the empty cases show
this police officer moved in
between firing his shots.

The angle of a bullet

hole can show the di
the bullet was moving in.
use string to mark out the
that every bullet took as it flew,
it provides another clue pinpointing
where the police officer stood.

Every gun found will be checked

see if it was used. Then detectives
try to find out what happened to
bullet fired from them.
 GOING BALLISTIC

Blood spatter patterns on the

wall show which direction the
shot came from.
Different bullets leave different
types of marks on the things
they hit. Experts will match >
each bullet to the gun that (
fired it. \

These bullets haven't

been fired yet. It lool
if this gang member
tried to reload his
weapon here.

Crjp? scene: gtjn battle in a diner

Two of the gang members were killed, and one police officer was injured. The third gang
member surrendered. The detective who analyzed the scene also worked out the following facts:

• Only three guns were used - two people were shot before they could fire.
•One police officer managed to shoot one of the gang members from outside the bar. She then
rushed into the bar where she shot one man. and forced a third man to surrender. She counted
the number of shots fired, and knew that she could enter and shoot while the others reloaded.

H m Jib
Mrs. Elvira Barney was the spoiled daughter of a respected British
nobleman. She liked to have a good time, and didn't like being let
down by her boyfriends. Put a gun in her hands, and anything could
happen - even murder. But proving it in 1932 was all too difficult...

ELVIRA'S HOUSE,
LONDON PONT YOU
PARS! ,
OH,
SHUT UP,
ELVIRA.

PONT YOU
TELL MB TO
. SHUT UP! ,

DETECTIVES SOON
ARRIVEP AT THE
SCENE...

' CANT SEE '

ANY POWPER
BURNS... THAT'S
OPP IF HE WAS
HOLPING THE GUN.

ELVIRA BARNEY,
HERE'S THE SECONP
YOU'RE UNPER
SHOT, BUT THERE'S NO
ARREST! .
BULLET. PERHAPS MRS.
BARNEY PUG IT OUT...

...BUT
WHYr

r IT WAS AN
ACCIPENT! MICHAEL
TRIEP TO TAKE THE
GUN OFF ME ANP
IT WENT OFF.
 GOING BALLISTIC

ELVIRA'S FRIEND DESCRIBED

HER FIERCE TEMPER...

LAST WEEK I SAW ELVIRA SHOOT AT

MICHAEL FROM HER WINDOW. SHE

' NOW, THE 'EXPERT'

CLAIMS THIS TRIGGER
IS TOO TOUGH TO PULL
ACCIDENTALLY, BUT
\ I DON'T HAVE A
P> PROBLEM/^i

Couch /T\\

WE FIND THE DEFENDANT. ELVIRA'S LAWYER

ERRRR... NOT GUILTY? MANAGED TO MAKE IT
LOOK AS IF THE EXPERTS
WERE MISTAKEN ABOUT
THE EVIDENCE, AND SHE
WAS RELEASED.

AS IT HAPPENED, SHE
DIED JUST FOUR YEARS
LATER AS A RESULT OF
HER EXCESSIVE
HIGH LIVING.
 If it’s hot enough, fire can reduce nearly
everything in its path to ash and soot. Because
of this, all kinds of crime can involve fire. Wily
criminals hope that a fire will disguise or
destroy evidence of their crimes. And terrorists
set off explosions, as well as starting fires, to try
to cause as much damage as possible.
Luckily, fires do eventually go out, and
explosions never destroy everything. It’s always
possible to find some clues about how they
started and, if it was deliberate, who started it.

68
 EXPLODING EVIDENCE

r*
Fires and explosions nearly always start in one
place, known as the seat. As a rule, they travel
up and spread out. So an expert can guess
where a fire or explosion started by working damage someone else's
back through a trail of burned-out debris. property is a crime
commonly known as
Finding the seat of a fire makes it easier to
arson. After any major
work out how the fire started. Someone who fire, investigators will
starts a fire deliberately might be trying to look for any evidence of
arson.
destroy one thing in particular, probably near
Some criminals commit
the seat. It’s part of the painstaking work of the arson on their own
investigator to check on everything that was possessions hoping to
get money from an
destroyed, and try to discover what it was before
insurance policy.
the fire burned it. For example, remnants of a
document might help to pinpoint the culprit.

