Bad Blood A Crime Scene Investigators Nightmare Jessica
Bad Blood: A Crime Scene Investigator’s Nightmare Jessica Alexander [1]
Overview • What is Blood Spatter? • History • Classifications of Blood stains • Patterns of Blood • How Blood Spatter is Analyzed • Chemical Test for Latent Blood • Blood Spatter Case Study [2]
Spatter vs. Splatter Bug Splatter Blood Spatter [3] [4]
What is Blood Spatter? • Examination of the shapes, locations and distribution patters of bloodstains • General or class characteristic science
History • 1894 -Pitoroski wrote earliest reference to blood spatter • 1939 -Balthazard first researcher to analyze the meaning of spattern • 1954 -blood spatter evidence in Sam Sheppard case • 1971 -Dr. Herbert Mc. Donnell used blood spatter analysis as a tool in forensic examination
Properties of Blood • Projectile in motion • Gravity-pulls it to the center of earth • Cohesion-attraction between similar blood mixtures • Adhesion-attractive forces of two different objects • Surface Tension-elastic property of the liquid making it contract
Classifications of Bloodstains • Low-Velocity Impact • Created by blood dripping or cast off from a weapon • Force with a velocity up to 5 ft/sec [5]
Classifications of Bloodstains • Medium-Velocity Impact • Caused by beating with a blunt object • Force with a velocity of 5 -25 ft/sec. [5]
Classifications of Bloodstains • High-Velocity Impact • Force with a velocity greater than 100 ft/sec. [5]
Patterns of Blood • Passive Drop • Blood falling at 90° • Only one force acting on the blood • Drop accelerates until reaching terminal velocity • Surface effects impact • Smooth/non-porous surfaces • Rough surfaces • Satellite Spatter-the small drops that surround a central drop Smooth Surface Impact Rough Surface Impact [6]
Patterns of Blood • Arterial Spurting • Typically found on walls or ceilings • Distinctive physical characteristics [7]
Patterns of Blood • Splashes • Large central areas with peripheral spatters • Movement of the victim or assailant • Large volumes of blood (>1 m. L) falling from a source [8]
Patterns of Blood • Smears • Bleeding victim touching or brushing against a wall or furniture • See direction victim is moving [9]
Patterns of Blood • Trails • Bleeding victim moving • Show movement or location of discarded weapon • Help determine the direction and speed the person was moving [10]
Patterns of Blood • Pools • Accumulation of blood on a particular surface • No body + pool of blood = estimate of death [11]
Patterns of Blood • Gunshot Spatter • Characterized by fine mist of blood • Forward spatter • Back spatter • Drawback effect
Gunshot Spatter [12]
Cast-off Spatter • Blood covered object flings blood onto a nearby surface • Evidence from cast-off spatter • Position of victim • Direction the weapon traveled • Approximate height of attacker • Determine attacker’s handedness • Type of weapon [13]
Cast-off Spatter-Weapon Comparison [14]
Cast-off Spatter-Handedness Comparison Right Hand Left Hand Mixture
Analysis • The direction of travel • The angle of impact • The area of convergence • The point of origin
Direction of Travel • 90° impact = circular drop • <90° impact = elongated or elliptical drop • This creates a tail [15]
Determining the Angle of Impact • [16]
Examples of Angles [17]
Area of Convergence • Point on a 2 -D plane • Long axis of drops + direction of travel = area of convergence [18]
Point of Origin • Point on a 3 -D plane • Found after angle of impact and/or area of convergence [16]
Chemical Tests for Blood - Luminol • Hemoglobin • Complex multi-step process • Dependent on many things
Chemical Tests for Blood - Luminol
Chemical Tests for Blood - Luminol • Advantages • Disadvantages [19]
Chemical Tests for Blood - Blue. Star • Same reaction as luminol • Luminol vs. Blue. Star • Advantages • Disadvantages [20] [21]
Blue. Star Demonstration Cleaned with Water Not Cleaned with Bleach
Sam Sheppard, 1954 • Convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to life in prison • Appeals court found him not guilty, 1966 • DNA and Blood spatter analysis exonerated him, 2000 [22]
Lindy Chamberlain, 1980 • “A dingo ate my baby” • Accused of infanticide • Follow-up investigation, 1981 • Turning point in the case, 1986 • Government involvement, 2010 • Case resolved, 2012 [23]
