Outliers Writing University Podcast Series

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 51: Forensic Science For Crime Writers: Evidence

Locard’s Exchange Principle
Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.   
Professor Edmond Locard (1877-1966)
 
Evidence Classification
Direct and Circumstantial
Eyewitness accounts and confessions are direct evidence, everything else (DNA, fingerprints, blood, hairs, fibers, bullets, etc.) is circumstantial
 
Physical and Biological
Physical evidence may take to form of fingerprints, shoe and tire impressions, tool marks, fibers, paint, glass, drugs, firearms, bullets and shell casings, documents, explosives, and petroleum byproduct fire accelerants. Biological evidence would be a corpse, blood, saliva, semen, hair, and botanical materials, such as wood, plants, and pollens.
 
Using Evidence
Crime scene and other evidence serve many purposes in the arena of criminal investigation. These might be considered as:
Corpus Delicti---This is the “body” or the essential facts of the crime. Evidence will reveal exactly what type of crime was committed, such as robbery, murder, or a sexual assault.
Modus Operandi (MO)---This is the steps and methods the perpetrator employed to commit the crime. A criminal’s MO tends to be repetitive so that identification of his MO can help with uncovering, even trapping, the perpetrator.
Linkage—The association of linkage of a suspect to a victim, a place, or other pieces of evidence is critical to solving the crime.
Verification---Evidence can substantiate or refute suspect or witness statements and show who is lying and who is speaking the truth.
Suspect identification---Evidence can often identify the perpetrator. Fingerprints or DNA would be examples of such evidence.
Crime Scene Reconstruction---The evidence often allows investigators to reconstruct the sequence of events of the crime.
Investigative Leads---Evidence will frequently direct the lines of investigation followed by the police and the coroner and often lead them to the perpetrator.
Main Functions of Evidence
Identification and Comparison
The forensic analysis of evidence items is done for two main purposes: identification and comparison. Identification is done to determine what exactly a particular item or substance is. Is this white powder heroin or crystal methamphetamine or sugar? Who manufactured the shoe that left the print at the crime scene? Is this brown carpet stain dried blood or chocolate sauce? Are there petrochemical residues present in the debris of a suspicious fire? 
Comparisons are done to see if a known and a suspect item or substance share a common origin. That is, did they come from the same person, place, or object? Did this fingerprint, hair, or blood come from the suspect? Does this paint smudge found on a hit and run victim’s clothing match that of the suspect’s car? Does the bullet removed from a murder victim match the one test fired from the suspect’s gun?
Class Versus Individual Characteristics
Some types of evidence carry more weight than do others. Hair and fibers can suggest, while DNA and fingerprints can absolutely make a connection. The difference is that some evidence shares class characteristics and others individual characteristics.
Class characteristics are those that are not unique to a particular object, but rather serve to place the particular bit of evidence into a specific class.
Individual characteristics are as close to absolute proof of the origin of the evidence item as is possible.
Reconstructive and Associative Evidence
Whether the evidence is class or individual in quality, it may be used to reconstruct the events of the crime or to associate a suspect with the crime scene. 
 
Reconstructive evidence is any evidence that helps in reconstructing the crime scene.
Associative evidence is evidence that ties the suspect to the crime scene. In storytelling, evidence can be a Red Herring by appearing to be associative when it actually isn’t.
Primary and Secondary Crime Scenes— The primary scene is where the crime actually occurred, while any subsequent scenes are deemed secondary.
Staged Crime Scene— when the perpetrator alters the scene in an attempt to make the scene look like something it’s not.
For More Information pick up one of my Forensic Science Books:
https://www.dplylemd.com/books/forensicscience

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 50: Forensics For Crime Writers: Coroner

Duties of the Coroner/Medical Examiner
Determination of the cause and manner of death
Determination of the time of death
Supervision of evidence collection from the body
Identification of unknown corpses and skeletal remains
Determination of any contributory factors in the death
Certification of the death certificate
Presentation of expert testimony in court
Oversight of the crime lab (in some areas)
Examination of injuries to the living and determination their cause and timing
https://www.dplylemd.com/books/forensicscience

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 49: Familial/Genealogical DNA

GOLDEN STATE KILLER:
 
CBS News (4-22-17): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-state-killer-connecting-the-dots-in-the-search-for-a-serial-predator/
 
Richmond University: https://jolt.richmond.edu/2019/10/30/familial-dna-testing-the-golden-state-killer-and-how-it-affects-you/
 
The Golden State Killer and DNA: https://dna-explained.com/2018/04/30/the-golden-state-killer-and-dna/
 
ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/US/dna-family-members-helped-solved-golden-state-killer/story?id=54800093
 
 
GRIM SLEEPER:
 
Grim Sleeper-Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Sleeper
 
LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-08-la-me-grim-sleeper-20100708-story.html
 
 
MISC:
 
Jody Loomis Case: https://www.newser.com/story/298585/suspect-in-1972-murder-kills-himself-hours-before-verdict.html
 
Familial DNA Used in Only 12 States: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/familial-dna-puts-elusive-killers-behind-bars-only-12-states-n869711

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 48: Three Famous Toxicology Cases

Poisons and drugs have been used as murder weapons for many centuries. Sometimes the poison itself does the killing and other times it simply facilities the use of another method. Here are three famous cases involving poisons and drugs.
 