Starting fires
Fires are the result of a chemical reaction
between oxygen and fuels such as wood. There
has to be enough heat for this reaction to begin,
but once a fire starts, it will keep on burning as
long as it has enough air and fuel.
Some fuels react much more strongly than
others. Wood is a fine fuel for a bonfire, but it
takes a while to catch alight. To start a fire really
quickly, it’s common to use gasoline, alcohol or
another flammable liquid. These can be poured
onto the ground or all over a room and lit easily Accelerants can be found in
with a match. Chemicals like these are called some common household items
such as paint thinners. They
accelerants. If a CSI finds any traces of
should be stored in watertight
accelerants at the scene of a fire, it’s likely that containers, so they don't spill
the fire wasn't an accident. by accident.
EXPLODING EVIDENCE

After a fire
warehouse fire Firefighters have the job of saving lives and
Firefighters managed to
putting out any fires they are called to. It’s also
put out a fire at this
clothing warehouse before part of their job to find out what caused a fire
it had done too much as soon as possible. Evidence of a deliberate fire
damage. Now the fire
can disappear if it’s not found quickly. Finding
investigators will try to
discover what caused it. the cause of an accidental fire is important, too,
as it can help prevent a similar fire elsewhere.

Fire burns up and The fire smashed

This creates a V window. Then
burned areas. The bottom sucked the
shows where the fire started. the right.

This warehouse is virtually

Detectives will be sus
owner removed the q

Trained sniffer dogs known as

accelerant detection canines' help
search for suspect chemicals.

caused by spilled accelerant.

 EXPLODING EVIDENCE

Anatomy of a bomb
Like deliberate fires, bombs use special This is the main
chemicals that can catch fire or explode easily. charge, in this case
made of plastic
Bombs all have the same parts, but each can be explosive. It reacts
made from different things. with the detonator to
produce an explosion.
A home made bomb is sometimes called
an Improvised Explosive Device, or IED.

ol device is
d set off the
Here, the
is in two a

The control device then

activates this detonator. It
The phone sends a signal contains a chemical that
to this receiver which is can explode easily^
attached directly to the
bomb.

Bombs can be made with different kinds of BOMB FACT /

detonators. Some are activated from a distance

by a signal from a phone, or by a lit fuse
connected directly to the main charge. Others
can be equipped with a timer switch, or a
switch that turns on when the bomb is moved.
The part that explodes is described as the
main charge. This can be made from any kind
of chemical that reacts with the detonator. This This x-ray picture shows a
reaction makes a loud noise, and creates new homemade bomb hidden

gases, which expand quickly and push against I inside an envelope. Guards
in high security buildings
anything that stands in their way. This blast of always check bags for
gases, called a shockwave, can be strong enough
to twist metal and break concrete.
0 bombs.
EXPLODING EVIDENCE

These fragments were

Explosions don’t burn things up, unless the gases
found on the ground in them happen to start a fire. They usually
after a bomb went off in smash things into tiny pieces, spread them out
a plane. On the right are
some tiny pieces of metal
over a huge area and make a mess. Bomb
from the bomb itself. On investigators spend hours sifting through the
the left are pieces of debris to find fragments from the bomb, that
cloth and paper that the
bomb was wrapped in.
can help reveal how it was made.

Chemicals are all made up of different parts

Objects like bricks, wood
called molecules, that make different chemicals
and cloth found near a
fire or explosion can
behave in different ways. The main challenge
absorb propellant gases. for a forensic chemistry expert is to work out
CSIs keep samples in exactly what is in any chemical residues found at
airtight jars to stop the
gases from evaporating.
the scene of a fire or explosion. To help them
do this, many use a machine called a Gas
$ Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS).
 EXPLODING EVIDENCE

First, it produces a gas chromatogram. This is a

chart which shows a pattern made by each
chemical in the sample. Experts study the
patterns to identify what kind of chemicals they
are, for example a dangerous accelerant.
The blue chromatogram was
made by residue found on a
suspect s hands.

The peaks do not

match, so the suspect
is free to go.

Next, the GC-MS tests and identifies the gases to

reveal the combination of molecules they are
made from. By studying the chromatogram and
the spectrometer result, the expert knows exactly
which chemicals were found at the crime scene.
This information can prove that a fire or
explosion was deliberate. For example, some
chemicals - such as RDX - were developed
specifically to be used in bombs. Traces of RDX
found at a bomb site or on a suspect’s hands are
a strong indication that the bombing was
planned in advance.
The test might also find that a common
household chemical caused a fire. This might
mean that the fire was an accident, but it’s
important to check the suspects. Swabs taken
from their clothes and hands will be tested by
GC-MS. If experts find traces of the same
chemical residues, the detectives involved in the
case will want to know how they got there.
Crimes solved by science No. 6

The Birmingham Six

Place: Birmingham, UK

Date: 1974

Crime: setting off two terrorist bombs

Victims: 21 killed, 162 wounded

Chief suspects: six men who were arrested leaving the area
on the morning after the bombing.

Suspects’ statement: “We were on our way home for a

friend’s funeral. We don’t know anything about the bombs.”

Incriminating evidence: a noted forensic scientist performed

a ‘Greiss’ test on the six suspects to check for bomb residues.
He found that two of them had traces of nitroglycerin - an
explosive chemical - on their hands. Five of the six then
confessed to the bombing under gruelling interrogation.

