investigation
Whodunnit, and why? All about criminal investigations and the forensic methods used to search for clues and collect evidence to get to the bottom of the crime.
Real Life Detectives
MARY DOYLE Often described as a feisty redhead, Mary Doyle is the Chief Superintendent of Britain's Manchester Police Force. Doyle joined the force at age twenty and has had a celebrated career of 24 years so far. She has tread a path that few women in this country have been able to. Manchester is a large city, with the problems of all big cities. Doyle will now be firmly butting heads with organized crime. Manchester has between 27 and 40 of them. She was involved in the investigation into the murder of Indian student, Anuj Bidve, which made international news. Bidve's murderer, Kiaran Stapleton, gave his name as "Psycho Stapelton" at one of his hearings. Doyle found his sentence of 30 years without parole to be "satisfying." It was a high-pressure case and her response to being chosen to investigate it was “They knew that because of the circumstances of it and the potential impact it could go worldwide and would be in the international spotlight, so they wanted someone reasonably qualified." Mary was also involved in the investigation of Dale Cregan who murdered a criminal father and son, and two police officers as well. Doyle has taken over a hornet's nest of controversy after some high profile blunders under her predecessor, but she is resolved to bring greater consistency to how police departments deal with cases.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Safety
The world is not a safe place. It was the one thing I learned when I lived in Winnipeg for a short period of time. Of course I used to travel to the city, even stayed in hotels around Portage area, and bravely walked the streets in the daylight. But when you actually live there, it has a way of showing its scars underneath the shiny, colorful makeup after a while. There are men leering at you on the bus like dogs hungry for meat. There are even women who sneer or glare down at your body moving through the aisles of Shopper's Drug Mart. Then there are the police who slow down as you try to make it to your room after a long day at school. It isn’t a month until you start to observe your surroundings like a hawk, keep your hair in a tight bun so that no one would use it as a weapon against you, and you buy a switchblade knife for twenty dollars, tucked nicely in your boots. You’re good as golden to roam the streets as safe as anybody can be. Even for a native girl.
By Brianne Morris8 years ago in Criminal
Bank Robbery
Today's bank robberies aren't exactly Ocean's Eleven. Truth be told, very few are even like The Handsome Guy Bandit, Steven Milam, who donned a mask to rob banks. Fewer still are robberies like the Battle of North Hollywood, when Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu engaged L.A. police in a devasting street battle.These days, they are the despondent down-on-their-luck average Joes or desperate drug addicts looking for a fix. However, the urgent needs of offenders cause serious problems for banks. Take the case of Stephen Trantel. He was a typical suburban husband and dad. During the economic downfall, he lost his place on the trading floor of the NY Stock Exchange. He pretended to go to work every day, and after trying to cope with the huge expenses of living in a New York City suburb, he decided on robbing a bank for financial relief. He robbed 10, with a total take of $60,000. He was smart. Having researched bank jobs, he figured out that 80 percent of bank robbers get caught because of their use of cars. Many are stolen, witnesses give license plate numbers and descriptions of the car; these were drawbacks he considered. Trantel opted for a nonchalant approach. His car was parked blocks away, usually in an out-of-the-way corner of a parking lot, near a dumpster. Using a cup of coffee as a prop, he'd walk around a bit, then enter the bank leaving the cup on a ledge outside the bank chosen. When he left the bank, Trantel would pick up the cup and saunter away, back to his car where he would change clothes behind the dumpster. Stephen was caught because they found a fingerprint on one of the notes he would hand to a teller. He was arrested in 2004, and released from prison in 2012.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Craigslist Crimes
Craigslist, the place where you can sell anything, even yourself. It's the place where you can buy anything, including sex. It's also the root of a lot of evil. The crime that ensues for many people begins with a simple post, whether you are buying or selling. Most have heard of Philip Markoff, the Craigslist killer, but he is really A Craigslist killer. There have been 129 of them, with 2017 being the last year for which information is available. That does not reflect the huge numbers of other crimes that have been recorded, but not tallied. Craigslist's answer to the criminality users are subjected to is a cavalier, “With billions of human interactions, the incidence of violent crime related to Craigslist is extremely low.” What they don't do but could do is hire more people to work in the safety division or in ad inspection. There are only 40 people running this show. Backpage was recently shut down for prostitution ads, and for the human trafficking of children for sex. Craigslist needs to take a stand on "Safe Trade" spots. There are many of them, and you can find them at Safe Spots. These safe trade spots are usually set up at police stations, to assure buyers and sellers can exchange money for goods in safety.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Autopsy
