About Me
My debut novel The Scent of Fear is now available! Click on the book cover to the right or go to my web page to read more!
Thanks for visiting my BLOG for crime writers. I hope the information here will help answer your questions or ignite your imagination. I would love to hear your questions and thoughts regarding forensics and criminal investigations.
My name is Tom Adair and I am a retired senior criminalist with 15 years of forensic experience. I don’t usually like laying out my credentials because I’m not that different from hundreds of other forensic scientists out there but I want you to know that I do have the expertise to write about these topics. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Entomology. I have served as the president of the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction, Rocky Mountain Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and the Rocky Mountain Division of the International Association for Identification. While in law enforcement I was triple board certified in forensic related fields and one of only 40 board-certified bloodstain pattern analysts and 80 board-certified footwear examiners worldwide.
In addition to writing over 60 scientific papers, I have worked as the editor of an international peer-reviewed science journal and have been interviewed by and consulted for television, text books, novels, magazines, and newspaper articles including documentaries on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.
This is terrific blog. Thank you. I will check back often!
Thanks a lot Donnell! If there is something in particular you want covered please let me know. I appreciate you stopping by.
Have linked to your site from my site at WHERE’S THE DRAMA? http://www.wheresthedrama.com – Would appreciate a reciprocal link. Great stuff, and very useful for my readers.
Billy
I would be happy to. Thank you.
Wonderful! Looking forward to learning from you.
Thank you very much, I’m glad you’ve joined the group of subscribers. Please let me know if there is something you want me to cover. Tom
Hi Tom, great site! I’ve added it to my blogroll as well as my Google Reader account. Looking forward to learning a lot of great information.
Thank you very much Misty, I hope you get a lot out of it.
I can’t believe I just now found your blog! I’ve signed up so I shouldn’t miss another post.
I’m glad you found it too! Thanks for subscribing and feel free to ask questions or suggest topics any time. Tom
Thanks for reaching out to me and alerting me about this blog.
Wonderful site. Thanks for telling me about it.
Great blog! So glad I found it! Thanks for being willing to throw the information out there!
Thanks for visiting Patti, please ask questions anytime!
Tom, I normally delete any messages I get, but for some reason I decided to check out your link. I’m so glad I did! What a wonderfully informative site. I hope to see you on FaceBook or Twitter, so I can easily tell my Crime-Writer friends about your blog. Please do look for me there in you get a chance, so I can share your info. I found a Tom Adair, but am not sure it’s you. I’m listed as Donna Carrick (fb) or @Donna_Carrick on Twitter.
Thanks again for sharing — great job!
Donna
Believe it or not I’m not on Twitter (I don’t even have a smart phone). Argh! Does that make me the biggest loser in history or what? I love technology but I have this uncanny ability to lose, drive over, or flush electronics in the toilet! I’ve got to change that however. Thanks for the reminder and when I get set up you’ll be the first one I tweet! Thanks for taking a chance on my message and visiting the blog. I hope you find some useful or inspiring information. Tom
Great info, Tom. I write thrillers which touch often on crime fighting. Your blog will be a good help.
Thanks for visiting Jacqui, please feel free to ask questions or request a topic for me to cover. Tom
Hello Tom. You may also be interested in becoming a member of
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crimescenewriter/
where many specialists hangout and give advice. Many of these people inform the membership of their blog posts of interest.
Cheers,
Theresa
Thanks for the information Theresa, I’ll check that out! Tom
Do you ever give workshops for writers?
Yes, I do occasionally. I’ll be giving one on bloodstain pattern analysis next week in Denver at RomCon. Are you in the Denver area?
I’ll be in Denver the 5th-9th of August, but I’m not registered for RomCon.
Can I attend w/o going to the conference?
Kelly
I have a question and I’m not sure how/where of if it’s okay to leave it. So here goes
What is the effect of water on a crime scene. Specifically, if a body is outdoors (on a manicured green on a golf couirse) and sprinkles go off for a long period during the night?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give
Good question Barbara. Water can certainly have a negative effect on evidence that we recover from a body but it is highly dependent on the amount/force of the water and the evidence we are searching for. Sprinklers generally don’t generate a lot of force because the water droplets are falling at terminal velocity and spread out in “stream”. Some of that depends also on how close the body is to the sprinkler head and the degree of slope on the ground. Certainly the body and clothing could get water-soaked. Potentially this could wash off “touch” DNA or dilute semen and bloodstains. The bloodstains probably won’t be effected much if they had dried a little before the sprinkler came on. Is the murder on the golf course or is the body transported there? A suspect hair on the victim’s face (as an example) could wash off but if it is on clothing it may very well stay put as it gets caught up on the fabric (obviously Nylon is different than cotton or denim but you get the point). Other evidence like stippling from a gunshot wound won’t like be effected at all under your scenario. Basically, the more fragile the evidence the more susceptible it is to loss but a sprinkler may cause less disruption than a good downpour rainstorm. I hope that helps.
Thanks so much for your prompt reply. The murder takes place on the golf course. It’s a death by bludgeoning (golf club of course) and the weapon is missing.
The sprinklers are left on for a long time in a (misguided?) hope that they will destroy evidence, so the green gets quite wet. I don’t actually need it to work, just for someone to think that it will.
I am wondering about the effect of the water on something like footprints. Again, I don’t need anything to be conclusive about the evidence, but like all good mysteries, way too many people were out on the golf course that night, so it would be great if the water made figuring all that out more difficult.
Thanks again!
It would be difficult to recover shoe impressions from the greens or sand traps anyway as they are not good receiving surfaces. I’ve always taught my students to look beyond the crime scene for footwear evidence; especially if the suspect left on foot. Maybe the perp hid in the “rough” where there was a muddy spot or stepped on a piece of paper trash (score card) in the parking lot and the CSIs recovered that., Of course, the further you get away from the body and evidence the more difficult it would be to make any connection between those items and the crime.
Great blog, Tom. I’ll be posting about you on Getting Published (peggyblair.wordpress.com) tomorrow. In my third book, I’ll be including some forensic evidence in the form of arthropods found in a body — maybe that’s something you can write about sometime? I have a visiting Chinese entomologist in the story who goes into the history of forensic evidence in China, including the use of bugs, and found the research fascinating.