Verdict: guilty

Forensic breakthrough: the ‘Greiss’

test was shown to be unreliable. A
GC-MS test found no trace of any
explosive chemicals. Photographic
evidence proved that the suspects
had been beaten up in order to
make them confess. Sadly, it took
16 years to get back to court.

Appeal verdict: not guilty

T here are some kinds of crime that don’t have
a crime scene. For example, thieves can steal
money from peoples’ bank accounts over the
internet. A letter or a phone call can be criminal,
if it’s a death threat. Criminals called forgers can
make fake money and try to spend it.
These crimes can still be solved. Some forensic
experts can find clues in paper and ink, including
money. Others find clues by following a trail of
evidence left behind on paper documents and
computer files.
THE PAPER TRAIL

All paper money is printed in special and highly

secure factories called mints. It is designed to be
Banks keep a list of al
impossible to copy but criminals still like to try.
the important features Luckily for the police, there are usually a
of real paper money so
number of obvious ways to tell whether a
a* that they can spot
'm

fakes. These genuine

banknote or bill is real or not.
Euros can be used in 12
different countries. Every banknote in the world has Special printing techniques
a unique serial number. mean that money cannot
be photocopied or
scanned onto a
computer.

>S&‘i

,BCt bcb

A thin strip of metal is squeezed

between the layers.

Forensic accounting
Many notes are printed
Banks keep a record of the money that goes
using ink that changes
shade when light shines on into and out of every account. If a criminal
it at different angles. steals money electronically, it can be traced
using these records. Accountants follow a trail
that can reveal the criminals address, and shows
where they have spent the stolen money.
 THE PAPER TRAIL

Accountants are also called in to help with a

crime almost as old as murder - tax evasion.
Host people pay tax to the government
depending on how much they earn. But some i In the 1920s. gangster Al
w
people try to hide their money so that they don’t
■M
Capone led a wave of
crime in Chicago. USA. *
have to pay as much tax as they should. but the police couldn't

Anyone suspected of doing this can be

find enough evidence to $
arrest him. Then. In 1931.
investigated by accountants. They search a forensic accountant

computer and paper files to work out how found Capone's private
ledger. He proved in court
much how a person earns and how much tax
that Capone had not
they should pay. Anyone not paying enough can been paying his taxes.

be fined or even arrested. Capone went to prison.

Whose signature?
Pretending to be someone else, known as fraud,
can be a serious crime. Criminals don’t have to
be great actors to do this. They just need to
produce a document signed in someone else's
name. This is an easy way to get someone else’s
money. To foil this crime, detectives ask expert
document examiners to check suspicious papers.

This letter has a signature at the bottom Most people's signatures look a little different
that the police know is genuine. each time they sign something. This signature
comes from a suspicious document. Could it be
A document examiner has too similar to the original?
overlaid the two signatures.
It looks as if the suspect
signature was traced -
so it's a forgery.
THE PAPER TRAIL

£** W3M
Experts also examine the way each letter has
been formed and joined together. Certain
features tend to be the same each time a
As well as checking the
4 person writes or signs something. For example,
m handwriting, experts can ^
also examine the paper W' left- and right-handed people often move their
and ink used. pens in different directions when writing. Also,
Shining certain kinds of
the writing of an older person can be a lot
light onto a document
can show when it has
more spidery than a younger persons, making it
P
been tampered with. hard for them to forge each other accurately.

There are at least three common ways to

write a capital letter 'E'. Look at the examples
below and see which one you think best
matches this sample.

This image shows the

date on a person's
driving license.

Looking at where the pen has been lifted off the paper, the
middle sample seems to be the best match. In real life, experts
will look for many other details, using a microscope. They will
compare a suspect sample with at least six genuine samples.

Hidden in paper
Writing with a pen doesn't just leave an ink
Under ultraviolet light,
mark. It also leaves an impression on the piece
its easy to see that part
of the date was written of paper, and if there were other sheets
in a different kind of ink. underneath, there will be impressions on them,
It s possible that the
too. You can sometimes see these kinds of
owner has tampered with
it to make himself or impressions by tilting the paper up to the light.
herself older or younger A machine called an Electro-Static Detection
- a type of fraud.
P Apparatus (ESDA) can display these impressions
even if they’re very faint.

78
 THE PAPER TRAIL

7 •tr Cf i*x t*

6 ■&*/ Au*i a+iJ /*/

Y ht /✓
/h Yc
r

In normal light, it's possible to see the writing ESDA can highlight the impressions and
impressions on this blank sheet of paper, but produce a clear printout. This is part of a
they are too faint to read. ransom letter written by a kidnapper.

