https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78 This Padlet informs the viewer of important forensic discoveries and events throughout history. en-us 2021-02-17 20:11:11 UTC 2025-12-04 03:00:43 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f9d0.png kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212842164 Alfred Swaine Taylor and Thomas Stevenson covered hair in a forensic science text.  This text was crucial to the beginnings of forensic hair analysis. ]]> 2021-02-17 20:14:41 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212842164 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212844407 Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert published a comprehensive study of hair. They are also credited with creating the first fingerprint model. ]]> 2021-02-17 20:15:24 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212844407 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212845168 On February 27, 1982,  Wayne Williams was convicted of the Atlanta Child Murders based on fiber evidence found on victim's bodies. He was initially brought in by police for questioning because he was seen nearby to where a victim's body washed ashore a river. Crime scene investigators used the two different carpet fibers found on the victims to narrow the suspect pool by consulting with different manufacturers. One of the carpet fibers was from a type of carpet only sold in 10 states, Alabama (Williams home state) being one of them. The second carpet fiber was from a type of carpet found in pre-1973 Chevrolet, and Williams owned a 1970 Chevrolet. 
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atlanta-child-murderer-is-questioned ]]> 2021-02-17 20:15:39 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212845168 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212846439 Innocence Project was created. It is designed to help people who have been convicted of crimes be exonerated using DNA evidence. 87% of wrongful convictions are due to faulty eyewitness testimony. ]]> 2021-02-17 20:16:04 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212846439 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212847316 JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in her home's basement on December 26, 1996, hours after the initial 911 call was made by her mother, Pasty Ramsey, on her disappearance. Many mistakes were made when securing the scene and preserving the evidence, but it all initially began with the police believing the crime to be a kidnapping, thanks to a three-page long ransom note found inside the home. When searching for evidence, John Ramsey (father) found her body in the basement downstairs. She had been strangled using a garrote, had severe blunt force trauma with a 8-inch crack in her skull, and was severely sexually assaulted with what would later be discovered to be paint brushes from the mother's paint set and part of the garrote. There were many suspects for the case, but the media mainly focused on the family due to the many odd aspects of the case from their point of view. To this day, the case still remains cold and unsolved. 
https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/jonbenet-ramsey/ ]]> 2021-02-17 20:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212847316 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212848859 Michael Evens and Paul Terry were sent to prison for the murder of a child. They were convicted based on eyewitness testimony. DNA samples proved their innocence 27 years later.]]> 2021-02-17 20:16:44 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1212848859 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243028527 Gaetane Bouchard (16 yrs old) was found dead in a gravel pit near her home in Edmundston, New Brunswick. She had numerous stab wounds on her body, and there was both direct and circumstantial evidence for her murder. The direct evidence includes eyewitnesses seeing her boyfriend, John Vollman, with her the day she died, and later Vollman confessed after being confronted by hair analysis during the trial. The circumstantial evidence included paint flakes (from the place where Bouchard and Vollman were seen) in Vollman's car, lipstick that matched Bouchard's was on a piece of candy in the glovebox, and there was hair found in Bouchard's hands during her autopsy that was later analyzed by forensic scientists  and tested using neutron activation analysis (NAA), and the results of the analysis were similar to the components of Vollman's hair sample. This case is important to forensic science because it was the first time that NAA hair analysis had been used to convict a criminal. 
https://www.acpsd.net/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=30449&dataid=9513&FileName=The%20Study%20of%20Hair.pdf ]]> 2021-02-25 19:58:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243028527 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243084204 Dr. Sydney Smith analyzed hairs side by side using a comparison microscope. This microscope allowed her to identify the different parts of hair, as well as discover the nuclear DNA and mtDNA found in the cuticle and hair shaft. ]]> 2021-02-25 20:11:33 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243084204 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243089756 On Decmeber 31, 1921, Alma Tirtsche's (12 yrs old) body was found wrapped in a blanket in Melbourne, Australia, in a place called "Gun Alley". She was raped a murdered, and her body was found to be washed before wrapped in the blanket, and there was little to no blood at the crime scene, which means "Gun Alley" was the secondary location. Local bar owner, Colin Ross, was questioned after admitting to seeing Tirtsche in the bar earlier that day. Investigators collected blankets from Ross' home and found several strands of long, reddish-blond hair on them, and the pigment concentration both implied that it was a young female. Based on physical similarity to the hair sample from the blankets, Ross was convicted of the murder. The case was the first time that hair was used to secure a conviction in Australia. However, 75 years later, analysis of the two strands found on the blankets came from two individuals. This implies that it was possibly a false conviction, and Ross could have been innocent. 