Kristin Rossum: The American Beauty Murder
 
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Rossum
 
Murderpedia: http://murderpedia.org/female.R/r/rossum-kristin.htm
 
 
Stella Nickell: Product Tampering
 
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Nickell
 
Murderpedia: https://murderpedia.org/female.N/n/nickell-stella.htm
 
Daily News: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/wash-woman-poisoned-husband-planted-tainted-pills-1986-article-1.3163801
 
 
Kurt Cobain: Murder or Suicide?
 
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Kurt_Cobain
 
All That’s Interesting: https://allthatsinteresting.com/kurt-cobain-murdered
 
CBS News Photos: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/new-kurt-cobain-death-scene-photos/

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 47: Amnesia and Trauma

Can A Blow To the Head Cause Unconsciousness and Amnesia?
Q: How hard do you have to be hit on the head to be knocked unconscious? Is there a particular place on the head, that if struck would be more likely to cause unconsciousness? How long does it usually last? How hard do you need to be hit to cause partial or temporary amnesia? What sort of things do people forget in these situations? How long does it usually last? Are there any other physical symptoms a writer should be sure and include in a scene with head trauma?  
 
A: In medical terms a blow to the head, or anywhere else, is called blunt force trauma as opposed to sharp force trauma as would occur with a knife or some other cutting instrument. When the blow is to the head, it is called a blunt head injury.
The degree of force required to render someone unconscious is completely unpredictable and varies from situation to situation and from person to person. Though a minor tap on the head is not likely to cause unconsciousness in anyone, almost any blow of significant force can. It makes no difference where the blow strikes the head as far as causing unconsciousness is concerned. That is, a blow to the front of the head is no more likely or less likely to cause unconsciousness than would one to the side or back of the head.
The period of unconsciousness in a simple concussion, which is what loss of consciousness due to blunt force head injury is called, is measured in seconds or minutes. Unlike Hollywood where the bad guy is slugged in the jaw, knocked unconscious, and then written out of the script after that -- or at least the hero no longer has to worry about him -- is not what happens in real life. Think about every boxing match you’ve ever seen. One guy smacks the other one, knocking him unconscious, and 30 seconds later the guy is awake and complaining that it was a lucky punch. This is what really happens. 
Unconsciousness from a simple concussion can last several minutes and maybe even up to 10 or 15 minutes, though that would be unusual. Typically the person wakes up with a minute or so but might be slightly groggy or confused for a while, again for several minutes. But if he is unconscious for longer than a few minutes, the odds are that a serious injury to the brain has occurred or that bleeding into and around the brain has happened, Both of these situation are true medical emergencies. It doesn’t sound like that’s the situation you are posing with your questions.
Amnesia can indeed follow blows to the head. Typically the blow has to be powerful enough to render the person unconscious or at least woozy before amnesia enters the picture. But I should point out that other than the time period the victim is actually unconscious there is no loss of memory in the overwhelming majority of people who suffer head injuries. Amnesia is not rare but it is not common. But amnesia can occur after head injury, so you can absolutely use this in your story.
Amnesia comes in many flavors but they are usually divided into retrograde and anterograde types. Anterograde amnesia is very rare and is a situation where the person cannot form new memories. This was the subject of the excellent movie Memento. I won’t dwell on this since this is not the type of amnesia your questions deal with.
Retrograde simply means whatever came before. This type of amnesia is the most common in that the person forgets things that happened before the injury. This amnesia can cover events that occurred for only a few minutes before the injury, a few hours, a few days, weeks, or months, or can go back to forever. The person can forget some things and not others, such as he might not remember his name but might remember his address and phone number. He might remember some people but not others. He might recognize people but not be able to recall their names. 
Or he could have what is called global amnesia in which he remembers nothing, not his name, not where he is, not where he came from, and virtually everything else. This type of amnesia can be temporary or permanent. It may only last for a few minutes, hours, days, or months or in some people it can last forever and be a permanent loss of memories. 
When memories begin to return, they can come back suddenly and completely, partially, or in fits and spurts. The person might remember some things within a few minutes but other things might be lost in the cloud of amnesia forever. Virtually anything can happen so this means that your story can be crafted in almost any way you wish.
The other symptoms that can be associated with a concussion of this type are headaches, dizziness, poor balance, nausea, blurred vision, and generalized weakness and fatigue. These symptoms usually are minor and only last a few hours but they can become more problematic and last for many days and in some people for many months. There is no real treatment other than time and perhaps medications for headaches if they become chronic.

