Types of Crime Scenes

There are three types of crime scene:

---

1. The Outdoor Crime Scene

---

The outdoor crime scene is the most vulnerable to loss, contamination, and deleterious change of physical evidence in a relatively short period of time. Individuals with access to the scene can potentially alter, destroy or contaminate evidence.

The risk is greatest when crime scene investigators fail to secure the crime scene properly. Destruction or deterioration of evidence due to environmental conditions such as heat, cold, rain, snow and wind are problems associated with outdoor scenes. Evidence that cannot be protected under these conditions should be collected expeditiously without compromising its integrity. Investigators who encounter a combination of an indoor and outdoor scene should give priority to processing the outdoor component.

Nighttime outdoor crime scenes are particularly problematic. Regardless of the quality of the light source used to illuminate the scenes, the lack of sunlight can lead to investigators inadvertantly missing or destroying evidence. Whenever possible, outdoor crime scenes should be held and secured until daylight for processing.

---

2. The Indoor Types of Crime Scene

---

Evidence at an indoor scene is generally less susceptible to loss, contamination and deleterious change. Indoor crime scenes are usually easier to secure and protect, and securing a scene can be as simple as closing a door. The methods used by forensic laboratories have evolved so that very small amounts of biological material can produce a usable DNA profile. This, however, means that the potential for detecting DNA traces deposited by contamination at crime scenes becomes a factor.
Contamination of any crime scene can easily occur if proper precautions, such as limiting the number of people inside the scene, are not taken. For example, first responders, emergency medical personnel, patrol supervisors, crime scene investigators, and medical examiners are all potential sources of contamination and/or loss of evidence.

---

3. The Conveyance Crime Scene

---

Conveyance is defined as "something that serves as a means of transportation." Types of crimes committed in conveyances include, but are not limited to:

Vehicle Burglary

Grand Theft

Car Jacking

Sexual Battery

Homicide

It is important that the crime scene investigator recognize that physical evidence recovered from these scenes may extend well beyond the conveyance itself. The flight path of the perpetrator may reveal evidence important to the investigation. For example, impression evidence, such as shoe or footprints in soil, may be found leading away from the scene, and property removed from the conveyance may be deposited or dropped as the perpetrator flees the scene.
Cigarette butts are sometimes found in and around the conveyance. The nature of the crime may give the investigator an idea of the type of evidence present. To protect the scene against inclement weather and other factors that may contribute to evidence loss and/or destruction, a conveyance such as a vehicle may be transported to the laboratory after proper documentation has been completed.

(Information provided by the Department of Justice)

Famous Forensic Cases

TED BUNDY

One of the most notorious serial killers of all time, Ted Bundy was officially linked to the murder of 36 victims, although many expert commentators believe he probably killed at least 100 women. It is widely acknowledged that the expert testimony by forensic odontologist (dentist) Dr. Richard Souviron in relation to the bite mark found on murder victim Lisa Levy; was crucial in securing the conviction and subsequent execution of Bundy.



Click Here to read The "Most Famous Bitemark Case of the Twentieth Century" by Dr Mike Bowers.

Famous Forensic Cases

New forensic tests have shown that bones believed to be the remains of French icon and heroine Joan of Arc are in fact Egyptian in origin. Forensic scientist Dr Philippe Charlier says the remains include a charred human rib from an Egyptian mummy and the thigh bone of a cat.

Dr Charlier, from the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, near Paris, obtained permission to study the relics from the France's Catholic Church last year.

He used a range of scientific tests such as spectrometry, electron microscopy, and pollen analysis.

Click Here for more details.


Joan of Arc remains 'are fakes'

The bones came from a mummy, Philippe Charlier says
Bones thought to be the holy remains of 15th Century French heroine Joan of Arc were in fact made from an Egyptian mummy and a cat, research has revealed.

In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy attic, along with a label claiming it held relics of Joan's body.

But new forensic tests suggest that the remains date from between the third and sixth centuries BC - hundreds of years before Joan was even born.

The study has been reported in the news pages of the Nature journal.

Forensic scientist Dr Philippe Charlier, who led the investigation, told Nature: "I'd never have thought that it could be from a mummy." 


 Read More
 

Famous Forensic Cases

The Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case

---

The death of Marilyn Sheppard in 1954 remains one of the most infamous unsolved murders in the USA. The subsequent arrest of her husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard resulted in what became known as the "Trial of the Century" in 1954 followed by the "Re-Trial of the Century" in 1966.

In 1999 the TV science series NOVA aired a program on the Sheppard case which re-examined the forensic evidence surrounding the case. Nova also produced an excellent supporting website entitled "The Killer's Trail".

A riveting, step-by-step account of the key events in the Sheppard murder case, assembled by Sheppard's son and attorney-journalist Cynthia Cooper. 

Click Here to visit the website. 

 Read More

Vintage Crime Scene Photos

Album of Paris Crime Scene - Attributed to Alphonese Bertillon


Photographs of the pale bodies of murder victims are assembled with views of the rooms where the murders took place, close-ups of objects that served as clues, and mug shots of criminals and suspects. Made as part of an archive rather than as art, these postmortem portraits, recorded in the deadpan style of a police report, nonetheless retain an unsettling potency.