See you online tomorrow!
Hey Peggy, I have a few early postings on insect evidence but I need to do more. I actually have my Masters in Entomology and worked cases for years throughout Colorado and the Rockies. These days I mostly just do research as I am out of a working lab with all the toys! I’m still an affiliate scientist with CSU and I chair the research committee for NecroSearch International which is based here in Colorado but assists in cases all over the world. There are a lot of good opportunities for FE research with them. I’ve written a number of scientific papers on my case work and research as well so I’d be happy to answer questions for you if and when the time comes. Do you know if your body will be primarily invaded by terrestrial or aquatic arthropods?
Terrestrials (sounds so alien!). Blowfiles and beetles. Btw, the blog link is now up and I’ve linked you up to AW Water Cooler and my circle on Facebook as well. Good luck with it!
Sorry, that should be blowflies, although there are days when it feels like blowfiles.
.
Hi Tom,
I have a couple of questions I’m hoping you can help me with. How long does it take the body to bleed out if a person was stabbed in the heart with a butcher knife, once, twice? Would there be blood squirt out or filled would it up the body? Once the heart stops beating, you don’t bleed do you?
Thanks,
Kim G.
Hi Kim, good to hear from you again. “Bleed out” is kind of a tricky term in that when I use it I mean loses enough blood to cease body functions and heart. Once the heart stops beating the “pump action” associated with that organ ceases to pressurize the circulatory system and essentially forced blood flow stops. Blood can still flow from the wound by gravity however. If your victim was only stabbed in the heart and they are supine (laying on their back) then there may be little loss of blood from the body following death. If they are prone (face down), especially if the surface they are lying on allows for continued blood flow without any daming effect (for example if they are on a wooden deck with gaps in the decking boards allowing the blood to flow) then you will likely see much more blood loss from the wound before coagulation.
. Anyway, I;m rambling. Does that help you out?
A person stabbed in the heart can move around quite a bit before death and if the wound is open then you could see a significant amount of blood being pumped out of the wound channel before the ehart stopps bleeding. I wouldn’t guesstimate on upper volumes but it’s safe to say you could see a virtual “blood bath” of arterial spurting and pooling all over your crime scene. Also, as the operson moves they will undoubtedly leave transfer staining and may even produce cast-off bloodstains from their hands if they grab the wound area and get blood on them. This is all prompting me to jot down some future blog postings.
Dead bodies won’t bleed per se but moving the body can cause blood to flow out of the already open wound channel (like turning over a tea kettle. A tea kettle full I blood I suppose
Thanks Tom. My victim is stabbed in a bed and transfered into a bath tub. I “thought” by doing this my villian was letting the victim “bleed out”. Then washes them in bleach. In order for the victim to “bleed out,” I need to have her stabbed wound wide open, correct?
Thanks again,
Kim G.
Yes, and assuming she is stabbed through the front of her chest to the heart then the wound should be oriented lengthwise (head to toe) along the long axis of the body to stay open. I need to write something up on that too. You’re handy to have around as a reminder you know that? Anyway, if the tub is full of water the amount of blood loss will be much more difficult to calculate which is probably not an issue in your story anyway but it will look more shocking if the drain is stopped. Also recognize that in moving the victim from the bed to the tub there will be additional blood loss unless he somehow blocks the wound from bleeding or draining. This can be hard to do with an adult human (a lot of dead weight). FYI.
Thanks Tom, I’m glad I could be handy! Thanks so much for the information. Everything you post is intresting! I love this site!
Have a great weekend,
Kim G.
I have just become aware of your truly valuable blog and am publicizing it in our monthly newsletter and bookmarking it for my own information. I am puzzled why this, and many other, “About Me” pages do not list the city and state the blogger lives in. You may, if you like, add us to your list of links. We are a nonprofit organization which supports and informs writers of all disciplines. Alas, we do not quite yet have our own web site (coming shortly), but a description of our organization and contact information can be found on my author’s web site. http://www.joansween.com, or you may use our email address for contacts, mwriters(at)charter(dot)net. Joan Sween, Executive Director, Minnesota Writers’ Alliance, Rochester, MN.
Thanks for visiting the site Joan. As to where I live, I suppose I never considered it being an important issue. The information is the same whether I live in Colorado (which I do) or Iceland. A simple Google search of “Tom Adair Forensic Science” will probably tell you more about me than you ever wanted to know. In any event I live in the Denver metro area of Colorado (USA). I will post a link to your site when it is up and running. Thanks again for visiting. Tom
Hi,
I just found this terrific blog and I’m linking to it from my website.
I write about a team of forensic geologists–and they do encounter forensic evidence other than mineral/soil/rock evidence. So cool to find a new place to do my research.
Thanks.
Toni Dwiggins
And a hello and shout-out to Peggy Blair, up there in the comments.
Thank you very much Toni, keep checking back as I will have more on Geology in futire posts. I am good friends with several professional geologists and geophysicists (forensic) so if you run into questions for your novel let me know and I’ll run it by them. Tom
Thanks Tom.
I do get my books vetted by experts in the field–including geologists–but sometimes a question will come up and my expert is busy/in the field/whatever and I don’t want to wait to get an answer. I believe in doing my homework
Long-winded way of saying I sure appreciate your offer to connect me with a pro. The book I’m just finishing involves a volcano. Do you know any volcanologists?
I sure don’t. I’m sorry. That’s one field that has never crossed into one of my cases.
Hey, no problem.
I’ll look forward to your posts on geology!
Thanks for making this information available. Great website.
Its my pleasure. Please ask questions anytime.
Glad to have found this site — writing a mystery with an arson theme at the moment; have read some Fire Investigation textbooks, history of firefighting in the city I’m writing about, and so forth. Read two articles here on arson investigation, and back a ways you said there would be more about crime scenes at fires (was that the one on soot in airways, etc?). Anything else on this topic would be great, perhaps more protocol and reading the scene more than autopsy reports, etc?
Thanks — will make sure to bookmark and tweet the blog.
Sam
Hi Tom,
I’m an editor and writer.
On your most recent blog post (Sept 18th), you’d asked for feedback on your posts.