http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/rebels-outlaws/city-criminals/gun-alley-murder ]]> 2021-02-25 20:12:59 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1243089756 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331214239 Dr. Jane Bock created a lab manual with her students to assist in the identification of plant cells in a person's last meal and establish PMI (post mortem interval).]]> 2021-03-19 19:12:21 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331214239 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331219988 Richard Hauptmann was convicted of kidnapping Charles Lindbergh's son. This was the first time that forensic botanical evidence was accepted as legal evidence during a trial. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:14:07 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331219988 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331228712 Anthropologist, Clyde Snow, gave evidence for a trial that was outside of his field of expertise. His evidence was admissible back then, but today it would be 
in-admissable. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:16:59 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331228712 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331233216 Georg Popp was one of the first forensic scientists to use soil evidence to solve a crime. His discoveries were used to continue soil analysis in forensics. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:18:32 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331233216 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331263910 "The Washing Away of Wrongs", describes how flies were used to identify a murder scene. This handbook was created for coroners, and the author combined many of his own personal experience with research. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:28:55 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331263910 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331266394 Insect evidence was used to solve death of murdered infant hidden in the wall of a home in France. They found many coffin flies and maggots surrounding the wall area that the child was hidden in. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:29:45 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331266394 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331274526 Otzi the Iceman's body was found by two hikers in the mountains between Italy and Austria. Otzi was estimated to be 5,300 years old and probably died in his 40s. Otzi is the oldest frozen mummy ever found. Upon thawing, Otzi's intestine was examined and hop hornbeam pollen was found. Hop hornbeam flowers only bloom in May and June, so Otzi's death was declared to occur during the spring. This case study lead to forensic scientists to assist in the development of PMI. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:32:33 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331274526 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331291461 Four bullets were found in millionaire George Marsh's body. Evidence indicated that he had not been robbed. A piece of fabric and an unusual button were found near the corpse. In the rooming house where Marsh lived, an overcoat with all the buttons missing was found in the abandoned room of Willis Dow. The multicolored fibers and weave of the overcoat were consistent with the weave pattern and piece of fabric found at the crime scene. Based on this evidence, Dow was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:38:26 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331291461 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331306996 John B. Dodson died while on a hunting trip with his new wife, Janice. John appeared to be the victim of a hunting accident. Janice claimed that she was standing in a nearby muddy field when John was shot. She then went to their campsite to remove her muddy overalls and then went to seek help from some nearby hunters. Police then determined that the gun used to shoot him was a .308 caliber firearm, but the weapon was never recovered. Janice's ex-husband was staying at a campsite nearby, and he reported that a .308 caliber firearm and some cartridges were stolen from his campsite. However, he had a solid alibi for the time of the shooting, and the case went unsolved for three years. In 1998, investigators returned to where John was shot. They took soil samples from a nearby pond, and found bentonite (a mineral) had been added to the pond water, which would mean that the mud in the riverbed also had the same mineral. They reexamined the mud from Janice's overalls and found that it was consistent with the sample. This discovery exposed Janice's lie about her location during the shooting, and lead to her trial and conviction. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:43:45 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331306996 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331334924 During the Casey Anthony Murder trial, a Florida woman by the name of Cindy Anthony called 911 and stated that he 2-year-old granddaughter, Caylee, had been missing for 31 days. She also reported that her daughter's car smelled like a dead body. In court, forensic entomologist Dr. Neal Haskell testified for the prosecution. His expert opinion was that the insect evidence found in the car was consistent with a dead body being in the car for 3-5 days. A blowfly's leg along with hundreds on dried coffin fly larva, pupae, and adults were recovered from the car. Coffin flies are the same size if not smaller than fruit flies, so he testified that they could easily access the trunk of the car. Blowflies are a bit bigger, but a few could still get inside the trunk. This insect evidence was helpful during the trial, but ultimately it lead to Casey walking free without any jail time or fines. ]]> 2021-03-19 19:53:37 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1331334924 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413706548 Dr. Nehemiah Grew described the patterns he saw on human hands under a microscope. He was also known as the "Father of Plant Anatomy". ]]> 2021-04-13 19:31:23 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413706548 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413709549 Alphonse Bertillon created a way to identify criminals that were repeat offenders. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:32:09 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413709549 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413713896 Sir Edmund Richard Henry and colleagues created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups, which later was used to develop the "ten card". ]]> 2021-04-13 19:33:19 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413713896 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413720784 Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) was created to ensure high standards of evidence evaluation. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:35:09 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413720784 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413724086 The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) was created to provide digital, automated print searches. This system usually matches within 2 hours. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:36:05 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413724086 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413729600 The FBI created the Next Generation Identification Program (NGI), which works with the IAFIS using facial scans. They also now scan retinas for a more accurate identification process. