WasitaCrime?

IntroductionofCase:
AnnaGarciawasfounddeadonthemorningofAugust14th,at10:20
am,2012,inAnytown,USA.Itwasreportedthatthatmorningaround6am
shewasseenwalkingherdogandwaswearingasweatereventhoughit
wasextremelyhotoutside.Policearriveatthesceneandfindthebody
facingdownwardlayingacrossthegroundintheentryway.Themannerof
deathhasnotbeendetermined,thereforeasmuchevidenceaspossibleis
collected.

SummaryofFindings/Evidence:
Fingerprints:
Whenyoucomparethefingerprintsfoundatthescenetothoseofthe
suspects,youcometotheconclusionthattheprintsbelongtoAlexGarcia.
Ifoundthisresultbecausealltheprintsofthesuspectshaveawhirlpattern
exceptAlexandDougwhohavealoopandanarch.Theprintsfoundat
thescenehavealooppattern,andaftercomparing10to15minutiausit
canbedeterminedthattheybelongtoAlexGarcia.
BloodType:
TheBloodfoundattheScenecaneitherbelongAnnaorAlexGarcia.
Iknowthisbecauseaftertestingthebloodtypeofthestain,itcameoutto
B+.Youcandeterminethebloodtimebyplacingsamplesintodifferent
mixturesofantiserumandifitclumpsinthattestitmeansthatitisthat
bloodtype.AnnaandAlexbothhavethebloodtypeB+,thereforeitcan
belongtooneofthetwo.
ShoeprintAnalysis:
TheshoeprintfoundatthecrimescenebelongstoAnnaGarcia.I
knowthisbecausewhenexaminingtheprintandcomparingtothoseof
Annasbodyandtheshoesofthesuspects,theprintfoundmatchesthe
Annasshoes.
HairAnalysis:

ThehairfoundatthecrimescenebelongstoAnnaGarcia.Icameto
thisconclusionbycomparingthehairfoundatthecrimescenetothoseof
thesuspectsandAnna.Annashairandthehairfoundatthescenehave
thesamecolorandpattern.Whenobservedunderamicroscopethetwo
hairshavethesamecuticlethicknessandcolorandthemedullaiseasily
seeninboth.
UnknownSubstance:
TheUnknownSubstancefoundatthecrimescenewasAspirin.I
knowthisbecausewhentestingmultipledrugsandmedications,the
characteristicsfoundinAspirinarethesametraitsfoundwhentestingthe
sampletakenfromthescene.Wecanfindthesesimilaritiesbytestingeach
substancewithdifferentchemicals/indicatorsandlookforsimilarities
betweentwoitems.
BloodSpatter:
Thedropsfoundatthesceneweremeasuredatanaveragediameter
of12to15mm.Tofigureouttheheightatwhichitfellwetestedthe
diameterofdifferentblooddropscomparedtotheheightatwhichtheyfell.
Aftercollectingalargeamountofdatawegraphedthepointsandcameto
theconclusionthatthetallertheheight,thelargerthediameterofthedrop
willbe.After,weplottedthepointofthebloodfoundatthecrimesceneand
determinedthatthedropfoundhadfallenatapproximately80centimeters
inheight.
DNAAnalysis:
TheDNAfoundatthecrimescenebelongstoAnnaGarcia.Iknow
thisbecauseofatwostepprocesscalledrestrictionenzymesandgel
electrophoresis.ThisiswheretheDNAstrandiscut,andtestedinagel
wherethestrands(cutbasedonthebasepairlength)flowthroughthegel
atdifferentspeeds(smallerstrandsmovingquicker).Fromtherethegelof
thesuspectsandthegelofAnnaarecomparedtotheoneoftheDNA
foundatthecrime.Aftercomparingthetwotheconclusioncanbemade
thatthegelofAnnaandtheGelofthecrimescenearethesame,therefore
theDNAbelongstoAnna.

DataCollectionIssues:
WhencollectingalltheDataandAnalyzingit,weranintomultiple
problems.Fromlabstoexperimentsweranintoproblemswithcompleting
thelabs,collectingthedataandsomuchmore.Whengoingthroughthe
bloodspatterlab,wehadtoretakethedatamultipletimesbecausethe
spotskeptoverlappingandthepointswouldmissthepaper.When
collectingthestrideAnalysisdatawehadtoredoalmosteachperson'sten
stepsbecausetheywerecomingoutasoddnonnormalsteps.From
collectingandevaluatingdatawehadtogothroughourinformationand
retakelotsofittomakesureitwasasaccurateaspossible.These
problemsareverysimilartothoseofacrimesceneinvestigator.Theygo
throughsimilarprocessesandoftentimesredoworkandanalysistoget
themostaccuratedatapossible.
Ibelievethattheinformationanddatacollectedwasenoughtomake
asolidpredictiononAnnascasewithouthavinganybackground
informationonAnna.

Conclusion:
ThemannerofdeathinAnnascaseisahealthissue.Weknowthat
Annahasmultipleprevioushealthrecordsbutwedontknowwhat.She
wastakingAspirin,whichisoftenusedwhenonehasacold,amedical
symptom,headaches,crampsetcAlmostallevidencesuchashair,
shoeprint,BloodandDNAanalysis,afterbeingtestedhasbeenprovento
beAnnas.TheonlythingthatcomesoutasnotbelongingtoAnnaare
theFingerprintswhichbelongtoAlexGarcia.Thisshowsthatthereisno
blood,hair,DNAetc..thatbelongstoanyoneelsethereforeitcannotbea
crime.Thereisnoproofthatshowsthatanyweaponwasinvolvedandno
proofthatshowsshewasmurdered.Theclothesarefreefromblood,and
thereisnotraumatothetrunkofthebody.Thebodyshowsnoevidence
thatshewasbeatenormurdered.Thereareminorwoundstotheheadand
bruisesontheelbow.Annawasfoundfacedownlyingdown,theseinjuries
areproofthatshehadfallenandhitherhead.Eventhoughshemostlikely
hadfallen,thereisnoproofthatthisintentionalbutinsteadistheresultofa

medicalfatality.Themorningbeforeherdeathshewasseenwearinga
sweaterwhilewalkingherdoginextremelywarmweatherandwhenthe
policearrivedattheseenshewasnotwearingacoat,andthehousewas
atamuchcoolertemperature.Basedonalltheinformationandevidence
obtaineditcanbedeterminedthatshediedfromahealthissue.
ThenextstepsinAnnascaseistoolookatallofherhealthrecords.
Weneedtofindoutifshehasanymedicalconditionsandifsowhatare
theyandhowhavetheyaffectedher.Wealsoshouldfurtherinvestigate
thosethatknowofherconditionstocollectanyfurtherdetail.Withthis
informationwecanfigurewhatshediedfromandhow.
ThethreemainprofessionalsintroducedweretheCrimeScene
Investigator,BloodSpatterAnalystandtheforensicDNAAnalyst.These
threeprofessionsallassistinAnnasCasebecausetheyprovideimportant
evidencewhenlookingforanexplanation.Thegiveusdetailonwhothe
DNA,blood,fingerprints,hairetcbelongto.TheSceneInvestigatorarethe
firstonestoAnalyzethecrimesceneandprovidebasicbackground
information.Thesethreeprofessionsarethebackboneinsolvingcrimes
andlookingforvalidevidence.