A criminal who burns away any written evidence

about his crime might not think to burn a GRIME FACT v
whole pad of blank paper. ESDA can help
detectives to find all kinds of clues left on blank
In 1991 in the East 0
-M
Midlands. UK. a man
pads found at a crime scene, such as a name or went into a bank and *
phone number. handed over a note. It
said he'd shoot
If the impressions found on a pad of paper
match up with writing on a suspicious
someone if he wasn't 0
given money. The

document, such as a death threat, then the $ robber went out with
*
his loot, but he left the
owner of the pad will have some difficult
note behind.
questions to answer. 0
A document expert
checked the note using
0
$ ESDA. and found
impressions of a long
list of drinks. Police
$ officers went to a store
*
near to the bank, and
People still use signatures as a way to keep
documents official. But it’s becoming more 0 the manager recognized
the list as a customer's $
common to store important information on a order. Armed with his

computer, and to use electronic protection such

0 address, the police
$
arrested the customer,
as passwords or Personal Identification Numbers who soon confessed.

(PINs) to keep things safe.

THE PAPER TRAIL

Over the last two decades, a new kind of crime

has become all too common - electronic fraud.
People who know how to use computers,
# Microchips from all especially the Internet, can pretend to be other
d kinds of things can be
analyzed by experts * people. They hack into personal computers to
steal information, and can use this to log into a
"3 iiiiii,
p persons bank account and take all their money.

I Forensic computer scientists have to stay one

step ahead of computer criminals. Luckily, there
5
Digital cameras
contain memory chips
0 is often plenty of evidence for them to examine.
Every time a person uses any computer, a record
$ that might reveal a
is stored on that computers hard drive to show
suspect's face or friends
what commands were given, and when. To most
$
people, these commands are a string of
gibberish, but experts can understand them.
$ Even when the memory on a computer is
PrilltfliS and deleted, the information can still be found
photocopiers have a
memory chip that can be
t inside, until new information is put into the
used to reprint the last computer, or if it is physically destroyed.
few documents. $ Scientists can examine a computers circuits to
identify the most recent instructions, and they
I can sometimes recover the most recently
deleted files. Searching through data to try to
I find useful evidence is a science in itself, known
as information retrieval.
0 Credit cards have a
chip that records where t Other kinds of forensic computer experts
and when they have
spend their time on the Internet. They can
0 been used.
i monitor suspicious or illegal websites to find

0 out who is running them. They can also examine

suspects’ computers to see what websites they
have been looking at, for example to find out if
0
they are part of a terrorist group.
 THE PAPER TRAIL

Thy hapless thief

Many modern phones are equipped with a Global Positioning System
(GPS) receiver. This is a chip that the owner can activate to tell
them exactly where they are in the world. It also makes for a handy
way to search for a phone if it goes missing, as US ambassador John
Beyrle discovered in a Bulgarian airport in 2005...

HEY! I CANT
SEEM TO FINP
MY PHONE. ,

/ I PONT N
REMEMBER SEEING
IT WHEN I CHECKEP
YOUR BAG, SIR.

HARP LUCK,'
SON. NOW
HANP IT OVER!
M ost criminal investigations have two main
aims: to find out who committed a crime,
and to find enough proof to secure a conviction
in a court of law.
Physical traces such as blood can prove that a
person was in a particular place at a particular
time, but it can't show what they were doing
there. It's easier for lawyers if they have
evidence that shows a person’s face, or describes
a person's character. This helps juries to decide
whether someone is guilty or innocent.
 CRIMINAL IDENTITY

An easy way to prove that someone was at the

scene of a crime is to find video footage from $" CAMERA FACT,
the right time and place. A really lucky detective Public buildings often
might even find the suspect actually committing I
the crime on that video.
use CCTV cameras to
record everyone who 0
i enters and leaves.
Cameras are found in all types of places l
nowadays: inside banks, shops and even along
CCTV stands for closed-
circuit television. These 0
cameras send their
busy roads. Many people use their mobile
signal to a television in
phones to take pictures and videos. Anyone seen *
a specific place. A
in a photograph or video at the time a crime security guard can watch

happened might be able to help the police. But what the camera sees $

video and photo evidence can be falsified, so its I while it is recording.

0
important for the police to check it carefully.

Most recordings are stored for several days before

being deleted. They often display the exact time and
date that the video footage was taken.

An expert will check the video

footage to look for a picture
that shows the whole of the
person s face.

Computers can clean up grainy

video images. Then it's easier
This man has been caught on camera stealing from a handbag. to identify the person.
CRIMINAL IDENTITY

Along with video footage, recordings of a

persons voice can be used to prove their guilt.
When someone speaks into a microphone, a
computer can translate the sound of their voice
This is a voice print of a into a graph called a voice print. Even people
person speaking a short
who sound very similar have different voice
sentence. The height of the
lines shows the pitch. How
prints. Expert analysts can match up the graph
close together the lines are of a suspects voice with a recording of a voice
shows the tone.
that relates to a crime - for example a
kidnappers telephone call.

