Now You Know Crime Scenes: The Little Book Of Answers

NOW YOU KNOW CRIME SCENES This page intentionally left blank NOW YOU KNOW CRIME SCENES DOUG LENNOX THE DUNDURN GROUP TORONTO Copyright © Dundurn Press Limited, 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright. Editor: Nigel Heseltine Copy editor: Jennifer Gallant Design: Alison Carr Printer: Webcom Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Lennox, Doug Now you know crime scenes / Doug Lennox. ISBN 978-1-55002-774-7 1. Forensic sciences—Miscellanea. 2. Criminal investigation—Miscellanea. I. Title. HV8073.L46 2007 C2007-903568-X Canada Council for the Arts ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL , CONSEIL DES ARTS DE L'ONTARIO an Ontario government agency | un organisme du gouvernement de I'Ontario Canada We acknowledge the support of The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions. /. Kirk Howard, President 363.25 1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08 07 Dundurn Press 3 Church Street, Suite 500 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5E 1M2 Conseil des Arts du Canada Printed and bound in Canada. Printed on recycled paper. www.dundurn.com Gazelle Book Services Limited White Cross Mills High Town, Lancaster, England LAI 4XS Dundurn Press 2250 Military Road Tonawanda, NY U.S.A. 14150 NOW YOU KNOW CRIME SCENES This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS 9 Preface 11 Crime Scene Response 17 Signs of Crimes 21 Crime Scene Investigation 30 The Search 34 Crime Scene Forensics 39 Elusive Truth 45 Lab Forensics 54 Biometrics 61 Blood 65 Bodies 72 Bullets 77 DNA Analysis 81 Misrepresentation 87 Legalese This page intentionally left blank PREFACE We live in a country that has chosen to assume that a person accused of a crime is innocent until guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Most of us agree that this is honourable and right, but it does place a huge responsibility upon police and forensic investigators involved in the investigation of a crime. To achieve the high standard of proof required for a conviction, these men and women must always remember that their actions on the job have to withstand critical examination in a court of law. This book answers questions about crime scene investigation, provides some historical context, and offers accounts of various crimes to illustrate how good investigative techniques have worked in practice. Research has gone into every question with the aim of entertaining readers of all ages. I learned a great deal while working on this book. I hope you will, too. 9