Forensic Detection: Fingerprinting and Forensic Anthropology

Forensic detection is a collective term for the processes by which a crime is linked to a particular person. Of course there are other benefits and purposes of forensic detection, but generally the goal is to establish a nexus between a crime and its perpetrator. There are approximately fifteen main aspects of forensic detection. In this article, I will give a brief explanation of fingerprinting and forensic anthropology as well as examples of how each helped to bring some of the nation's most deplorable criminals to justice.

Fingerprinting:

Criminal detection was forever changed for the better by the discovery that no two people could possible have identical fingerprints. This is something that has long been known by the ancient civilizations of Babylon and China. In 1880, modern analysis of fingerprints commenced. It all began with Dr. Henry Faulds who was fascinated with the fingerprint impressions on pottery. He developed the notion that fingerprints could possibly be a means of identification. It was Sir Francis Galton of England who discovered that fingerprint patterns were not congenital and that no two people shared the same pattern... not even identical twins. He studied the features of fingerprints and classified them into three groups: arches, loops and whorls. Sir Edward Henry, an Indian policeman who is considered to be the father of modern fingerprinting, added two groups to Galton's analysis by adding tented arches and separating loops into two sub-groups. He taught his new system to those under his command and positive criminal identification skyrocketed in India at a stunning rate.

There are three different types of fingerprints: latent, visible and plastic/molded. The latent print is not visible to the human eye and is the most frequently occurring type of print. Such prints are usually lifted on to tape by experts using a powder and then compared with fingerprints that are already on record. The visible print is the kind left in blood, ink, or liquid. They are not frequently found at crime scenes, but are the most legible of the three types of prints. The plastic/molded print is one that is left on a soft surface. It may sound fairly simple, but obtaining a decent fingerprint is quite difficult. Smudged and superimposed prints are useless. It is also best to obtain a whole print for the utmost accuracy, however a partial clear print is better than a whole smudged one.

Fingerprinting has been used countless times in linking a crime or murder to a person, but one of my favorite examples is the Richard Ramirez (the "Night Stalker") case. For those of you who are not familiar with him, Richard Ramirez was a serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles in the mid 1980's. He earned his nickname from the media by breaking into the homes of his innocent sleeping victims in the late hours of the night. His MO was very simple: kill the male, rape/torture/kill the female and make off with any valuables. Ramirez's signature was unprecedented and authorities were at a loss for clues. Generally killers prey upon a specific type of victim, but Ramirez killed men and woman of all ages, including the elderly.

He gained entry through open windows and insecure doors and left very few clues at the gruesome crime scenes. The officials did not know much about the killer, only that he would continue to take innocent lives if he was not apprehended. Eventually, the police were able to track down a car that had been stolen and abandoned by Ramirez. The vehicle was carefully examined and a partial fingerprint was found. (Generally speaking, most people do not wake up one morning and become a serial killer. It is something that usually takes place gradually and begins with minor felonies and offenses. Because of this, it is wise to compare evidence with people that have an existing criminal record). Manually comparing fingerprints in a city as large as Los Angeles is virtually impossible. It would take much time and is not foolproof; therefore it is still subject to human error.

The LAPD had a miraculous stroke of luck with the Ramirez case. A computerized fingerprint database system was installed in 1985. The system was able to process over 60,000 comparisons per second by matching the print with a digital image of a fingerprint in the database. The print was put through the system and a match was immediately found. The matching print was that of Richard Ramirez who was arrested twice for a misdemeanor and a traffic violation. The system was installed just around the time that the print was lifted off of the car and the Richard Ramirez case was one of the first to be solved by it. The database only consisted of fingerprints that were of criminals born after January 1960; Ramirez was born in February 1960! His name and picture were released to the public and it was not long before he was found and arrested. He was sentenced to death on November 7, 1989. He is currently on death row awaiting his execution. The state of California has not executed anyone since 1967, so it is likely that he will remain there for some time.

