Introduction Geoscience PDF

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Summary

History and development of geoscience laboratories, Soil analysis, Simulated “hidden” graves, Forensic botany, Forensic entomology , Traffic accident reconstruction...

Description

Introduction    

Application of geological and wider environmental science information and methods to investigations which may come before a court of law. It is principally concerned with studies of rocks, sediments, minerals, soils, and dusts, using both data analysis and non-invasive geophysical techniques. Primarily separated into either search or trace evidence. A multi-disciplinary area, where specialists tend to stick into one specific area.

History and development of geoscience laboratories 1980’s – Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes looking at soil. 1893 –Hans Gross published a geoscience handbook. 1904 – George Popp in the Eva Disch case where Hornblende soil mineral linked to a suspect. 1978 – Aldo Mora, ex-Italian PM kidnapped and murdered, beach samples planted by kidnappers. 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, blown up on a yacht by IRA, sand and paint flakes used as evidence. 1992 –Stephanie Slater, ransom note attached to brick, matched to delivery at 2 Birmingham streets. Ian Huntley –  Car linked to Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman’s discovery site.  Rock (chalk) fragments found in his car arch, contained specific micro -fossils linked to a specific area in Suffolk where crime scene in ditch was located.  Botanical evidence recovered from car showed two phases of visits to the crime scene to leave/burn the bodies and then to revisit. A NZ case study (conductivity) –  Nobes (2000) paper details geophysical surveys to look for “Yvonne” missing for 12 years.  Large, wooded, survey area.  Did pinpoint anomalies which were investigated.  Body was recovered.

Soil analysis –  

All soil is unique, divided by “O”, “A”, “B”, “C” and bedrock horizons. Comprises of varied amounts and distributions of surface vegetation, natural materials, lithic fragments, and manmade materials. Can be very specific to a certain area, especially when there are exotic materials.

Peter Tobin case –    

GPR survey of a domestic property in Margate. Reports of previous owner digging. Police undertook GPR survey to image any near-surface sites of interest that may indicate a burial. Found remains of Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNichol, both missing since 1991, and a fingerprint on the remains and sentenced for murder.

“Lady in the lake” – sandstone     

Female skeleton found in lake. Matched to disappearance 20 years before. No DNA evidence. Unusual sandstone cobbles weighed down victim that matched samples taken from the husband’s garden. Classic mineral assemblage analysis. Samples from the garden used for conviction.

Simulated “hidden” graves –

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Human cadavers cannot be used in the UK due to the 2005 Human Tissue Act for research on burials, so use resin skeletons or animal “proxy” carcasses –often pigs due to similarities to human cadavers. Used for research purposes to estimate time since death (decomposition studies), signature traces of burials and geophysical studies. Area where there is a pig burial surveyed every two weeks for six months and once a month thereafter, readings at 0.25 XY intervals with soil and water samples obtained from second grave and control locations. Underwater search – 60% of burials are in water, Piper Malibu aircraft crash was a case of this where geophysics was used to find the missing bodies.

Forensic botany –     

Applications of information from plants to answer questions in legal investigations. Plant locality, seasonality and life cycle are all important. Important to sample surrounding vegetation. Plant cells in GI tract may trace last steps or origin. Dendrology also used to roughly date burials (using the rings in a tree above a burial).

Forensic entomology –  

Use of insect evidence to answer questions pertaining to legal issues. Identify time since death, season, geographical location, movement/storage, specific sites of trauma, sexual molestation and use of drugs.

Traffic accident reconstruction – Remote sensing shows all evidence and can prove immense evidential value and the blanket documentation is robust in court. Art fraud –Mikhail Larionov study –    

1985 discovery of 1,500 Larionov pastels and drawings – an early 20 century Russian painter. McCrone Associates analysed two samples, finding titanium white in rutile material form, which artists began using in the 1940’s. Absence of barium sulphate put the date in the 1950’s. Samples were fakes as too late to be painted. th...