There is so much misinformation about autopsies in fictional TV, movies, and books, that it is time to set the record right. The parts of an autopsy are an external examination, Y-incision, removal of organs, stomach content analysis, collection of tissue samples, head and brain assessment, and the conclusions of the examiner. During all of this, the medical examiner is responsible for identifying the victim and estimating the time of death.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Old School Fingerprints Just Don't Cut It Anymore
Fingerprints may seem old school to people today. After all, we've been using them in this country to catch the bad guys for over 100 years. Now there is an all-you-can-read smorgasbord of new and exciting discoveries in fingerprinting that will amaze you! It is no longer a world of loops, whirls, and arches, but one of chemistry, nanoparticles, and physics.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
The McStay Family
On February 4, 2010, a family of four vanished from their home. Joseph Mcstay was 40 at the time he went missing and his wife Summer was 43. They had two kids; Gianni was 4 and Joseph Jr. was 3. The family's home was searched after they disappeared and there was a carton of eggs left on the counter and two bowls of popcorn left on the sofa. It was obvious that the family left in a hurry. Were they running from something, someone?
By Faith McCune8 years ago in Criminal
New Data on DNA
DNA Methylation You do not need a degree in biochemistry to get the gist of forensic DNA. Everyone gets the fact that DNA is unique to each human being, and can be used to connect a perpetrator to a crime. The first crime solved by the analysis of DNA was in 1988 in England when Colin Pitchfork was convicted of murder, thanks to the efforts of Alec Jeffreys. We've come a long way, baby. New developments in DNA forensics are both remarkable and frightening. We'll start with what is remarkable.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Basic Ballistics
Ballistics is a science that encompasses more than you think it does. There are several disciplines including internal ballistics which deals with the actual propulsion of a bullet through a gun, while external ballistics is the analyzing of the bullet's path through the air. There are several things that can influence a bullet's flight path, such as wind, weather, and air drag. Impact of a bullet is categorized as terminal ballistics. This leads to analyzing the angle and depth of wounds and impacts into walls or ceilings and various objects which have been struck. In April of 1925, Calvin Goddard established the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics in New York City with C. E. Waite, Philip O. Gravelle, and John H. Fisher. The biggest advance in ballistics was the invention, by Gravelle, of the comparison microscope. This device enabled scientists to see a crime scene bullet at the same time as a bullet test-fired from a suspect's gun.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
Bloodstain Patterns
Blood is a substance with characteristics you probably don't think about. Tap a blood drop and it's sticky, walk through a blood stain and it's slippery. It is a non-Newtonian fluid and behaves much like ketchup. During a violent encounter, blood will stick to surfaces in patterns called blood spatter. The correct term is spatter, not splatter. These patterns can be read by someone who has been trained to do so, and they may discern the story of a violent crime as easily as you read this. Blood spatter occurs when blood is impacted by a violent attack. Droplets fly through the air and deposit on surfaces. The shape of a droplet changes depending on the type of surface it hits. Drops on glass will be very different from drops that land on wood. The angle of impact changes the shape of blood drops as do the velocity and distance traveled. Stains will either be round or elliptical depending on the angle of impact. If you measure the width and length of a droplet, you can determine the angle of impact. From this information, the location of the victim and perpetrator during the attack may be determined.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Criminal
The Stranger Next Door (Pt. 3)
It was the morning after the night before and I felt like death. I could hear the voices of my friends downstairs as I struggled to enter the waking world. How they had the energy to still be giggling like children, I will never know. I could hear the kettle boiling, no doubt somebody was making tea and coffee for the sore heads in my living room. The thought of caffeine helped me lift my heavy head from the pillow and drag myself downstairs.
By Sophia Merici8 years ago in Criminal
