Hypothermia Deaths in Van Province, Turkey

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate autopsy findings in hypothermia-related deaths in Van Province, Turkey, a city near the Turkey-Iran border. Methods: Autopsy reports on 43 hypothermia fatalities were retrospectively reviewed. Data regarding age, gender, nationality of the cases, seasonality of the deaths, crime scene findings, autopsy findings, manner of deaths, risk factors for hypothermia, other traumatic lesions, and toxicology were obtained from autopsy records and scene investigation records. Results: There were 36 males and 7 females. The mean age was 20.5 years. More than half of the cases died or were found dead in the spring months. All but one of the cases was found dead outdoors. There were common red-coloured livor mortis in 33 cases (76.7%), antemortem traumas in 16 cases (37.2%), cold erythema in 26 cases (60.5%), myxedema in 1 case, bloody discolouration in the synovial fluid in 11 (84.6%) cases, and Wischnewski spots in 32 cases (74.4%). Conclusion: The study showed that illegal refugees are an important social problem in Turkey. Hypothermia should be considered as a cause of death for refugees when they are found, especially in the cold provinces. In the diagnosis of hypothermia, bloody discolouration of the synovial fluid is confirmed to be a valuable finding. Wischnewski spots remain valuable for positive identification.

Rastro conductual del asaltante sexual serial desde la perfilación criminal inductiva / Behavioral trace of the serial sexual assailant from the inductive criminal profiling

Resumen La perfilación criminal ha despertado interés tanto en el contexto académico como en la cotidianidad, debido a la multiplicidad de casos aberrantes que se presentan día a día en el mundo. Es por eso que el objetivo de este artículo fue identificar a la luz del enfoque estadístico por facetas, desde la perfilación criminal de tipo inductiva, patrones conductuales inferidos de la información que se dispone de la escena del crimen de los casos de caso de Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillo, alias "La Bestia" quien violentó y asesinó a más de 172 niños y el de Javier Velasco Valenzuela quien asesino, violó y torturó, bajo la modalidad de empalamiento, a Rosa Elvira Cely.

Abstract Criminal profiling has sparked interest both in the academic context and in daily life, due to the multiplicity of aberrant cases that occur day by day in the world. That is why the objective of this article was to identify the light of the statistical approach by facets, from inductive criminal profiling, behavioral patterns inferred from the information available at the crime scene of the cases of Luis Alfredo Garavito's case. Cubillo, alias "La Bestia", who rapes and murdered more than 172 children and Javier Velasco Valenzuela, who murdered, raped and tortured Rosa Elvira Cely in the form of impalement.

La participación del médico forense en la escena del crimen / The participation of the forensic physician in the crime scene

Resumen El análisis científico de la escena del crimen es de trascendental importancia en la investigación judicial. Es función de un equipo, del cual el médico forense es parte obligatoria. El conocimiento de las circunstancias y antecedentes del hecho investigado, junto con el estudio del lugar y del cadáver, constituyen elementos indispensables para el correcto abordaje del cuerpo en la necropsia; de esta manera, se cumplirá con el objetivo primordial del trabajo pericial médico forense: contribuir al esclarecimiento de la comisión de un hecho delictivo con resultado de muerte. En este artículo se ofrece una actualización del tema de la participación del médico forense en la escena del crimen, considerando la realidad de la práctica pericial médico legal en Panamá.

Abstract The scientific analysis of the crime scene is of transcendental importance in the judicial investigation. It is a function of a team, of which the forensic physician is an indispensable part. Knowledge of the circumstances and background of the researched fact, together with the study of the place and the corpse, constitute essential elements for the correct approach to the body at postmortem examination; in this way, the primary objective of the forensic medical expert work: contribute to the elucidation of the commission of a criminal act resulting in death, will be accomplished. This article offers an update of the theme of the participation of the forensic physician at the scene of the crime, considering the reality of the medicolegal practice in Panamá.

