HOME |
RSS | 
Popular crime-scene shows like CSI and Dexter can give viewers the impression that they’re well-educated armchair scientists, but anyone in a forensics lab will tell you that we don’t know jack. The folks at Forensic Nursing break down the science of blood pattern analysis (BPA) in this handy infographic, detailing the types of spatter, and how the analysis is made. Link
Artist Tom Thomson has been called “Canada’s Van Gogh”. His death in 1917 remains Canada’s greatest mystery. But there is some new information in the case, thanks to CSI-style forensic analysis.
The “truth” eluded Canadians for nearly a century, right back to July 16, 1917, when the missing painter’s body surfaced on Algonquin Park’s most famous lake – a bruise over his left temple, one ankle wrapped round and round with fishing line.That suspicious death – accident? murder? suicide? – and the subsequent question as to whether his body remained at Canoe Lake, where his friends had buried him, or had later been exhumed at the Thomson family’s request and taken to Leith, Ont., has made Tom Thomson Canada’s greatest enduring mystery, his famous works inextricably tied to his fate.
In 1956, a body was unearthed at the Canoe Lake cemetery that some thought might have been Thomson’s, particularly because of the hole in the skull. Others said it was was a young aboriginal man who had undergone trepanation. Just this past year, modern technology was brought into the picture to determine just who the skull with the hole in it belonged to. Link -via Nag on the Lake
Hundreds of detectives in Germany spent two years trying to track down a mysterious female serial killer whose DNA was collected at 39 different crime scenes. When no progress was made in the cases, police offered a 300,000 euro reward for information leading to the killer.
It’s no surprise the money was never claimed, however, because the so-called ‘phantom killer’ was a complete myth!
Detectives had apparently been tracking the DNA of a factory worker who packaged cotton buds used by the police to collect samples, according to ‘Stern.de’.
The following is reprinted
from Uncle
John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader
CSI's Gil Grissom - via Wikipedia
FAMILIAR FORMULA
If there were no cops, prosecutors or defense attorneys, the television
airwaves would probably be far less crowded. Over the past 60 years, these
professions have dominated prime-time schedules. Why? They offer formulas
ready-made for drama: A brand-new conflict is presented to the protagonist
each week, promising to be full of mystery, intrigue, and ... predictability.
Viewers can rely on the fact that near the end of the viewing hour, one
crucial piece of evidence will appear and lead to the capture of the elusive
killer, or to the acquittal of the wrongly accused defendant. Then comes
the philosophical musing that wraps everything up neatly, providing a
clean slate for next week's episode.
Real life is rarely so cut-and-dried. And while some may argue that cop
and lawyer shows are merely entertainment, actual cops and lawyers claim
these shows can make their already-difficult jobs even harder.
JURORS' PRUDENCE
 The
"CSI effect" occurs primarily inside the courtroom. Its first
incarnation was referred to as the Perry Mason effect, based
on the popular fictional defense attorney's trademark ability to clear
his client by coercing the guilty party into confessing on the witness
stand. During Mason's TV heyday, from the 1950s to the '80s, many prosecutors
complained that juries were hesitant to convict defendants without that
"Perry Mason moment" of a confession on the stand - which in
real life is very, very rare. (Photo: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
& Science, via The
Perry Mason TV Show Book)
After Perry Mason went off the air, a new kind of law enforcement
program appeared: the scientific police procedural (which started with
Quincy, M.E., a drama about a crime-solving medical examiner
that aired from 1976 to '83). But few cop shows have matched the success
of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which debuted in 2000 and
has spawned two successful spin-offs. A 2006 TV ratings study in 20 countries
named CSI "the most watched show in the world."
MYTH-CONCEPTIONS
Along with similar shows such as NCIS, Diagnosis: Murder,
and Bones, CSI focuses on forensic evidence and lab
work as the primary means of catching killers. These drama may be "ripped
from the headlines," but when it comes to telling an entertaining
story, certain liberties must be taken by the writers:
 In
December 2005, Jermaine "Maniac" McKinney, a 25-year-old man
from Ohio, broke into a house and killed two people. He used bleach to
clean his hands as well as the crime scene, then carefully removed all
of the evidence and placed blankets in his car before transferring the
bodies to an isolated lakeshore at night, where he burned them along with
his clothes and cigarette butts - making sure that none of his DNA could
be connected to the victims. One thing remained: the murder weapon, a
crowbar. McKinney threw it into the lake ... which was frozen. He didn't
want to risk walking out on the ice to get it, so he left it behind. Big
mistake: The weapon was later found - still on the ice - and linked to
McKinney, which led to his arrest. When asked why he used bleach to clean
his hands, McKinney said that he'd learned that bleach destroys DNA. Where'd
he learn that? "On CSI." (Photo: Steve Schenk/AP, article
at The
San Diego Union-Tribune)
Using bleach to clean a crime scene was almost unheard of until CSI
used it as a plot point. Now the practice is occurring more and more
often. "Sometimes I believe it may even encourage criminals when
they see how simple it is to get away with murder on television,"
said Captain Ray Peavy, head of the homicide division at the Los Angeles
Sheriff's Department. It's difficult enough to investigate a crime scene
with the "normal" amount of evidence left behind.
MAYBE DON'T SHOW THEM THE SCIENCE?
So should these shows be censored? Should they tone down the science
or, some have argued, use fake science to throw criminals a red
herring? "The National District Attorneys Association is deeply concerned
about the effect of CSI," CBS News consultant and former
prosecutor Wendy Murphy reported. "When CSI trumps common
sense, then you have a systemic problem."
But not everyone agrees. "To argue that CSI and similar
shows are actually raising the number of acquittals is a staggering claim,"
argues Simon Cole, professor of criminology at the University of California,
Irvine. "And the remarkable thing is that, speaking forensically,
there is not a shred of evidence to back it up."
And furthering the debate about whether criminals learn from CSI,
Paul Wilson, the chair of criminology at Bond University in Australia,
stated, "There is no doubt that criminals copy what they see on television.
However, I don't believe these shows pose a major problem." Prison,
Wilson maintains, is where most of these people learn the tricks of their
trade. So while law enforcement officials may agree that cop and lawyer
shows do have an effect on modern investigations and trials, the jury
is still out on exactly what that effect is.
THE SILVER LINING
 The
shows do have their positive aspects. For one thing, they teach basic
science, saving the courts time and money by not having to call in experts
to explain such concepts as what DNA evidence actually is. Anthony E.
Zuiker, creator of the CSI franchise, is quick to point this
out. "Jurors can walk in with some preconceived notion of at least
what CSI means. And even if they are false expectations, at least jurors
aren't walking in blind."
Perhaps most significantly, though, ever since CSI became a
hit in 2000, student admissions into forensic field have skyrocketed.
So even if Zuiker's show is confusing jurors, misinforming police, and
helping to train criminals, at least it's proven to be an effective recruiting
tool. "The CSI effect is, in my opinion, the most amazing
thing that has ever come out of the series," he said, "For the
first time in American history, you're not allowed to fool the jury anymore."
(Photo: Mathieu
Ramage [Flickr])
And finally, a message from Zuiker to anyone who walks up and points
out his shows' inherent flaws: "Folks, it's television." |
|
 |
The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle
John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader.
The Bathroom Readers' Institute has sailed the seas of science, history,
pop culture, humor, and more to bring you Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom
Reader. Our all-new 21st edition is overflowing with over 500 pages of
material that is sure to keep you fully absorbed.
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute has published a series of popular
books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure
yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom
Reader Institute.
 |