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:37:32 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413729600 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413738865 IAFIS system had more than 76 million computerized fingerprints, mugshots, scars, tattoo photos, and more on file. This system would later be advanced by the Advanced Fingerprint Identification Technology (AFIT). ]]> 2021-04-13 19:40:04 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413738865 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413745454 John Dillinger was known as Public Enemy #1. During his life of crime, he overheard from workers in the pineapple farms that the Pineapple acid altered their fingerprints. This thought gave Dillinger the idea to soak his fingerprints in acid so it would alter his own fingerprints and make it harder to find him if he got caught for his crimes. However, he did not hear the workers say that their fingerprints eventually grew back after they discontinued their contact with the acid. Years later, fingerprints were taken from Dillinger's body at the morgue and compared to known examples that he left behind at several crime scenes. This identification process linked him to several crimes and closed several cold cases. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:41:53 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413745454 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413769412 Sir Francis Galton verified that fingerprints do not change with age. This discovery allowed scientists to determine that fingerprints are unique to each person and they stay the same for the person's entire life. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:48:40 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413769412 kf600405 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413776670 Fingerprints were pressed into a clay tablet. This is how people used to sign something so others would know that it was theirs, it was almost like their personal signature. ]]> 2021-04-13 19:50:47 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1413776670 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503703374 Collin Pitchfork committed the same crimes to two different girls of the same age (15 yrs old) three years apart. He assaulted, raped, and murdered the girls in England, one in November of 1983 and one in July of 1986. Forensic scientists were about to declare the case cold, until they called for 5,000 local men to submit a DNA test, which was the first time that mass DNA-testing had occurred to convict someone. Pitchfork had his coworker at a bakery submit his DNA instead of his own. The coworker was later discovered by a woman who overheard him saying that he did the test for a friend. Police apprehended Pitchfork, and found that his DNA matched both DNA samples found on the girls. ]]> 2021-05-07 18:48:37 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503703374 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503743980 DNA Identification Act was created, which declared DNA as confidential. Access is restricted to criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes. The unauthorized disclosure of DNA data in the National DNA database is subject to a criminal penalty not to exceed $250,000.]]> 2021-05-07 18:59:18 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503743980 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503753362 National DNA Index System (NDIS) was created, which began a DNA database for convicted criminals in the United States. CODIS was created later, which is an automated DNA information processing unit, to support NDIS. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:02:02 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503753362 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503767746 Karl Landsteiner discovered the three blood types: O, A, and B, through a blood-typing process call agglutination. He received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1930 for his discoveries. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:06:10 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503767746 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503777415 Karl Landsteiner discovered the Rh antigen, which makes blood positive or negative. He named the Rh antigen after the rhesus monkeys that he had used for research. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:09:03 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503777415 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503823532 U.S. DNA database exceeds one million convicted offender profiles. The Human Genome Project was completed. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:22:09 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503823532 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503827853 James Watson and Craig Venter release fully sequenced genomes. This research would go on to help assist in the completion of the Human Genome Project. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:23:31 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503827853 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503830260 Supreme Court decision. Police can (with probable cause) take a DNA swab from an arrestee for serious offenses. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:24:13 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503830260 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503834960 National Comission on Forensic Science appointed to standardize and set requirements for certification and training ]]> 2021-05-07 19:25:35 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503834960 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503840483 Controlled Substances Act recognized five schedules of drugs. These drugs are based on any accepted medical use of the drugs and their abuse or dependency potential. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:27:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503840483 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503849244 Mary Ansell, an English housemaid, poisoned her sister Caroline to obtain an insurance settlement. Mary sent Caroline a cake tainted with phosphorous. Caroline died after eating the poisoned cake. Evidence of Mary's recent purchases of phosphorous and a life insurance policy in her sister's name were provided at her trial. Based on this evidence, Mary was quickly convicted and executed. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:29:57 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503849244 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503885905 Justice for All Act was established. This granted federal inmates the right to DNA testing. It also helped prove innocence of many prisoners. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:41:18 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503885905 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503890492 FBI develops National Missing person DNA Database (NMPDD) to help identify missing persons using STR, Y-STR, and mtDNA.  This advancement is essential for the advanced analysis of evidence during trial now, which leads to more convictions. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:42:47 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503890492 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503903904 The American Board of Forensic Anthropology was established to certify forensic anthropologist. This gave the people a way to identify bodies that no one could have identified before. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:47:09 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503903904 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503910719 The FDA established The Food and Drug Administration Act. It is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring safety, efficiency, and security of human and veterinary drugs, bio products, and medical devices. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:49:31 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503910719 https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503923325 The first ever forensic entomology symposium was created, and named the Entomology Society of America Symposium. Dr. Haskell met leading forensic entomologists and studied together. ]]> 2021-05-07 19:53:55 UTC https://padlet.com/kf600405/4ui73r38kj18dc78/wish/1503923325