I think they are fabulous. I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve subscribed and am an avid reader. I don’t always have the opportunity to drop by to leave a comment but hope to remedy that in the coming months. I’ve very much appreciated the fact that you are sharing your expertise, the inside scoop on things.
Thank you!!!
Hi Tom: This looks like a good place to ask a personal favour, in lieu of your email address.
I am currently writing a story where the villain, in the medical profession, is adept at creating deaths in patients that look natural, at least to superficial examinations. I have several methods to do this already, but I was wondering if your experience has brought you any examples of this. Love to hear about them. Thanks!
Tony
Hi Tom,
I have a question about footprints.
Somebody walks inside a cave. The soil is quite thin, and very dry. Is it possible that the footprints left could be unidentifiable? I’m thinking of two options:
1. the person intentionally scuffs his feet because he does not want to leave prints
2. the person’s walking style is naturally foot-scuffing. That is, he leaves no identifiable prints, by accident.
Is either of these a believable scenario?
Thanks,
Toni
Hi Toni, thanks for the great question. Scuffing or shuffleing one’s feet definately creates distorted prints (which may or may not be of any value) but at some point the individual has to put weight on their step and that’s what creates an impression. The only way it would work in your scenario would be if they never lifted their foot from the ground which is difficult to do over longer distances and time (eventually your body weight shifts and you take a step). This is especially true on uneven ground (as you would find in a cave) and remember that the police will look at other impression evidence like the tires on the car the suspect arrived in or shoe impressions out by the car or along the walking path to and from the crime scene (cave). I’ve found shoe impressions from suspects several blocks away from a crime scene. It takes some effort but you can find them,. It would be more believable if the suspect used something to destroy the prints like a tree branch, broom, or jacket. I hope that helps. Tom
Thanks Tom, it helps enormously.
However, it means back to the drawing board for me. I wanted footprints obscured enough in that cave so that (a) they couldn’t be identified and (b) it wouldn’t be obvious someone tried to obscure them.
Looks like that doesn’t work.
Might just try the tree branch, and adjust the plot so that the investigator (who sees the cave) does realize that someone has made the effort to cover up footprints.
the otehr option is to have animals come in and obscrure the prints (like a pack of foxes or coyotes). You might also consider having a group of teenagers in there doing what teenagers do and obliterating the prints. Just some thoughts.
Good idea–about the animals and the teenagers.
Forensics is fun.
Hello again–I’m back with another question.
A hair is found on a body and the scene tech guesses that it came from a horse’s mane or tail.
There is no root on the hair, so no DNA testing is possible, I assume.
Is there any way a lab could confirm that the hair came from a horse, and any way to identify it well enough to compare to horses in stables in the area of the crime?
Thanks!
Mitochondrial DNA can be done on the hair shaft but finding a testing laboratory would be the tough issue (at least in real life). Since this is fiction you can just create a lab to do it. Government crime labs are not going to do this type of testing even at the FBI. It might be a lab run out of a state university with a strong veternary school (Like Colroado State) or a proivate outfit that delas with horse health and geneaology (try for somewhere in Kentucky). Will there be any horseshoe prints on the body or at your crime scene?
No prints–there’s been a big snowstorm since the horse was at the scene (body is found in a glacier crevasse).
Yup, I’m happy to create a fictional lab. How long would mitochondrial testing take? The slower the better, actually. I need time for more plot twists before the horse is identified.
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise. This is great. In fact, if you’d be interested I’d like to gift you a copy of my book in appreciation. BADWATER is part mystery, part ecothriller, about a team of forensic geologists tracking stolen radioactive waste in Death Valley. And if it’s not your cuppa, I’ll just leave it at thanks!
I would love to read it, thank you. I really mean that. I have good friends who are geologists and geophysicists so I definately have an interest. MtDNA testing can be done quickly (days) if rushed but if it is at a provate lab you can introduce a whole host of obstacles not the least of whcih may be payment. They may also be back-logged with some other improtant case since, presumably, their services are rare and sought after. The lead analyst may also be on vacation or something or teaching at a conference. You could present this as a stressor for your characters while making it work to your advantage in the storyline as you suggest. E-mail me at sof32@comcast.net for my contact informaiton.
Perfect. I’ll send the analyst on a nice cruise!
emailed you
I had a question for my novel and was wondering if you could help me out. It would probably make a good post as well. How long does it take for blood to turn from red to brown on a wall? For ease, let’s just say a white wall. How about clothes? Say a white nightgown is covered in blood.
Great question Kelly. I wish I had an answer…just kidding. Color is kind of a subjective thing as blood ages it can turn various shades from dark red, brown, even black. Temperature has a lot of influence on the color changes. Blood in freezing temperatures, for example, will be a bright pink. Back to your question, blood will darken in under an hour depending on temperature, surface, and sometimes even the properties of the blood (like the presence of blood thinning medications). On a white wall at roo temperature the blood will be pretty dark after 4-6 hours (the bright red color will be darkeend in less than an hour) but here is where it gets very subjective. I’m not aware of any study that has tried to quantify a color density value as it wouldn’t be consistent given the environmental variables I mentioned. As for clothing, the more absorbant the clothing the more quickly the blood will darken (but not by a lot). A white cotton T-shirt will absorb blood more quickly than a white nylon jacket and the blood will darken more quickly. Volume is also a major consideration as a small droplet will dry (thus darken) more rapidly than a large pool of blood. Have I muddied the water enough for you?
Found your post while looking for information on Clandestine Graves, great blog, then my friend Silvia Pettem recommended you. I am hooked.
Thank you very much Sandra. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you on grave sites.
I found your blog by accident when looking up clandestine grave information to forward to my author friends, Silvia Pettem who wrote, Someone’s Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe, the story of Boulder Jane Doe and the discovery of her identity.