A persons identifying features don’t only show

• forfjsic fact up in outward things such as their face or voice.
They are also buried inside people’s minds. The
Psychologists often
examine criminals to see way a person behaves is a unique marker, so a
if they have a mental criminal can be found out by their habits.
$ illness.
If someone commits a
Psychologists are scientists who study the
crime because they are human mind. Forensic psychologists study the
$ ill. they may be sent to
a hospital, not to
personalities of people who commit crimes.
Some criminals commit the same kind of
prison.
However, most crimes crime time and again, and they tend to use the
are committed by sane same methods each time. Police use the latin
people.
phrase modus operondi (often shortened to
MO) to describe this habit. It simply means

84
 CRIMINAL IDENTITY

jggsr j§g§F $$$? Jgi

way of working. Detectives can recognize a
criminals MO based on the time and place Crime scene:
the crime occured, and any evidence left by the killpr around town
tools that were used. Six murders have been

A forensic psychologist can analyze what an reported in this town.

Detectives are trying to
MO reveals about the criminal involved. Along
work out if they are
with any other evidence from a crime scene, connected. Information from

they can put together a "personality profile” of the scene of each crime
might reveal clues about the
the criminal. This profile can include accurate
killer or killers.
guesses about their height and weight, as well
i| Bodies discovered
as things about their character and lifestyle.
Weapon found
Forensic psychologists are often the last people
Known crime scene
to get called in to solve a case. When the police
are baffled by a series of crimes that seem to i| Victims' homes

be related, a psychologist can help them to

guess what kind of person to look for.
The bodies were all found close
together, and in out of the way
All the victims were attacked
spots. The killer probably
near their offices. Psychologists
has a car to carry the
guess from this that the killer
bodies away in.
followed them for a few days
before deciding the best
time to attack.

The victims lived all

Likely murder weapons were around the town. It's likely the
found discarded close to the killer lived somewhere near
scene of three attacks. the middle of the town.

85
CRIMINAL IDENTITY

POLYGRAPH FACT
Police officers are trained to interview witnesses
and suspects. This is often called an
interrogation. Interrogators have to guess
whether or not a person is lying to them, and
then try to make them tell the truth.
e subject' of Psychologists have observed that peoples
the polygraph test
bodies react in different ways when they tell
is connected to a
machine that monitors
lies. They sweat more, and their heart beats
their body during the faster. Polygraphs or lie-detector' machines can
interrogation. Their
measure how a persons body reacts during an
reactions are drawn on
a long graph.
interrogation. Experts can watch these responses
to see if a person is lying.
The green line measures The blue line show how The red line measures
breathing rate. much a person is sweating. heart rate.

A large blip in one or more of Sometimes people taking the test are so nervous
the graphs can indicate a lie -
that their bodies show a strong reaction even
or it might just mean the
person was suddenly nervous when they’re telling the truth. Lie-detector tests
or in pain. are not perfect, and are only rarely used in
court. But they are still useful to interrogators.
Crime-solving scientists No. 3
Secrets in the brain
Name: Dr. Lawrence Farwell
Base of operations: United States of America, present day
Occupation: psychologist
Methods: Farwell invented the concept of brain
fingerprinting. Whenever a person recognizes something,
their brain releases electrical impulses known as P300 brain
waves. These can be recorded by connecting an EEG machine
to a person’s head while showing them pictures.
Recent case: Omaha, Nebraska, 2001.
Grime: 1977 murder of John Schweer, security guard.
Chief suspect: Terry Harrington, teenager.
Case history: Harrington claimed he had been at a rock
concert, but one of his friends was a witness and
said he had seen Harrington shoot Schweer.
Verdict: guilty
Forensic breakthrough: in 2000,
Farwell showed Harrington photos
from the crime scene, and from the
concert. His brain only released
P300 brain waves when he saw
photos from the concert. His
friend also admitted that he had
lied in court to save himself.
Appeal verdict: not guilty
Sometimes the mind can be manipulated to make a person do
something they normal!) uldn’t. In Denmark in 1951, an
astonishif me b e criminal psychologist Dr. Max Schmidt
The case of Palle Hardrup and the hypnotist...
FALLS, MY FRIEND, FOCUS YES, MR. OUR GOVERNMENT IS CORRUPT AND
your eves on the image NIELSEN.. WE MUST BRING IT DOWN BY SOWING
I HOLD BEFORE YOU. DISORDER. WE'LL BEGIN WITH YOU
ROBBING THE BANK TOMORROW.

THIS IS A STICK-
UP! GIVE ME ALL
YOUR MONEY/
 TEN MINUTES LATER. STOP WAIT; THERE'S A SUN IN MV
THIEF! BASKET! I MUST BE THE THIEF
HUH? WHERE AM !? ^ ARREST ME, OFFICER!
WHAT'S ALL THIS
STUFF? j

OH WELL, IV
BETTER SO
HOME TO MY
MOTHER. /

A PSYCHOLOSIST WHAT PO YOU THINK, PR

WAS SUMMONEP TO ^ SCHMIPT? ^
EXAMINE PALLE.