References • Barni, F. ; Lewis, S. ; Berti, A. ; Miskelly, G. ; Lago, G. Forensic Application of the Luminol Reaction as a Presumptive Test for Latent Blood Detection. Talanta. 2007, 72, 896 -913. • Bevel, T. , Gardner, R. M. Blood Pattern Analysis, Second Edition; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL 2002. • Crime Museum. https: //www. crimemuseum. org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/sam-sheppard/ (accessed April 21, 2019). Sam Sheppard Case. • De. Sario, J. P. ; Mason, W. D. Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial: The Prosecutors and the Marilyn Sheppard Murder, The Kent State University Press: Ashland, 2003. • Di. Carlo, A. ; Jasra, S. A Qualitative Evaluation of the Effect Cleaning Products Have on the Bluestar Test for Latent Blood. Journal of Emerging Forensic Sciences Reserach 2016, 1 (1), 48– 60. • James, S. H. , Kish, P. E. , Sutton, T. P. Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: Theory and Practice, CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL 2005. • Linder, D. Famous Trials. https: //famous-trials. com/legacyftrials/sheppard/evidence. html (accessed April 21, 2019). • Lyle, D. P. , M. D. “Chapter 13: Bloodstains: Patterns Tell the Story, ” Forensics: A Guide for Writers (Howdunit), Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH (2008), pp. 285– 302. • Quickenden, T. ; Cooper, P. Increasing the Specificity of the Forensic Luminol Test for Blood. Luminescence 2001, 16, 251 -253. • Reynolds, M. Bloodstain Size, Shape and Formation: Implications for Bloodstain Pattern Analyst. Master of Forensic Science/ Doctor of Philosophy, University of Western Australia, 2008. • Andrews, S. ; The Harrowing True Story Behind the “Dingo Ate My Baby” Saying. https: //www. thevintagenews. com/2018/10/01/dingo-ate-mybaby-saying/ (accessed May 28, 2019). • Wonder, A. Y. Blood dynamics; Acad. Press: San Diego, 2001.
Picture References 1. https: //stock. adobe. com/search? filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Aphoto%5 D=1&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Aillustration%5 D=1&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Azip_vector%5 D=1&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Avideo%5 D=1&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Atemplate%5 D=1&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 A 3 d%5 D=1&filters%5 Binclude_stock_enterpri se%5 D=0&filters%5 Bis_editorial%5 D=0&filters%5 Bcontent_type%3 Aimage%5 D=1&k=blood+spatter&order=relevance&safe_search=1&search_page=2&get_facets=0 &search_type=pagination&asset_id=174677137 2. https: //sagecreekoriginals. com/products/8594 -blood-splatter-b 3. https: //giphy. com/gifs/blood-dc. DLCJss. Wux. Z 6 4. https: //sarasamomx 5. com/2018/02/25/sometimes-youre-the-windshield-sometimes-youre-the-bug/ 5. https: //sites. google. com/site/bloodspatteranalysisforensics/bloodstain-pattern-analysis 6. reekoscience. com/science-experiments/miscellaneous/splatter-blood-for-blood-spatter-analysis 7. https: //cristabuscheforensics. weebly. com/arterial-spurt. html 8. https: //stock. adobe. com/ 9. https: //sites. google. com/site/crimesceneanalysis/blood-5 -transfer-bloodstains 10. https: //www. catholicconvert. com/blog/2018/11/26/trail-of-blood-do-baptists-have-a-claim-to-the-original-church/ 11. https: //www. researchgate. net/publication/51149314_Bloodstain_pattern_in_the_form_of_gushing_in_a_case_of_fatal_exsanguination_due_to_ruptured_varicose _vein/figures? lo=1 12. https: //www. ifscolorado. com/bloodstain-pattern-analysis/ 13. https: //bloodspatteranalysis. weebly. com/about. html 14. http: //www. forensicsciencesimplified. org/blood/principles. html 15. https: //www. bloodspatter. com/bloodstain-tutorial-page-2 16. https: //sites. google. com/site/sqbloodspatter/Home/what-does-blood-drops-tell-us/blood-spatter-interpretation/angle-of-impact 17. https: //bloodanddna. weebly. com/blood-splatter. html 18. https: //www. bloodspatter. com/bloodstain-tutorial-page-3 19. www. dudeiwantthat. com/gear/novelty/luminol-spray. asp 20. www. bluestar-forensic. com/ 21. https: //atlasofscience. org/from-crime-scene-to-crime-lab-potential-interactions-between-blood-detection-methods/ 22. https: //www. crimemuseum. org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/sam-sheppard/ 23. https: //www. thevintagenews. com/2018/10/01/dingo-ate-my-baby-saying/
Thank You! Questions? [1]
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