Michael Dooling’s book, Clueless in New England, tells the tale of three young women whose disappearance has not been solved nor has one shred of clues to what happened to them been uncovered.
http://www.silviapettem.com
http://www.michaelcdooling.com
Sir,
I just discovered your site, which is amazing. I have a very specific question regarding serial number restoration if you don’t mind. Firstly, what year was this technique discovered and implemented? Secondly, do you know which brand guns had serial numbers prior to 1968? I’m working on a period story that takes place in 1958 and 1974 so I’m nervous about timing. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for visiting Andrew, please tell all your friends. Off the top of my head I don’t recall the oldest case of using any type of serial restoration (stamped markings) as there are several techniques but I do know that the FBI was publishing about the topic in the early 1950′s. As to your second part there are hundreds of firearms manufacturers over the years and many had used serial numbers and other identifiers as early as the 1890′s. It would be easier for me to answer that if you told me what gun your character was using/interested in and then I could give you a better answer. Military arms like a Colt 1911 (pistol) or Gerand (rifle) are stamped for inventory so using a military weapon available to the public (many are/were in the 50′s) would have a serial number. Have you selected a firearm yet?
Hi,
I’m a sophmore in high school, and in my journalism class, we have to interview someone who is prominent in their field.l was really hoping to interview you, because I’m absolutely fascinated by forensic sciences and I wanted to know what working in forensics actually was like. The interview wouldn’t be published, it’s just for my class.
Sincerly,
Kelsey Garrett
I’d be happy to Kelsey. Where do you go to school? Do you just want to send me questions? If so send to sof32@comcast.net. Also, follow this link to a preparation guide I wrote which may help answer some questions up front or give you some ideas for others. Tom http://www.swafs.us/cat61.html
Wow! Your knowledge is really impressive! I’m sure I’ll learn a lot.And this should be very helpful for my mystery novels (I’m now planning out the second in a series.)
thanks for doing this,
Sandy Gardner
sgardner2@hvc.rr.com
Thank you Sandra, I’m always happy to help
great blog, thanku for sharing this knowledge
You’re welcome. Please let me know if I can answer any questions.
Tom, this is a question rather than a comment. Is the “murder gene” transmitted only through the mother, or can it be transmitted through the father?
Well Charlotte, I’m not convinced a true “murder” gene exists, at least as it had been championed by certain advocates and researchers. There is still a lot of uncertain data out there in my mind, not the leasrt of which is the abandonment of motive in their analysis. Having said that you do see some interesting case examples of related individuals committing certain acts (although as in the case of suicide, non-criminal). Most of the research I have sen actually places the “suspect” genes on the Y chromosome making it a male directed inheritance, but like I said the data is not very convincing to me. From a layman perspective one would suspect a male influence only because more males commit violent acts than females but there are many other factors to consider when evaluating behavior. I once had a case where a daughter killed a woman in the same (uncommon) manner as her father killed another woman decades earlier but there was nothing to say the weapon selection was anything more than coincidence. Anyway, as a writer you can certainly use heredity isses to suggest a cause criminal activity (I actually do in my first novel coming out), just don’t forget about the many other factors that may influence a person’s decision to commit a crime. In other words, if a gene exists it could not be the only contributing factor to the act, nor would it be a given that someone with the gene would commit murder. I hope that helps a little. Tom
Tom, thanks. I’ve read the ARC of book soon to be released and one of my friends said the MAOA gene is located on the X chromosome. I know nothing about any of this, but she spotted it as a flaw in the book right away as the grandfather, father and son had this gene and she said it’s passed through the mother–so it couldn’t happen.
Again, thanks.
Your friend is right about the MAOA being located on the X Chromosome and that mutation is probably the most commonly cited for aggression and violence. I wiouldn’t be surprised if certain people believe that mutation could be responsible for murder as well. I don’t think the science is there to demonstrate that the MAOA mutation is solely responsible for violent behavior as all behavior is greatly influenced by environment. As for your novel though I would feel free to use it and have fun with it. It wouldn’t hurt to have your killer come from an abusive or destructive background as well unless that contradicts important elements of the story. Let me know when the novel comes out alright? I’d love to take a look at it.
Hi Tom, Firstly fantastic blog and very interesting.
I recently read an article you’d done a while ago regarding footwear impressions in snow. I tried emailing you with some questions but it must have been an old email address listed on the article have you an alternative i can contact you on? Thanks,
Thank you Lucy, I sent you an e-mail.
Hi Tom! Like many others, I stumbled onto your blog and thought I’d take the opportunity to ask a question: when a body is found incased in cement or concrete – how would someone working in forensics go about something like that? How do you get the body out, without damaging it or other possible evidence?
Many thanks all the way from Sweden!
//Ulrica
Thanks for visiting Ulrica, you ask a good question. Removing a body encased in concrete is a very slow and tedious process. Once you get the “block” to a laboratory or medical examiner office you have to use various tools to basically chip very small pieces away from the body. Some damage is inevitable. In some ways it is similar to the process museums use to remove encrusted artifacts from coral and other hardened materials. Some of these restorations can take years. With a body the process is sped up and may take weeks to complete, but it is very meticulous. When a body decomposes a cavity or void may form around the body (assuming the body was fresh when placed in the wet concrete) and those edges may be more easily removed and worked around but not always.
Hi Tom
You answered a question for me before about the effect of golf course sprinklers on a crime scene.
Now I need to get specific about the crime itself.
In my mystery the victim is killed with a golf club. The perpetrator is female, so I’m assuming she sneaks up on him and brains him with a pretty terrific overhead backswing. Could you actually kill someone that way? Would there be blood spatter back onto the killer?
It’s a crime of passion, so if I need to, I can have her continue to hit him once he’s down.
Thanks again for your help.
Barb
You could kill someone that way but it would require more than one blow to create blood spatter on the suspect. Look back a few weeks for a posting on blood spatter that discusses this in more detail.
Hi, Tom – I wasn’t sure where to put this, so picked here as a good place.
I have picked you to receive The Versatile Blogger Award. I have so enjoyed your posts, at least the ones I have read. I also have the rest of them on my to-read list and don’t want to miss one. Your writing is crisp, clear, and easy for a lay person to understand. Your efforts in answering people’s questions and helping us to understand better are very commendable. I believe your blog to be one of the best, if not THE best, of its kind, and I think you abundantly deserve this award. Thank you for your blog.
If you would like more details on this award, go to my site here.
Thank you so very much Sandra, you have been one of the longest and most supportive subscribers. I really do appreciate the recognition!
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment….especially since it led me back to yours. Very intriguing! I will definitely be following.