THIS AAAN IS FAR TOO ^

TIMIP TO HAVE PONE THIS KINP OF
ROBBERY ON HIS OWN. I BELIEVE HE
WAS WORKINS WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

THE POLICE NOW PALLE, TELL ME

BROUSHT IN ABOUT THIS MAN. PIP HE
BJORN HELP YOU COMMIT THE
NIELSEN, A V ROBBERY? ^
KNOWN FRIENP
OF PALLE'S.

PR. SCHMIPT SOON

REAUZEP THAT NIELSEN
WAS HYPNOTIZINS
PALLE. SIMPLY MAKINS
AN 'X' SHAPE PUT
Y WHY, IT'S \ PALLE INTO A TRANCE.
MR. NIELSEN. I HAVEN'T IN THIS STATE, HE
WOULP PO ANYTHINS
SEEN HIM FOR A LONS TIME.
HE HAP NOTHINS TO PO WITH HE WAS TOLP.
THE BANK ROBBERY, NOTHINS
NIELSEN WAS SENT TO
AT ALL. OH NO, QUITE THE
PRISON FOR THE CRIME.
OPPOSITE...
Stories of crime-solving science go back as far as ancient Rome and
ancient China. But, since the start of the 19th century, detectives have
paid close attention to advances in science. Here are some of the key
scientific breakthroughs that have made it easier to solve crimes.

Spanish doctor Mathieu Orfila develops the first tests

that can find traces of blood at a crime scene.
Some scientists have spent
their lives helping to solve Scottish chemist James Marsh uses a test to identify
hundreds of crimes... arsenic, and proves in court that a man was
murdered by this deadly poison.

French doctor Bergeret d'Arbois pioneers forensic

entomology by proving that a body covered in insects
had been dead for many months.

French detective Alphonse Bertillon invents the

system of recording photographs and noting down
the physical details of all arrested suspects.

Mathieu Orfila (1787-1853) Austrian magistrate Hans Gross writes a book

solved many murders by explaining how to gather evidence at a crime scene.
identifying traces of poison in
the bodies. Argentinian detective Juan Vucetich becomes
the first policeman to arrest a suspect based on
fingerprint evidence.

French professor Alexandre Lacassagne first notices

that bullets have unique markings on them caused
by rifling in a gun barrel.

German serologist Max Richter develops a simple test

to show which blood type a bloodstain belongs to.

Alexandre Lacassagne (1843- German geologist Georg Popp solves a murder by

1924) was the first to find clues analyzing traces of minerals found on a handkerchief.
in blood patterns, as well as in
bullet striations. French doctor Victor Balthazard is the first to analyze
striations and firing-pin marks accurately.
French detective Edmund Locard sets up the world's
first crime lab at the University of Lyon. France.

American medical student John Larson designs the

first polygraph machine.

American investigator Luke May solves a kidnapping

by examining matching knife marks under a
microscope.

Scottish pathologist John Glaister records the

Hans Gross (1847-1915),
differences between many kinds of human and
often called the father of
animal hair.
criminalistics, invented the crime
scene evidence kit, and wrote
American sleuth Frances Glessner Lee helps solve a
the first book on forensics.
number of crimes by reconstructing crime scenes
using miniature models.

Swiss criminalist Max Frei Sulzer invents the 'lifting'

method of collecting small clues from crime scenes.

American psychologist James Brussel helps catch the

mad bomber' who had been terrorizing New York by
drawing up an accurate personality profile.

Canadian chemist Doug Lucas uses gas

John Glaister (18921971)
chromatography to identify different types of
was the first doctor to show
accelerant.
how to examine a corpse to
determine the time of death.
Japanese fingerprint examiners Matsumur and Soba
develop the use of superglue to detect latent prints.

British engineers Foster and Freeman build the first

Electro-Static detection Apparatus (ESDA).

British scientist Alec Jeffreys develops the first

method for creating a DNA profile.

American doctor John Coe discovers that the amount

of potassium in a dead person's eyes increases at a
steady rate. Henry Lee (19381) is a
Chinese American scientist who
In Britain, the world's first DNA database is opened, has appeared as an expert
collecting DNA profiles from all convicted criminals. witness at over 1.000 trials.
In this book there are many words that are often used when
talking about crime, detection and court cases. Here, you can
find out what they mean.

