Who invented trace evidence

In , an Englishman was convicted of murder when a torn piece of newspaper that held the murder weapon matched a piece in his pocket - the first documented use of physical evidence. In , Scotland Yard's Henry Goddard first used bullet comparison to catch a killer by tracing the bullet back to its mould. It wasn't until the s that the first tape-lift method of securing evidence was invented. Modern toxicology began in when Mathieu Orfila developed tests for the presence of blood, and used a microscope to investigate blood and bodily fluids.

In human blood groups were identified, and in a method for determining blood types was discovered - and was used immediately in criminal investigations. Luminol was developed in Today, 18 of the 20 dioramas are still used to train investigators by Harvard Associates in Police Science. The mids brought about perhaps the biggest leap forward for forensic science since the analog fingerprint: DNA matching.

In , Sir Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, stumbled across the realization that DNA showed both similarities and differences between family members, making it perhaps the most accurate form of identification ever discovered. Blood and saliva samples were collected from more than 4, men in the area, but the method identified only one match for both crime scenes: the DNA of Colin Pitchfork.

Without the use of DNA matching, Pitchfork would never have been apprehended. Today, DNA alone is not enough to secure a conviction, but it still plays a significant role in forensic investigations. There have been more DNA exonerations since.

The evolution of forensics is far from finished. Previously proven truths such as fingerprint identification and DNA matching are coming under harsh scrutiny.

Matt Zbrog is a writer and freelancer who has been living abroad since Both his writing and his experience abroad are shaped by seeking out alternative lifestyles and counterculture movements, especially in developing nations. Forensics is the use of techniques or scientific tests in order to detect crime. In the early 20th century, Dr. Trace evidence can be used to link people or objects to places, other people or other objects, and often serves as a starting point, or lead, for a particular line of investigation.

Trace evidence helps to put together pieces of the investigative puzzle—from which direction did the perpetrator arrive? By the early s, the field of forensic investigation achieved major developments, due to the design and use of modern forensic methods and discoveries such as Benzidine, a chemical compound used to develop a universal, presumptive test for blood. Perhaps the most famous of forensic developments, at least on a psychological level, was the statement made by Edmond Locard, who stated that "every contact leaves a trace".

The phrase, published in Locard's paper, L'enquete criminelle et les methods scientifique, in , and which is also popularly known as Locard's Exchange Principle, remains the backbone of forensic science collection and recovery to this day.

By the beginning of the 19 th century, the study of hairs, fingerprints and blood thrust the development of forensic investigation to new heights. Locard, the forensic professor at the University of Lyons, France, created the first crime laboratory for use by police and other law enforcement personnel.

In , the first American police crime lab was created in Los Angeles, California and the Sacco and Vanzetti case publicized the popularity of microscopic comparisons of bullets used in their case. By , an American Criminalist named Luke May had developed tool mark striation analysis and observations and published in the American Journal of Police Science an article discussing the importance of discerning identification and differences in knives, tools and other instruments.

Just prior to the Second World War, a German named Walter Specht developed a chemical reagent called luminal, still used to this day as a presumptive test for the presence of blood.

The years following the war exploded with developments, including techniques for lifting fingerprints using a tape-lifting method, voiceprint identification and perhaps the most famous discovery in the history of forensic science, the discovery of the unique structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in By the mid s, forensic developments led to the identification of firearm residues left on skin and clothing, Breathalyzer tests to determine sobriety and determinations of post-mortem cooling had been perfected.

By , the U. Supreme Court disseminated the Federal Rules of Evidence, which were enacted by a congressional statute. These rules stated that scientific evidence must be deemed relevant and not prejudicial for presentation in any criminal case.

A mere two years later, the FBI began to use computerized scans of fingerprint cards from thousands of individuals in their Automated Fingerprint Identification System, more commonly known by law enforcement personnel today as AFIS.

Advancements in research of DNA profiling and blood analysis perfected methods such as RFLP restriction fragment length polymorphism and PCR polymerase chain reaction testing made it possible to identify victims as well as suspects in a process commonly known as DNA Fingerprinting, the most famous of forensic discoveries of the 20 th century. In , the first case to go to trial using DNA evidence became a global event. The case involved a seventeen-year-old British man accused in two local rape-murders who was cleared only after the DNA of 5, men identified the true perpetrator, Colin Pitchfork.

The first man to be convicted on DNA evidence also brought the method into worldwide debate. That same year, it seemed as if everyone was in on the debate on whether or not to allow DNA evidence into an American case which resulted in the process to certify and standardize forensic-related quality control guidelines throughout the United States and the world.

By , America decided that DNA evidence was sound and valid, and the first American to be convicted on the basis of DNA evidence was sentenced 25 to 50 years for rape. Today, a wealth of technological advancements has made forensic investigation a lot easier than it used to be.