Truth is I’m jealous of your life! Love the BLOG BTW.
Brilliant site……..thank you! I do have a question regarding blood splatter. In an axe attack (to the head area) would the attacker be covered in a lot of blood? Im presuming the hands and arms of the attacker might be splattered, but what about their face and body? And also would the handle of the axe be bloodied? Many thanks, Sarah.
Thanks a lot Sarah. A person may very well get a lot of blood spatter on them while repeatedly striking someone’s head with an axe but a little depends on the direction of force and position of the attacker as well as any intermediate “shields”. Suffice it to say, I don’t think anyone would fault you for describing a scene where the suspect was “covered” in blood. Axes are typically “cleaving” and have a lot of surface area so they may hold more blood through surface tension. Here are a couple links that may give you a bit more informaiton.
http://forensics4fiction.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/lose-the-l-in-blood-splatter-analysis/
http://forensics4fiction.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/edward-piotrowski-bunnies-and-bloodspatter-in-the-19th-century/
http://forensics4fiction.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/the-first-blow/
Thanks Tom …..Much appreciated :0)
Hi Tom,
Am glad I found you. Love your site and have subscribed. I have a dead body found under a bridge during a snowstorm…freezing temperatures for 3 days. Can autopsy be started prior to thawing and generally can you estimate how long before the body is thawed long enough to do investigation? Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
Chris
Hi Chris, thanks for stopping by. Yes, the autopsy would begin with the external examination which might take up to an hour or longer if there is a lot of trauma or trace evidence and clothing to document and collect. Depending on your temperatures over those three days the body might thaw out (to the point of beginning the internal examination) in 2-3 hours at most unless the temps are like -20F or something extreme. Depending on how long the drive is back to the medical examiner’s office from the crime scene is also added time and likely the driver will have the heat blasting because of being out in the cold. So that will reduce the “waiting time” as well.
A real treasure trove of information and knowledge.
I have just written myself into a cul de sac in my second novel and I know I’ll get some inspiration here.
Thank you.
Harry Dunn
I have some questions that might make a good post. With all the new phone technology today what tracking capabilities do the police have? Does the perp have to have the battery in the phone to use GPS tracking? Do the new phones have a GPS function they can be tracked through? Do the police have to have a warrant to get the cell phone companies to give them access to track soemone. If a perp makes a call (incoming or outgoing) can the police track them to a general area based on pings off cell towers? There’s alot of this type of thing going on in the criminal tv shows but I wonder how much is accurate.
I’m afraid the truth would scare the crap out of you. For the most part Privacy is dying or dead in the US depending on who you consult. The government warehouses everything but law enforcement is a bit more limited and in most cases has to have a warrant to get at the informaiton. Many devices can track your movement, not just you phone. A number of things like vehicles (On Star), tablets, computers, credit cards, etc can give someone a pretty good picture of where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. If you own an Apple device you’ll see that you can’t just take out the battery so it is always tracking you even when it is off. The law is trying to figure out just where to draw the priovacy line. This month the SCOTUS ruled that police have to get a warrant to plant a GPS tracker on your vehicle. But police are also deplloying UAVs and more surveillance equipment like cameras and microphones to track certain activities. I have a number of articles I have planned but maybe I’ll move some up in line. I have written about using an iPhone to find a dead body and you can find that here. http://forensics4fiction.com/2011/09/22/can-an-iphone-app-help-find-a-body/
Good lord, Tom, scary isn’t the word for this. What comes to mind is “illegal.” I thought the American Constitution guaranteed all Americas the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t know about you, but I am not exactly at liberty in the pursuit of my (legal) happiness when I am being tracked like an amoeba on a specimen tray. Where will all this end, and how many liberties will be taken away before it does end?
Tell me about it. There are some real “doomsday” possibilities as far as civil liberties are concerned. Imagine a day when governments are not the thing to be feared but private “entities” whom governments are powerless to control. Of course, some would say that a big government is much more scary. Either way, privacy advocates have their work cut out for them as technology makes it simpler to track and record everything we do. I heard a statistic recently that said the physical cost of data storage for every single phone conversation in the US for an entire year was like 20 cents. Hopefully, a morally conscious “code” will guide the activities of the data loggers. Sorry…that didn’t help did it?
That should, of course, be “Americans,” not Americas.
Uh…no, that didn’t help
Hi Tom, it’s me again. I have another blood question to ask you. I’ve reached a writing snag and was wondering if you could help me out. My villain is a female serial killer (I know rare). She injects them with Ketamine, (a horse tranquilizer that paralyzes) and her last victim she removed all of her female organs (like Jack the ripper did) while she was still alive. I know it’s gruesome. My question is: Would there still be pooling if the victim lost all her blood before she died, a little or a lot or is that impossible to lose all your blood and still be alive?
Kim G
Tom, your work is amazing and you’re so knowledgable in your field. Thank you for all that you do and the help that you provide! You definitely know your stuff and can be trusted with accurate information. I look forward to any upcoming work that you put out. I think you’ve developed quite a following and have many fans.
Your check is in the mail
Interesting blog, and thank you for sharing your information and experience here.
My pleasure Leigh, thanks for visiting!
hello there, if I have a forensic question, where do I write it to, email address? thank you.
Brilliant explanation in layman’s terms. Can you help me please. I have indented writing I wish to detect, but have tried, lead pencil over the top, child’s water paints etc. but I can only get bits & pieces but I can’t see it all. Is there a laboratory in Melbourne, Australia that I can send it too ? Thanks Sue
I wish I could answer that Sue but I’m afraid I don’t know anyone in that city. You might try contacting the local police or prosecutor to see if they know of a local expert that could assist you. Good luck.
This is really great blog, man. Lots of useful information.
Hi Tom
Love your blog and wish I’d discovered it two years ago.
I’m writing a novel in which a female is murdered with a silenced gunshot to the forehead from a 9mm GlockG19. She is lying supine on a bed. The gunshot is from directly above her with the killer leaning over her torso and shooting down. She has already been imobilized by an injection of Rocuronium to the neck area (if that’s even possible) and has been positioned on the bed by her killer.
Questions if I may:
If the body is not found for 5 days, what would be the extent of the putrification if the temp in the bedroom is at a constant 68 degrees?
