Acknowledgements

The Publishers would like to thank Doctor Ray Williams, Director, and Ken Creer, head of the Photographic Department of the Metropolitan Police Forensic Laboratory, for help in supplying information and photographic material used in this book. Contributors to the case histories include: John Clute, Emma Fisher, Angus Hall, Elizabeth Herr, Frances Kennett, Bernard Knight, Sarah Litvinoff, Robin Odell, Frank Symth

Foreword

Forensic science is an umbrella term for a branch of science which has many constituent parts. There is probably as much confusion about what a forensic scientist is, as about the work he does. Historically, scientific matters associated with crime detection were almost solely the province of pathologists who carried out ‘non-medical’ investigations on a somewhat ad hoc basis. Although in some countries the pathologist is still in virtual overall charge of the scientific aspects of an investigation, in most cases the investigator can call upon a variety of experts to assist him according to the needs of the problem he has to solve.

A case of murder, for example, could involve, in the first instance, a police surgeon who certifies death and makes a preliminary examination of the body. The forensic pathologist completes the examination and arranges for the body to be moved to a mortuary where he will conduct a post mortem examination. Meanwhile, police photographers, fingerprint and scenes of crime officers will be making a detailed search of the scene for clues. In complicated cases a scientist from a crime laboratory will often accompany the pathologist and be on hand to assist and advise the police scenes of crime team in the interpretation of what is found.

Long after the event the pain-staking work goes on—in the pathologist’s laboratory, with microscope sections of tissue removed from the body; in the fingerprint bureau, with marks taken from the scene and vast indexes of fingerprints from known criminals; and in the crime laboratory itself, with microscopic fragments of cloth fibres and paint flakes, with bullets and bloodstains, and a host of other bits and pieces besides.

Diversification among a number of specialists is a necessary and logical development of the investigator’s use of science against crime. It has been brought about largely by the tremendous advances in science and technology during the last century and the realization that no one person, be he investigator or expert, can ‘go it alone’. Perhaps disappointingly, the popular polymath image of the forensic scientist created by crime novels and television characters, bears little resemblance to the truth. It is only by drawing upon the very different and special knowledge of the medically qualified expert, the forensic toxicologist, the ballistics expert, the forensic biologist and the forensic chemist, among others, that a properly integrated response to crime can be orchestrated by the investigator. Forensic science is truly multi-disciplinary in its methods, and the application of its methods requires a team effort on the part of the experts involved.

Crime is a complex interaction of people and things at different points in time and space, and crime detection is a high grade intellectual pursuit.

The physical residues of crime—the fibres and the glass, the blood and the tire marks—all hold vital secrets about what has happened. It is the forensic scientist’s job to make them give up their secrets, to interpret the data and to tell the story that is revealed.

A glance at the many examples of classic cases in this book will show that the partnership between science and crime detection is not new. Forensic science is almost as old as crime itself and, even if it is not quite the “oldest profession”, then it must surely be the second oldest!

R.E. Stockdale
Oxfordshire
February, 1982

Contents

CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION by Stuart Kind 6
Case Histories:
MURDERER EXTRAORDINAIRE 14
A BARONET FROM WAGGA WAGGA 24

THE FORENSIC SCIENCE LABORATORY by Russell Stockdale 30
Case History:
A VERY FISHY STORY 38

FORENSIC MEDICINE by Bernard Knight 44
Case Histories:
THE SYDNEY ‘SHARK ARM’ MURDER 48
THE VANISHING BRUISE 56
PATHOLOGISTS GALORE 64

TOXICOLOGY by Patrick Toseland 68
Case Histories:
THE BLACK WIDOW OF LOUDUN 76
“FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE?” 80

FORENSIC DENTISTRY by Bernard Grant Sims 84
Case History:
THE ACID TEST 96

FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY by Frank Smyth 102
Case History:
BLOOD IN THE DRAINS 110

FINGERPRINTS by Robin Odell 114
Case Histories:
“WHO KILLED SIR HARRY?” 120
THE INDELIBLE FINGERPRINT 126

BALLISTICS by Frank Smyth 130
Case Histories:
POINT BLANK 134
TRACKS ON THE VELDT 139
“THOSE ANARCHIST BASTARDS” 144

FORGERY by Robin Keeley 148
Case Histories:
THE HUNGARIAN CIRCLE 153
THE HOWARD HUGHES HOAX 158

POLICE ORGANIZATION by Robin Odell 164
Case Histories:
GETTNG AWAY WITH MURDER 170
“I HAVEN'T FALLEN OFF THE CHRISTMAS TREE” 175

INDEX 180