Friday, December 2, 2011

The Crime Scene!

Crime Scene Analysis:
Each class was split into three crime scenes where each group has to analyze all their clues...

Identify a victim and perpetrator from the given list of people...

And create a narrative telling the occurrences of the crime by using the analysis of the clues as main details.

Crime Scene #3

Exhibit 1: Black High Heel
-Worn sole
-Unbuckled










Exhibit 2: Note
-“Someone, please help me"
-Cursive
-looped letters
-big "S", “H", “I"
-Matches Tyese Jefferson



 

Exhibit 2a: Note
-“You will never find her"
-female victim
-straight letters(not curved)
-Matches Smoky Johnson







Exhibit 3: Fingerprint
-plain whorl
-Matches Smoky Johnson










Exhibit 3a: Fingerprint
  -Ulnar loop
  -Matches Tyese Jefferson














Exhibit 4: Earring
-Gold hoop














Exhibit 5: Fabric
-Green Nylon(compared to nylon sample)





















Exhibit 6: Possible Poison
-Contains Iodine(tested with starch)
-harmful to people with thyroid problems= Tyese Jefferson








Exhibit 7: Footprint
-Male print
-Diamond pattern impression
-10cm x 30cm









Exhibit 8: Blood
-Type A+
-Type matches Tyese Jefferson











Exhibit 9: Hair
-Black female hair(compared to other hair samples)
-most likely belongs to Tyese Jefferson







Exhibit 10: Lifted Print
-Thumb print
-Ulnar loop
-Matches Tyese Jefferson








Final decision:





 
Narrative:
Tyese Jefferson and Smoky Johnson are ex-lovers, but when he became violent Tyese put a restraining order out against him. Smoky devised a plan to get revenge against Tyese for leaving him. First he got a job driving a food delivery truck to the school where Tyese is a counselor. Smoky knew that Tyese has thyroid problems and that she loves sweet tea, so he poisoned the sweet tea container with iodine before delivering it to the school cafeteria. Sure enough Tyese had a daily dose of the poison and often took an extra cup of the tea home with her (which is where we found it and tested it with starch. Slowly Tyese got sicker and sicker as smoky waited for her to die. Unfortunately Smoky is a very impatient person so when he noticed Tyese leaving the school early he saw his opportunity and followed her home. Tyese parks in her garage and enters through the back sliding door where she leaves a print. She forgets to lock the door behind her and walks into her bedroom to get ready for a nap, but not before she hears yelling and knocking at the front door. She recognizes Smoky’s voice and warns him to stay away. He runs to the back of the house where he finds the sliding glass door unlocked where he leaves a print on the door and enters the house. In a panic Tyese scribbles a note saying, "Someone, please help me" and proceeds to exit through her bedroom window, where one of her shoes falls off and she leaves a fingerprint. She is on the brink of escape when Smoky grabs her foot and yanks her back into the house, where he grabs her by her hair. He manages to pull out some of her hair along with one of her earrings and then slams her head on the window sill where her blood in left (we matched her blood type to the A+ blood sample in the house).Smoky sees the note that Tyese wrote and decides to write one saying, "You will never find her" but changes his mind and tears both notes and throws them away (both notes where analyzed and matched to Tyese and Smoky). Smoky then takes Tyese’s body to the backyard where he buries her under the shed, but not before leaving a footprint in the newly toiled dirt. Smoky then exits the scene leaving his ex-girlfriend to lie amongst the earthworms.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Poison Analysis

1) What is the definition of poison?
·         A substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, causes death or injury, esp. one that kills by rapid action.

2) Common poison sources
·         Gases
·         Anti-freeze
·         Food
·         Pesticides
·         Drinks
·         Medication
·         Venom
·         Cyanide
·         Plants
·         Metals
·         Sugar
·         Household chemicals
·         Iodine

3) How do crime labs handle poison cases? What are some signs of poisoning?
·         Scientists in labs can use several different chemicals and indicators to identify different types of poisons, such as:
o   KSCN to test for iron
o   KI to test for lead
o   Acid to test for Chromate
o   FE+3 to test for Cyanide
o   Starch to test for Iodine
·         Some signs of poisoning are:
o   Pupil dilation
o   Drooling
o   Dry Mouth
o   Altered heart rate
o   Altered breathing rate
o   Hyperactivity
o   Drowsiness
o   Rashes
o   Confusion
o   Hallucinations
o   Cardiac arrest

Poison Identification Activity
1. Metals- if metals are ingested or put into the bloodstream it can be fatal to the recipient.

.5 M KSCN
KI
Acid
1
Negative

Positive for Lead
Negative

2
Positive for Iron
Negative

Negative

3
Negative

Negative

Negative










2. Sugar- sugar can be very harmful especially if the person has diabetes.



1
2
3
Benedict
Solution
Negative

Negative

Negative








3. Ammonia- is a household chemical that can make someone go unconscious and when combined with bleach inhaling would be fatal.

Odor
pH less > 7
PHTH is purple/pink
1
Positive

Positive(11)
Positive
2
Negative

Positive (8.5)

Negative

3
Negative

Positive (8.5)
Negative





4. Aspirin- if a large amount of aspirin is ingested the acid in the medicine can cause great harm to the body possibly ending in overdose.

pH <7
BTB is yellow
1
Positive (5)
Negative
2
Positive (6)
Negative
3
Positive (2)
Positive
 



5. Cyanide- is an odorless poison that when ingested is fatal.


Turns red w/ FE+3
1
Negative
2
Negative
3
Positive




6. Iodine- can be harmful to the body especially for people with thyroid problems.
 

Blue w/ Starch
1
Negative
2
Negative
3
Positive