Forensic Anthropology: The human skeleton is comprised of 206 bones. The skeleton of the average male weighs 12 pounds, whereas the average female skeleton weighs 10 pounds. Much can be deduced about a person by his or her skeleton. The skeleton can be used to determine age, sex, race, height, whether the person is right or left-handed and possible ailments/injuries. The cartilage at the end of bones remains soft to allow room for growth. Once the person is in his/her mid-twenties, the cartilage calcifies and turns to bone. Once the cartilage calcifies (usually this occurs by the age of 25), the cranium seams slowly fuse together. By the age of thirty, the cranium is fully sealed. This information can be used to determine the approximate age of a person.

The skull and pelvis are the most useful when determining the sex of a person. The male pelvis tends to be steep and narrow; the female pelvis is more wide and shallow (this feature is further emphasized in women who have experienced childbirth). The supraorbital ridge and nuchal crest are larger in the male skull than in the skull of a female, which can help determine the gender of a person.

The shape of the eye sockets and the nose are most efficient in the determination of race. Anthropologists study these features and group the person into one of three categories: Mongoloid (Asian), Negroid (African) and Caucasoid (European). The nose ridges of Caucasoids tend to be narrower in relation to height than those of Mongoloids and Negroids.

If a skeleton is complete, the height of the deceased is no mystery. Unfortunately, many victims are mutilated and dismembered; therefore, it is not often that a whole skeleton is found. Forensic anthropology can be used to determine the height of a person even when only a portion of the skeleton is available. As discovered by Dr, Mildred Trotter, there is a nexus between the length of the limbs and the height of the body. This relationship is used to determine the height of the deceased. The following formulas can be used to determine the height within 3 centimeters:

Height = Femur Length x 2.38 + 61.41

Height = Tibia Length x 2.52 + 78.62

Height = Fibula Length x 2.68 + 71.78

The results will only be accurate if the bones are dry (free of cartilage) and an osteometric board is used to take measurements.

One case in which forensic anthropology was used to help solve a crime was the case of John Wayne Gacy. The police arrived at the home of John Wayne Gacy on December 13, 1978. They were investigating a missing local boy and did not realize that they were face-to-face with a grisly murderer who would soon be unmasked. Gacy was a model citizen and Junior Chamber of Commerce member who sodomized, molested and killed young boys before hiding their bodies in the crawl space beneath his house. On the day that the police called on his house, Gacy managed to evade suspicion. Soon after, a background check of Gacy was done and a previous conviction for child molestation was discovered.

The police returned and Gacy led them to a horrid scene. In the crawl space under his house, there were no less than twenty-eight bodies of strangled young men. Gacy admitted to disposing of five more bodies in a local river. Since all of the victims were young males between their mid-teens and mid-twenties, the task of identifying them was exceedingly difficult. The police enlisted the assistance of an anthropologist named Clyde Snow. A list of missing males in the appropriate age range was obtained. This was done in hopes of being able to match up some of the remains to the people on the list. One of the missing persons was David Talsma. He was nineteen at the time of his disappearance; it was noted that he had suffered an arm and head injury and Snow was able to find an arm and skull that exhibited such damage.

The height of the body was determined using the arm length and the results corresponded with the height of Talsma. Betty Pat Gatliff was called in to assist Snow with the unidentified skulls. Modeling clay was used to portray skin to create a feel for the shape of the mouth and cheeks. Prosthetic eyes were inserted and appropriate colored wigs were used on the skulls that were found with hair. (It is difficult to reconstruct the nose because cartilage decomposes rapidly, leaving a gaping hole where the nose should be). The reconstructed faces were released to the media. They did not prove to be as helpful as hoped, but the results of a similar procedure were more desirable in other cases. Anyhow, Snow was still successful in positively identifying the skeleton of David Talsma.

Part three of this series will cover odontology, psychological profiling and identification of remains as well as the contributions that each have made to forensic detection and criminal apprehension.