If it was a through and through gunshot, what are the chances of the slug remaining in the flooring of a wooden built walk-up building or would it penetrate to the floor below?
Would the victim be in the bloat stage of decomp at this point and if so would there be any skin bursting, particularly in the facial area?
Because she was shot within 10 minutes of the Rocuronium injection, would the substance be evident in a post mortum?
Would appreciate your help with these details.
Thanks for all the incredible tips that I have picked up from this site.
Bob
Thanks for the compliments Bob. I am glad you’re getting use of the blog. Here are my answers…
1. Rooms are almost never a “constant temperature” because of windows and HVAC. Also, body weight and degree of dress will affect decomposition but your victim should have some evidence of bloat and skin slippage at this point. There may also be blistering on the trunk (back or abdomen).
2. Bullet velocity can be significantly diminished after passing through a skull so yes, it is possible the bullet would remain in the sub-floor but obviously there are a number of facotr to consider such as flooring type (tile, wood floor, carpet, etc and the thickness of the sub-floor).
3. Facial area probably wouldn’t show skin lesions at this point.
4. Yes, would be evident in post mortem but the pathologist would have to screen for that specific substance. Not normally screened for. Most tests are for typical illicit drugs, alcohol, etc.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Tom
Your comment on “constant room temperature” was most helpful. It’s allowed me to step back and have another look at my crime scene from a different perspective.
Much appreciated. I’ll be visiting your blogs frequently.
Thanks Boob, glad I could help a little!
BOB! Sorry, typing way too fast.
You have a very interesting photograph of luminol (http://forensics4fiction.com/2011/05/27/luminol-the-magical-blood-reagent/). Is the luminol reacting with soil in the last photograph, or is it reacting with blood deposited in the soil?
Hey, Tom. What a wonderful blog–I’m really enjoying it. I’m not actually a writer of thrillers, but I am working on a story about a man who is burned at the stake (well, a tree, in fact), and I’m trying to work out exactly how he would die. A great pile of leafy branches are set alight at his feet, and I’ve assumed that smoke inhalation would probably be the technical cause of death. I’m not basing that idea on hard research, though, but rather on something a former professor once told me about people burned as witches in the middle ages, who if they were lucky, had loved ones who would load the burning pyre with branches and plant life to produce thick, heavy smoke, so that the victims could have the relatively less horrific death of smoke inhalation rather than being burned to death. My victim dies in 1840, so no coroner or forensic scientist will examine his body.
I wonder if you know of any texts, studies, or websites where I might begin to study the issue. I’d appreciate whatever you can tell me. Thanks.
Thanks for contacting me Jennie, you are correct that “green” plants will produce more smoke but generally there is a layer of dead wood underneath to get the fire hot and generate a faster burn rate. If you have access to a university library check out the Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. If you are looking for text books I would stick with a publisher like CRC press or Elsevier. One good text to begin with is Practical Homicide Investigation by Geberth. You may be able to find older used editions at Amazon or abebooks.com. FYI, forensic autopsies were conducted prior to 1840 and I have several comprehensive texts on forensic pathology (Medical Jurisprudence) from the early 19th Century. There were not many practitioners however so it is very plausible to not have an examination done in your novel. But overall, yes, many fire victims die from smoke inhalation.
Great. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll check them out.
Hey, Tom! Stumbled across your blog looking for info on serial number restoration…small world. Great site, and much success in your endeavors. I know I’ve always learned a lot from you.
Good to hear from you Sue!
Tom, I found your blog most useful so far of all the things I have searched and if you would not mind could you answers a couple of questions in regards to the AFIS system? Here they are : Exactly how does AFIS work in identifying a print? What all kinds of information is stored in AFIS( like IAFIS stored everything imaginable with there being tattoos, scars and so on) so does AFIS store other things about the person other than their fingerprints is what I am asking? What is done with the “unknown” prints, how are the store and identified? What are the pros and cons of the AFIS system? I am not sure I can use your site as a reference but if I gain the knowledge through you and not just your site I beleive it will be acceptable.Thank you in advance for your reply! Misty
Hi Misty, this link should help answer most questions. http://forensics4fiction.com/2011/09/01/afis-the-automated-fingerprint-identification-system/
AFIS systems only store fingerprints (some also store palm prints). Unknown latent prints from crime scenes can be left in the database indefinitely to search against new records that are submitted as new people get arrested or fingerprinted for some other reason. I’ve seen folks who had committed crimes in the past get linked through prints when they applied for a concealed carry permit or liquor license. I can’t really think of any “cons” to the systems other than some may limit your ability to search palm prints but in the end these databases are a huge improvement to crime detection abilities. Obviously a pro is the fact that you can enter an unknown print and search millions of records in under an hour at times (depending on system load). One misconception people have is that the system identifies a print. As you will read in the linked article it is the examiner that must make the identification, not the computer. It really is just a fancy searching system. I hope that helps.
I got the Geberth book last week, and I have to admit it freaked me out a bit. Even when I wasn’t looking through it, but it was sitting innocently on a shelf, I knew it was there. I thought I knew (in theory) that there was nothing one man (or woman) would not do to another, but seeing the photos is something else again. I thought I might have to take it down to my local police station and donate it so that it could do some good in the world.
But I took some deep breaths and started back reading through it again. The text is so challenging to a non-scientist civilian like me that it helps me focus. And even with the photos, the one saving grace is that I’m innocent (or dumb) enough that they don’t quite seem real. Denial can be a wonderful thing I guess.
I don’t know how you guys can live and be happy with all these images in your heads. But I’m grateful that you can.
Take care.
In your piece titled “The Forensic Garage” You made the statement theat when you first got in the forensic field you processed vehicles in the tow yard…..but that was before we had cars, right? They kept horses and buggies in a tow yard?
BTW, great site! When do I get a FREE copy of your next book!?
Your slightly older but much better looking (and obviously blind) brother!
You see that folk…even my own family gives me a hard time! You can get a free copy when I get a gift card to Bonefish bro! Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Tom,
Gift card is in the mail….there may be a little blood splatter from the odd fish, but I’ll let you sort that out. Happy Holiday’s
Your illiterate brother
Thanks Bro!
hey!!! i just happend to c ur blog.. its awesome..
was searching for some information for a moot competition. thnx a ton. l keep checking in cuase ive developed a newfound interest in forensic studies.