accelerant Any chemical that can start from a crime scene that can be
fires and explosions quickly, linked to pieces found on a suspect,
appeal A trial that challenges an old latent Describes evidence that is hard
verdict often using new evidence, to find; often exposed using chemical
ballistics The study of how bullets fly, sprays or special lights,
also used to describe gun analysis, polygraph A machine that measures
criminal investigation Examining a persons reactions; sometimes
evidence to try to solve a crime, known as a lie-detector,
database A long list, often on a profile A report on a person that
computer, that holds information, describes different characteristics,
decomposed When a corpse is eaten such as their DNA or their personality,
away by insects until only the bones propellant Any chemical that is used
are left. to fire a bullet from a gun.
diatoms Creatures that live in water residue Traces of chemicals,
and can only be seen under a rifling The grooves in a gun barrel,
microscope. sentence Punishment given to a
DMA The complex chemical that person found guilty after a trial.
makes each person unique, striations Marks on a used bullet,
evidence Anything that relates to a swab Item used to collect liquid
crime that can be used to help with evidence from crime scenes and
an investigation or trial. suspects.
firearms Weapons that shoot objects trace evidence Very small clues,
at high speeds, such as guns, trial When a person comes before a
flammable Anything that can catch judge in a courtroom,
fire easily. verdict The outcome of a trial, as
fragmentary evidence Broken pieces decided by a judge or jury.
ballistics expert Examines evidence OOtOliiplOgist Studies insects.
left behind by bullets and guns, Odontplpgist Finds clues from teeth
chemist Studies traces of chemicals, and bite marks.
such as suspicious gases found at the palynologist Studies pollen left by
scene of a fire or explosion, plants and trees.
psychologist Studies the mind and pathologist Doctor who performs
creates personality profiles, autopsies and finds clues from dead
dondrochronologist Finds clues bodies.
hidden in things made of wood, spfPlPgist Analyzes blood and DNA
document examiner Anlayzes clues toxicologist Looks for and analyzes
from handwriting, ink and paper. traces of poisons.

There are many different types of crimes that people commit. Here, you
can find out what they mean. In law books there are much more detailed
definitions of each type of crime.

arson Starting a fire on purpose, in for their safe return,

order to cause damage, manslaughter Killing a person by
blackmail Demanding money from accident or to protect yourself,
someone by threatening to reveal a murder Killing a person deliberately,
secret about them to the public. also called homicide,
l|Urg|ary Entering a building without rpbbery Using violence to help steal.
premission and stealing something, stealing Taking something that
fprgpry Producing fake things such as belongs to someone else, also known
artworks or money or signatures, as theft.
fraud Telling lies to help steal money, terrorism Killing people or blowing
kidnapping Taking a person and things up to make people afraid,
hiding them, then demanding money often for a political reason.
There are lots of websites with information about forensic science,
and activities to do using forensic science techniques. At the Usborne
Quicklinks Website you’ll find links to some great sites where you can:

• solve a crime using DNA evidence

• find out how to identify your own fingerprints

• read about real life criminals and how forensic scientists

helped to capture them

• explore a crime scene to look for clues

• see pictures of bullets being compared under a microscope

• watch a video about forensic entomology

For links tq th^s^? sites and more,, go tp the Usborne

Quicklinks Website at wvvyvr.usbpi’nq-quickfinks.corn and
pntpr the keywords: fprpnsie scipncp.

When using the Internet, please follow the Internet safety guidelines
shown on the Usborne Quicklinks Website. The links at Usborne
Quicklinks are regularly reviewed and updated, but Usborne
Publishing is not responsible and does not accept liability for the
content on any website other than its own. We recommend that
children are supervised while using the Internet.
accelerant 69,73,9z entomologist 44-45,4a 93 microscope. 53,54. sa 7a 91
arson, 69,93 expert witness, a 12-B, 91 modus operandi, 84-85
murder, a 9,23,35,38,42,48, sa
balliStiCS, 60-67,93 fingerprint officer.«, « sa sa 87.93
blood spatter. 2i 22.24-25,26.65 fingerprints, a M-20,33.43.90
blood. 8. a 12,16.21-27.30.33.37. fite, a 4168-70,7172 pathologist w. 39.93
40,4158,90 firearms. 60-61.92 poison. 40,4142,73,90
body, a 36-43.45.50.5159.85 forensic accounting. 76-77 pollen. 47.4a 93
bomb. 46,68,71-73,74 forgery. 7a 76.77.93 polygraph, ea 91.92
bones, 33,59 fragments, 49.54.72.92 propellant si 63.92
bullet case. 6162.64 fraud. 77.7a so. 93 psychologist 84-8a 87,89.9193
bullets. 8.24,40.4160-67.90
burglary. 16.19.25.32.93 genes. 29 rifiing.61.62.90.91
glass, a 53,54 robbery. 7a 88-89.93
camera, a so. 83 guns, a 61-67,90
Cells. 29 saliva, a 32
computer, a 15.16,75,77,79-80 hairs. 7. a si 54.91 serologist 22,2a 27,2a 3i 93
coroner. 5,39 shoes. 7.26,27.47.5a 57
crime lab, a 10. b. 33.34.53.91,92 identity. 20. n. 78,79.82-85 signature. 77
crime Scene investigator (csi). insects, a 44-46,90,93 stealing. 25. sc 83.93
4. a n, 33.4a 4a 47.53,54, sa 63.64 interrogation, 74.86 striation, 25, ai, 83.93
crime scene- 6. n-a b. 2a 27.32. syvab. 63.73.92
33.53.64-65,66,70,85.91 judge, a 12-B, 29.34
jury, a 29.34.67.82 teeth, a 4a sa 57.94
terrorism, ea 74,93
defendant a 12 kidnapping, sa 93 time of death. 36-37.91
DNA.27.28-3a43.4a92 trace evidence. 7.53,54,5a 90.92
document examiner. 77-79,93 latent K-i7.26,92 trial, a 7.12-B. 93
dpgS, 46.70 |ayvyer.ai2-B.29,39.67

