L4: Investing the crime scene

Question 1

what was the Australia 1960 case?

Answer 1

Graeme Thorne was kidnapped
5 weeks later found in rug
suffocated and clubbed to death

Question 2

what physical evidence was found for the Australia 1960 case?

Answer 2

Pink granular mineral material, animal hairs and
human hairs on his clothing
• Mould on his shoes and socks
• Plant material including seeds on the rug and body

Question 3

what was the pink and plant material?

Answer 3

pink material was an unusual building mortar while the plant material included the seeds of a rare variety of cypress tree.

Question 4

how long after being kidnapped was he killed?

Answer 4

shortly after

Question 5

what did police do with the pink and plant material?

Answer 5

identify houses built with these materials/ around these materials.

Question 6

what happened with the empty premises they found?

Answer 6

photograph of picnic with blanket
perkiness dog
blue ford car sam seen near kidnapping
Stephen Bradley life imprisoment

Question 7

what should the FAO do?

Answer 7

Initial assessment
• Preserve the scene
• Call for assistance
• Record keeping and communication

Question 8

what should the Crime Scene Coordinator do and what should happen at a crime scene?

Answer 8

Allocation of teams to scenes
• All duties to be documented
• Investigation should not disturb the integrity of the scenes
• Avoid contamination and secondary transfer of evidence by proper management of evidence retrieval
• Protective clothing

Question 9

who is responsible for recovering evidence?

Answer 9

CSE and others

Question 10

how to recover evidence?

Answer 10

Use special lighting to reveal evidence
Enhancement of marks and 
appropriate packaging
labelling and
signing packed evidence

Question 11

How do you record evidence?

Answer 11

photography 
video 
sketches 
written notes 
audio recording

Question 12

what does contamination do ?

Answer 12

Evidence loses its integrity through contamination with other material

Question 13

when can contamination take place?

Answer 13

• with things bought by police officers
• errors in handling in transit
• within the lab itself

Question 14

what is secondary transfer?

Answer 14

Evidence moving inadvertently within a scene or from one scene to another after the crime.

Question 15

how can transfer take place?

Answer 15

contact between suspect and witness
transfer during transport
transfer in the lab

Question 16

in court what has to be ensured

Answer 16

continuity of evidence

control of all scenes and all activities documented

Question 17

who carries out prosecutions England and Wales?

Answer 17

CPS

Question 18

what type of reports are required?

Answer 18

1. CSI reprot form
2. forensic evidence labels
3. CSI’s statement on activity
4. executive summary - SIO
5. forensic case for scientific examination of evidence
6. streamlined forensic reporting

Question 19

what does SF reporting do?

Answer 19

manages cases
save costs
avoid delays
strengthens report

Question 20

breakdown SFR report

Answer 20

SFR Initial Forensic Investigation Report, used for an initial forensic strategy
• SFR Stage 1 Forensic Results report, with key forensic findings
• SFR Stage 2 Forensic Issues report with full findings, addresses case issues and disputed matters
• SFR Crime Scene Investigation statement, relating to SRF 1

Question 21

what happened in the Sarah Payne case?

Answer 21

July 2001, wondered off playing with siblings
bro saw white van
2 weeks later body found in a field
child sex offender list, Roy Whiting suspect- had white van

Question 22

what is a crime scene ?

Answer 22

place, person or sometimes an object where evidence may be recovered, held or processed

Question 23

what where the main crime scenes in the Sarah Payne case?

Answer 23

• The body and its immediate environment
• The surrounding environment of the body (may need to be sub-divided depending on geography)
• The suspect (including his house if necessary)
• The suspect’s van
• The victim’s house
• The mortuary (note that the body is in two scenes)
• The person who found the body (and his/her house if necessary)
• CSEs and their vehicles
• Forensic laboratories

Question 24

what evidence was found in the Sarah Payne case?

Answer 24

• body remains
• balls of hair with trace fibres
• shoe velcro fibre
• van had red sweatshirt, clown pattern curtain, socks, shirt and fuel reciept
• home - tooth, hair brush, sweater
• van: fibres on seat

Question 25

what DNA evidence was there?

Answer 25

• body identified using milk tooth
• her hair follicle found in van
• red sweater was Roys

Question 26

what fibre evidence was there?

Answer 26

• sock fibre on body linked them
• shoe Sarahs as blue fibre
• shoe had red sweater and curtain fibres
• body and van linked seat fabric
• hair in van match hairbrush

Question 27

what makes fibre evidence strong?

Answer 27

Combination of physical and chemical measurements makes the fibre analyses very strongly classifiable