Hey Tom
My friend and I are third year law students. We had stumbled upon your blog while working on our research for a moot competition whose problem is based upon a murder. We have a few doubts regarding the manner in which the murder has taken place.
In the case given the victim’s body was found with one deep cut on the chest, 7 inches from left top to right bottom of the chest. The ribs were fractured and the sharp object penetrated deep, damaging the cardiac valve causing immediate death. The only possible weapon found was a sickle stained with his blood.
What I wanted to know regarding this was whether the accused can so much damage if he stabs the victim with it just once. And will the victim have enough energy to pull it out of his chest, drop it and walk 500 meters to the spot where t body he was found Or throw it to the spot where the sickle was found (either way). The reason I am having this doubt is because the sickle bore more of the victim’s fingerprints that the accused.
We sincerely hope you respond to this question soon. We had no idea as to whom to clarify this doubt with when we came across this page. Hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks
Ridhima
The wound doesn’t sound particularly difficult to achieve however, if death was immediate then the victim can not do anything after injury. However, there have been a number of cases (Pratt/Maddox 1984 FL FBI shootings and numerous examples from our military) regarding capabilities of victims following “fatal” injuries. As to fingerprints I suppose it matters if the prints are patent or latent but number of prints are typically not as relevant (probative) as type and orientation as well as prior association with object bearing the prints. Good luck.
Hello!
I just discovered your great website and really appreciate your good work. I’m writing a mystery that involves some scattered body parts. I want them to initially seem as if they belong to someone who was murdered months if not years ago. When the first bone is discovered (mandible) in a very cold climate, what would it look like? How would it age over time?
And what could be applied to body parts to accelerate decomposition? The murderer isn’t a chemist, but does frequent garden centers and hardware stores. I’m familiar with lime, but it seems lime tends to mummify a body rather than aide decomposition. My objective is to accelerate decomposition and have the remains not seem recent, but decomposed over time.
Would you happen to have some suggestions or thoughts on this?
Thank you!
Thanks Casey, I appreciate you stopping by. I guess I have a few questions first. How long is the mandible really out in the cold environment and how cold is it? Are we talking tundra or forest? Cold environments will retard decomposition but the location the body is found doesn’t necessarily have to be the location decomposition takes place. For example, if the killer placed the body in a very hot and humid artificial environment and then “dumped” the remains in a very cold environment you may be able to mimic an older deposition. As bones age and weather they begin to crack but this takes years to occur. With mandibles there will be a general loss of tissue (connective too) and the teeth will begin to fall out over time but mandibles are often taken by scavengers like coyotes, fox, lion, etc. (at least here in the Rockies). It’s not impossible but I would find it strange that it had survived without significant modification (chewing). So your killer could expose the body to extreme heat (like an industrial oven or crematory like oven on a lower setting) to facilitate cracking and tissue loss. Experienced forensic experts can tell the difference but you can solve that in your novel by having the age determination made by inexperienced professionals or someone just making an honest mistake in their interpretation. Obviously, the durability of the mandible is relative to the age of the victim. Pr-pubescent bones are not fully developed (fused) and may deteriorate more quickly and easily than adult bones. The younger the victim the more fragile the bones (in general at least until you get to the elderly or someone with a pathology like osteoporosis.) Hope that helps. Here is a link to a post on quicklime burial that may be of interest to you. http://forensics4fiction.com/2011/09/30/quicklime-and-decomposition/
Very, very helpful. I’ve done some interviews thus far but need to ask more specific questions that I’m reluctant to post in a public forum. Are you available for a private consultation? I’m working on a deadline and need to clarify some important details. Thank you.
Hi I’m writing my first novel and need some forensic questions answered.
If someone was someone was stabbed in the heart would the blood spray, also what are the affects of strangulation with cord? thanks in advance .
You have a bit of a complex question because it depends on a lot of variables. If the victim is wearing clothing then the clothing can block some of the arterial spurting. The more layers of clothing the more blocking that can occur. Also, blood “spurts” because of the pumping action of the heart so as soon as the heart stops beating the spurting stops as well. I thought I had done a posting on ligatures. If not I’m way behind. Basically when a cord or other ligature is used to strangle a person the skin can be damaged (if exposed) which creates a reddish brown discoloration in the general shape of the weapon used. Check out this posting for some other features. http://forensics4fiction.com/2012/05/30/what-are-petechiae/
Thank you for your reply, my story isnt too heavy on forensics but I want it to be believable i have a character die by garrotte i wrote her eyes filled with blood, because i thought it sounded dramatic, but didnt want to stray too far from the truth, so may reconsider the wording, although its told from a 13 year olds point of view so might still work.
Thank you for the link. Very helpful
Hi again Tom.
Thanks for your gunshot advice a year or so ago.
I love your input on all these cases…I am often tempted to work backwards from your details to get my stories.
In the current episode of my Brit murder series I have a man getting a syringe in the neck which knocks him out, then he is bundled into a small plane and dropped from a considerable height into a reservoir.
Two questions please.
What would be in the syringe (I’ve noted ketamine and rocuronium in the above) to drop him really quickly and what sort of condition would the body be in when dragged out of the reservoir? I gather hitting water is not unlike hitting concrete…I was hoping for a sort of bag of crushed bones and organs effect but still allowing my pathologist to spot the syringe mark in the neck.
Is there some sort of table or graph comparing body damage with height from which dropped… sort of like car speed and length of skid marks. Viewers love my hero making shrewd deductions from factual minutiae.
Keep up the amazing work here.
Michael
Hi Michael, I’m not aware of any studies on body drop onto water but if the victim is still alive when he hits the water I’m sure you can write in some bruising and broken bones. He can’t be in the water too long (more than 48 hours) if you want the ME to easily see the needle stick. I’m not sure what would be best for your drug. You mentioned Ketamine so I’m wondering if it might be better to have it stolen from a local veterinarian or something. Just a thought.