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Authors Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

Jeffery Deaver is the award-winning #1 international and New York Times bestselling author of the Lincoln Rhyme, Colter Shaw and Kathryn Dance series, among many others. Deaver’s work includes forty-seven novels, one hundred short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. A former journalist, folk singer, and attorney, he was born outside Chicago and has a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University. He was recently named a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Elmore Leonard and Mickey Spillane. For more information, visit www.jefferydeaver.com.
Isabella Maldonado is the award-winning and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Nina Guerrera, Daniela Vega and Veranda Cruz series. Her books are published in twenty-four languages. Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in her police department, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing. For more information, visit www.isabellamaldonado.com.

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Tori Eldridge

Tori Eldridge is the Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Norwegian author, The Ninja’s Oath, fourth book in the Lily Wong thriller series and the Brazilian dark fantasy, Dance Among the Flames. Her shorter works have been published in numerous anthologies including the Anthony Award winning Crime Hits Home. The first book in her new Hawai‘i mystery series, KULEANA, is set to release summer 2025. Tori was born in Honolulu where she graduated from Punahou School with classmate Barack Obama before performing as an actress, singer, dancer on Broadway, television and film, and earning a fifth-degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninja martial arts. Her literary works have garnered Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Award nominations and the 2021 Crimson Scribe for Best Book of the Year. Tori is currently writing her next Hawai‘i mystery from Oregon where she dotes on her precious mo‘opuna (grandchildren). Learn more about her at ToriEldridge.com.
 https://torieldridge.com

GET TO KNOW Author Maddie Margarita

Maddie Margarita writes mystery/romantic suspense. She is the host of Lit Up! OC --a monthly writer’s salon in Southern California, and the Southern California Writers Association HUMP DAY BOOK TOUR, available on YouTube @SCWAwritersonline. When not writing, or talking, Maddie serves on the Board of the Southern California Writer’s Association and as President of Sisters-in Crime Orange County. A teaching artist at the Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA., her short stories can be found in IT’S ALL IN THE STORY CALIFORNIA and BLOOD FICTION, both anthologies of short fiction.
https://maddiemargarita.com/

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Tamara Grantham

Tamara Grantham
Tamara Grantham is the author of more than twenty books and novellas, including many multi-award-winning fantasy novels for middle-grade through adult readers. Many of her novels launched as #1 bestsellers on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Some of her awards include two first place Rone awards, a Praiseworthy award, and an Indiefab book of the year award for fantasy. Born and raised in Texas, Tamara now lives with her husband and five children in Wichita, Kansas. When she gets a moment to relax, she enjoys reading fantasy novels and watching every Star Wars or Star Trek movie ever made. 
https://tamaragrantham.com/

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Laurie R. King

Laurie R. King is the third generation in her family native to the San Francisco area. She spent her childhood reading her way through libraries up and down the West Coast; her middle years raising children, renovating houses, traveling the world, and doing a BA and MA in theology.  (Her long autobiography goes into detail about how she uses these interests.)  King now lives a genteel life of crime, on California’s central coast.
Her crime novels are both serial and stand-alone. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell, who met the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915 and became his apprentice, then his partner. Beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Russell and Holmes move through the Teens and Twenties in amiable discord, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection.
In the Russell & Holmes stories, King explores ideas—the roots of conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan; feminism and early Christianity; patriotism and individual responsibility—while also having a rousing good time.  Various stories revisit The Hound of the Baskervilles and Kipling’s Kim, set a pair of Bedouin nomads down in a grand country house in England, and offer an insider’s view of the great quake and fire of 1906, all the while forging an unlikely relationship between two remarkably similar individuals who happen to be separated by age, sex, and background. King’s newest series, beginning with Back to the Garden, finds SFPD Inspector Raquel Laing working on Cold Cases that reach into the present.
King’s Stuyvesant & Grey series, also historical, follows American ex-Bureau of Investigation agent Harris Stuyvesant, damaged young Captain Bennett Grey, and Grey’s sister Sarah as they move through Europe between the Wars.
Five King novels concern San Francisco homicide inspector Kate Martinelli, Kate’s SFPD partner Al Hawkin, and her life partner Lee Cooper. In the course of the stories, Kate has encountered a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, and a manifestation of the goddess Kali.
King’s stand-alone suspense novels include A Darker Place, the story of a middle-aged professor of religion who investigates “cults” for the FBI, and encounters a movement that embraces the dangerous beliefs of alchemy. Folly tells of woodworker Rae Newborne, who comes to a deserted island to rebuild a house, and her life. Keeping Watch is the story of Rae’s friend Allen Carmichael, a Vietnam vet who draws on his combat experiences to rescue abused women and children—until he comes across a boy whose problems may rival his own. Califia’s Daughters (a paperback original by “Leigh Richards”) is a post-apocalyptic sort of tale set in a near future where women rule and men are fragile.
She has collaborated on nonfiction works including How to Write a Mystery with Lee Child, The Grand Game of Sherlock Holmes scholarship, and several short story anthologies.
https://laurierking.com/