About This Site
This BLOG was created to provide information about forensics to crime writers and readers alike. While I make every effort to explain these issues well they are complex. In order to keep the articles concise I may not cover all aspects of a particular topic. Sometimes I have to break up the topics into multiple articles but they will still be fairly general. Crime scenes can be very diverse and certain forensic applications in one case may not be appropriate in another. If you have questions please forward them to me and I’ll do my best to address them as they pertain to your specific plot.
I am also interested in providing some information about how forensics might be applied in the realm of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. It should go without saying that these posts are not to be taken literally (although I will make every effort to remain true to the science). So for all you defense attorneys that might want to depose me on these topics for some trial in the future just remember that “fiction” has a definition for a reason. To the rest of you I hope you enjoy the topics and my efforts to ignite your imagination.
I’m just looking around your blog and it’s awsome. I want to be a writer and the thing about writing that I’m not a big fan of is the research part. If I ever want to write a crime novel, this blog would be a great resource. HUGE THANKS!!!
I really appreicate your comments and I hope you keep visiting. Take care, Tom
Tom, thanks for making me aware of your site. I’m going to add your link to ACWL and mention you on my blog, Facebook page and twitter. (All done under my pen name Dakota Banks.) Great information here!
Thank you Shirley, I really appreciate that.
Good morning! I’ve nominated your fine blog for the 7×7 blog award. Details can be found on my blog, Morganti Writes, at http://wp.me/pG7N3-aj
Thanks for all the great information you provide on your blog and keep writing!
That’s very nice of you Charlotte, thank you so much.
You’re very welcome. And if that link doesn’t work (someone else had a problem with it) you can find the post with the details on my blog: http://morgantiwrites.com.
And if that links doesn’t work, I will be consulting with my very techie stepson….
The link worked perfectly. Congratulations on receiving the award by the way. That is a wonderful feather in your cap!
Hello,
My daughters are doing a summer chemistry club with some other homeschooled friends and our turn is coming up to host the event. There would be about a dozen students. We’d like to do a little video on a crime (maybe who stole the cookies???) and do some ink analysis and fingerprinting. To do superglue fuming at home, do you have any suggestions? Can we place all the materials in one large container, any safety precautions you’d like to share?
Thanks for any help!
Lisa
For legal reasons I can’t recommend any procedures but if you contact you local police crime lab they should have some excellent suggestions. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
I am interested in finding out if lead residue from a gunshot that adheres to the inside of a car door would be accessible after several weeks or months for the purpose of determining calibre, etc.
Persistence is effected by a number of factors such as cleaning, exposure, physical contact, etc. so it’s possible in conditions favoring preservation but more likely it would be lost over several weeks. Also, GSR is not used to determine caliber. You would need the actual bullet or cartridge casing to determine that but your character could always find the bullet in the interior part of the door months later and then from that link back to a weapon and these issues for your novel plot.
Question. In normal December in Virginia if small child victim found dead f suffocation with plastic bag still taped over head would there be enough warmth for maggot activity? Would the rotting of the small body create enough energy/warmth to “wake up” any dormant insects roaches,maggots, beetles in a public self storage type unit? Being cold say 20 to 30 degrees at night 30 – 45 in day, would there be an obvious odor from death of victim outside unit? or inside unit?
Those are pretty cold temperatures and a dark environment so decomposition would be much slower but some insects can be active in low temperatures.
I know this might seem a bit morbid, but if a body is stripped of its biggest parts of flesh, (thighs, calves, chest, back, buttocks and arms) and all internal organs are removed, how long would the decomp take in a urban environment exposed to the weather, i.e. the body is left out in the open by a riverbed only covered by brush. I´m thinking Minneapolis and the body have been left in the late days of summer.
Considering the sinister and specific details in my question, I thought it only fitting to explain the background. The reason for asking this question is that I´m a norwegian author (aspiring) doing research. And the setting of the novel is set in Minneapolis where I lived for some time while going to the U. I fell in love with the city and the state of Minnesota and thought it the perfect setting for my books.
Here is a blog i write every once in a while to verify my claim. http://www.vidarvedverdensende.blogspot.no
Thank you in advance for any kind of assistance.
Minneapolis is indeed a great city! Decomposition is the result of the biochemical breakdown of tissue and organs so removing them would really slow decomposition of the remaining tissues (connective and other) and I suspect that even next to a river the body would eventually have a more dried/leathery appearance.
Thank you for your insight! This helps quite a lot.
I have a follow up question though. How long would it take for a partially stripped body like this to go from being fresh to being leathery and dried? And how much animal attention would a body like this attract? Is it plausible that the body/skeletal remains would stay intact and in the same place for a longer period of time.
I tried to dig up answers to this through books and such, but the inquiry was so specific that no book gave me a concrete enough answer…
Thank you again for taking time to answer my questions. Your time is probably precious and the fact that you spend time answering people is extraordinarily generous of you.
This is fascinating, and very informative. Thanks for answering a lot of questions!