Oh and it would be very good for me if the knock out drug could be traced to a local nursing home…. something particular to the care of the elderly or terminal. Hard call I expect, not too important, just another possible line of enquiry for my detective.
best
Michael
Thanks Tom , I’ve taken your advice and worked a horse riding vet into the plot. This show has been running 16 years now with about 150 murders and all the screen writers trying to outdo each other in the complexity of their murders….so I guess I’ll keep trawling your site for as long as the ratings and the population keep going. Thanks again.. Michael
I heard you speak the other evening at the Mystery Writers dinner at the press club and enjoyed it very much. Enjoying your blog as well. I have a question. I want to create a scene where my protagonist finds a woman who has been strangled to the point of unconsciousness but not death. I’d like the woman to be strangled severely enough to be in a coma, or kept in a medically induced coma, for several days. For this scenario to happen, would her attacker have to be scared off before he’s finished strangling her, or is it possible he mistakenly thinks he’s killed her and simply leaves the scene (my preference)? If he leaves thinking she’s dead, is it possible she could lay there an hour or more, unconscious, before my protagonist finds her? If it makes a difference, the woman is an athlete and would have a strong neck.
Bruce Most
The Ruby Dark mysteries
Hi Bruce, thanks for stopping by. What comes to mind is the classic “sleeper hold” used by special operations soldiers to incapacitate a sentry. It may not be the same hold for your killer but by strangling her it might have the same effect. I don’t think she’d be out an hour. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes would be more likely but if the hold was used in conjunction with a drug like Rohypnol or GHB then she could be out longer. He might use such a drug to be able to better control her if he thinks her athleticism makes her more challenging to take one on one. He doesn’t have to be scared off but I would think that could add some excitement or tension to the scene if he does. Just some thoughts.
Tom, I am writing about a fictional individual who died in 2000, and who may have had a criminal record between 1963 and 1983. How long do local, state and federal agencies keep fingerprints on file? If her fingerprints were once on file, would they still be in a database somewhere? Thanks. Anita
Yes, their prints would be on file with the FBI and may still be filed with the local agency depending on how large and agency it is and when the record was created.
Hi Tom,,
I need to ask you a question about poisons. My characters ex poisoned her dog with strychnine. Autopsy was preformed on the dog and a toxicology as well finding strychnine as the poison that killed the dog.
Question-Is there anyway to connect the properties of this chemical compound to a certain bottle my hero found at the villains residence? Or are they all the same characteristics, with nothing unique about them?
Thanks in advance,
Diane Kratz
Harsh! There’s a special hell for people who poison dogs; even fictional ones! Back to your question though. I suppose there could be another chemical as part of the mixture (such as using a container that had trace amounts of another compound that hitched a ride so to speak with the poison). Another thought. This poison is derived from seeds. If I remember right the tree is from Asia or thereabouts. Maybe your EX had once lived/traveled there and brought a sapling back with him. Maybe he’s raising it in a greenhouse, stealing it from a botanical garden, or…new girlfriend is a botanist? Lots of possibilities. There could be a seed found at the murder scene (or processed seed powder) that could be genetically matched (DNA) to the tree at his house. I’ve seen similar cases with botanical evidence in other context so it should be quite possible. It might make your protagonist have to work a little harder to make the connection too. Another thing, non-humans have a necropsy not an autopsy and they usually don’t do them unless there is a strong suspicion of foul play and a good suspect so just keep that in mind. Sounds like a neat clue to have though.
I couldn’t agree with you more about the special place in hell for someone who kills a dog! I still would like to know is there anyway to have the strychnine found in raw meat in the dogs stomach contents, to be matched to a bottle found in his barn? Or are they all the same compound found in them all? How about if this chemical was really old say about 30 years- would the chemical compound be the same today? I also understand this is now regulated, meaning who ever buys it has to sign for it (at least in our state) but if they found some left on a old farm stead that the bad guy is staying at, could they be linked this way?
How could I connect him to the crime?
You gave me some wonderful answers, but the truth is, this happen to us. My daughter’s ex killed our dog with strychnine and I’m trying to find a way to prove it was him. I have a figure on tape his size going through her van on the night my dog was poisoned. He picked a night when it rain really hard and he would be difficult to identify 100%.
We sent the video tapes to a forensic specialist and they couldn’t do much with the tape. We know he is living on a old farmstead of one of his friends house. He has a restraining order that the courts granted for my daughter (protection from abuse order). Since she moved back in with us we’ve been robbed and our dog has been killed.
We have gotten surveillance camera’s and yet he still gets away with things. Short of buying a gun (which I’m against) what else can we do to protect ourselves and get this guy arrested? I feel so helpless and I hate it!
I thought maybe if we could connect the poison to him, it would be a way to get him off the streets and jail where he belongs. Our small town police only has on officer who on duty at night. He has been wonderful to drive by our house every so often to check on us. But he can’t be here 24 hours a day.
I paid for the necropsy and for all the toxicology test to be done, because our police department doesn’t have the funds to do so. If he could kill a innocent dog with no qualms/ guilt about it, whats to stop him from doing something to us? NOTHING! Any suggestions you could give me I would be so grateful for.
Sorry for using this as a story, but I really don’t like sharing my problems publicly. I’m desperate and I hope you understand.
Thanks so much!
Diane
What a terrific service you offer us struggling authors! Thank you so much for such wonderfully detailed answers! My dead character, a villain horribly burned setting a forest fire, finds sanctuary in an old stone ice house in northern Pennsylvania, circa 1920. It is late summer, the ice house long-abandoned in a heavily wooded area next to a running stream. He dies not from his burns, but from a self-inflicted wound to escape the pain. What might the discoverer of the body find two weeks postmortem? I am trying my best to be accurate, but the factors of third-degree burns, a cool, humid building, and plentiful insects and other wildlife, is more than I can analyze. At what distance from the building would the odor of putrefaction be detectable? Thank you for considering my questions–you should be acknowledged in a lot of books!
Just found your blog. Have an interest in forensics. Every time I wanted to take a course in forensic psychology in grad school, the course was full or canceled.
Just book marked it. Will be keeping up often.
If you’re still interested in a career check out my career planning guide in the side bar or on Amazon. Thanks for stopping by.
I wish. Between nursing and taking care of my mom, I’m just keeping forensics as an interest. Thanks.
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