voice prints. 84
Electro-Static Detection magnifying glass. 53
Apparatus (ESDA). 78-79.91 manslaughter. 66-67.93 wood. 49.69

95
Additional consultancy: Hike Gorn, LGC Forensics: Hike Allen, Document Evidence.
Source material for true crime stories taken from the following books:
Written in Blood by Colin and Damon Wilson, Constable & Robinson Ltd. 2003:
The Casebook of Forensic Detection by Colin Evans, John Riley <3 Sons 1996.
Digital imaging: Nick Wakeford. Gallery artwork on p25 and p2 7: Jonathan Chen,
Kimberley Chen and Natalie Chen.
Additional editorial material: Anna Claybourne, Louie Stowell

Photo Credits
Key: (bd) background: (t) top: (b) bottom; (m) middle: (I) left; (r) right

Cover (bd) Mehau Kulyk / Science Photo Library (SPL); p6 Tek image / SPL; p8 Tek image / SPL;
p9 Andrew Lambert Photography / SPL; pi5 (tr) © Bettmann / Corbis, (b) Stephen Moncrieff; p22
(b) Ed Reschke, Peter Arnold Inc. / SPL; p23 © PhotoSpin, Inc / Alamy; p26 courtesy of Mike Gorn,
LGC Forensics; p28 CNRI / SPL; p33 Michael Donne / SPL; p34 (t) Stephen Moncrieff, equipment
courtesy of Julian Bartrup, University of Lincoln Dept, of Forensic and Biomedical Science; (bl) CBS
Photo / Robert Voets Copyright 2005 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. and Alliance Atlantis, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. Taken from the comic CSI: Secret Identity, published by www.idwpublishing.com: p35 James
King-Holmes / SPL; p36 Gusto / SPL; p37 (r) Graeme Montgomery / Getty Images, (br) © Hemera
Technologies / Alamy; p39 (b) © Julie Plasencia / San Francisco Chronicle / Corbis; p40 (tl) ©
Royalty-Free / Corbis; p4i (tr) Biophoto Associates / SPL, (br) © Hemera Technologies / Alamy;
p42 Martin Dohrn / SPL; p43 (b) EMPICS / PA; p44 Dr. Keith Wheeler / SPL; p45 (bl and bm) Eye
of Science / SPL, (br) Volker Steger / SPL; p46 Mauro Fermariello / SPL; p4 7 (m) © SuperStock /
Alamy; p48 David Scharf / SPL; p49 © graficart.net / Alamy; p54 (tl) © Mikael Karlsson / Alamy,
(mlx2 ) Eye of Science / SPL, (bl) Andrew Syred / SPL; p55 © Mikael Karlsson / Alamy; p56 (b) ©
Pedro Luz Cunha / Alamy; p57 courtesy of Foster <3 Freeman; p63 © Getty Images; p68 © epa /
Corbis; p69 © sciencephotos / Alamy; p7I (br) Nicholas Veasey / Getty Images; p72 © Reuters /
Corbis; p74 Charles D. Winters / SPL; p7 5 courtesy of Foster <3 Freeman; p76 © Dennis Galante /
Corbis; p77 © Bettmann / Corbis; p78 (1) courtesy of Foster <3 Freeman; p79 (tl and r) courtesy of
Foster <3 Freeman; p82 © Image Source / Alamy; p86 (tl) Tek image / SPL; p87 SPL

First published in 2007 by Usborne Publishing Ltd, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC IN 8RT.

www.usborne.com

Copyright © 2007 Usborne Publishing Ltd. The name Usborne and the devices^©are Trade Marks
of Usborne Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in China.
UE. First published in America 2007.
 Great detectives can use logic and intuition to solve crimes,
but often that’s not enough. That’s when they turn to scientists
tor help. Forensic scientists use an astonishing variety of
techniques to reveal exactly who committed a crime- This book
describes how different evidence - from blood to blowflies - is
used to catch even the smartest crooks. And you can read
exciting true-crime comic strips that show how
scientists have foiled criminals time and time again.

www.usborne.com

ISBN 978074605756-8

£8.99
ISBN 978 07460 57568
JF AMJJASOND/07 9 780746 057568
Made with paper from a sustainable source