Evidencias físicas y perfilación criminológica perspectiva médico legal / Physical evidence and criminological profiling legal medical perspective

ResumenLa perfilación criminológica es una polémica técnica de investigación que utiliza, entre otros elementos, las evidencias físicas y psicológicas para descifrar crímenes en los que se desconoce el autor. Tales evidencias son aportadas por los peritos científicos de los servicios médico-forenses y de Criminalística.Los peritajes representan parte del fundamento científico de la novedosa técnica y es por eso que deben practicarse de acuerdo a protocolos y estándares de buenas prácticas, avalados internacionalmente.Para la correcta interpretación y valoración de los resultados de los análisis de las pruebas científicas, al equipo encargado de elaborar el perfil criminológico deben integrarse, entre otros, médicos forenses, psicólogos y psiquiatras forenses.

AbstractCriminological profiling is a controversial technique that uses, among other elements, physical and psychological evidences for unsolved crimes investigation. Such evidences are contributed by the scientific experts of forensic services. The forensic results represent a fundamental part of the scientific basis of profiling and they should be done according to protocols and standards of good practices, endorsed internationally. For the correct interpretation and assessment of the results coming from scientific evidence, in the team responsible for developing criminological profile should be integrated, among others, medical examiners, psychologists and forensic psychiatrists.

Use of an Alternate Light Source to Detect Tooth and Bone

Resumo O objetivo desse trabalho foi identificar a combinação do comprimento de onda e filtro que melhor detecta dente e osso e verificar qual material biológico (esmalte, raiz dental ou osso) possui maior fluorescência quando exposto a uma fonte de luz alternativa (ALS). Amostras de dente e osso foram iluminadas com uma ALS e fotografadas. Os programas Adobe Photoshop™ e ImageJ™ foram usados para análise das imagens. Os dados obtidos das medidas dos pixels das fotografias foram submetidos a análise de variância. Os valores com efeitos significativos tiveram suas médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey. Em todos os testes, o nível de significância adotado foi p≤0,05 e os valores calculados pelo sistema SAS. Os resultados mostraram que a melhor combinação para detectar dente e osso é o comprimento de onda 455 nm com o filtro laranja. A fluorescência da raiz é maior que a do esmalte que é maior do que o osso. O material biológico teve maior fluorescência que o material inerte. Esse conhecimento pode auxiliar o perito a triar e detectar esses materiais biológicos, por exemplo em situações em que dentes e pequenos ossos estiverem fragmentados, tanto na cena do crime quanto no laboratório.

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the combination of wavelength and filter that best detects tooth and bone, and to determine which biological materials (enamel, dental root or bone) have highest fluorescence intensity when exposed to an alternate light source (ALS). Tooth and bone samples were lighted with ALS and photographed. Adobe Photoshop™ and ImageJ™ softwares were used for image analysis. Data obtained by measuring the photograph pixels were subjected to analysis of variance. The mean values of significant effects were compared by the Tukey test. In all tests, the significance level was set at p≤0.05 and the values calculated by the SAS system. The results showed that the best combination for detecting tooth and bone is an illumination wavelength of 455 nm with an orange filter. The fluorescence of dental root is greater than that of enamel, which in turn is greater than that of bone. The biological material had markedly higher fluorescence than the inert material. This knowledge can help the forensic expert to screen and detect biological materials, for example in situations where there are fragmented teeth and small bones, both at the scene and in the laboratory.

Importance of crime scene visit: A case study.

Crime Scene visit, is so necessary in coming to a conclusion in some of mysterious cases is a must, in Identifying the dead, time since death & cause of Death. Visit of crime scene, considering that the examination of the Locus of a crime is the duty of I.O. and also the Forensic Expert, when he views the body in situ. Thus, if a dead body is seen directly by Forensic expert without explanation by I.O in the P.M. Room, he may come to quite erroneous opinions about the origin of various injuries. But when he sees the body in situ, with various surrounding objects, goes a long way towards avoiding such mistakes. However there are some occasions when preservation of the scene for the expert is waste of time in situations like, Deaths due to Accident, Assault, Stabbing, and Railway Track Deaths. These can be well recorded by photographs itself is enough in such conditions.

Effect of ageing & environmental condition for detection of blood group from blood stain.

It is an established fact that laboratory investigations involving biological fluids play a vital role in crime investigations Blood as a source of evidence associated with crime, can provide valuable information that may solve the case. Proper collection, preservation and dispatch of this crucial evidence to the Forensic Science Laboratory is hence very essential. Improper collection and preservation can weaken or destroy a potential source of facts in a case. Many times the suspects may hide valuable blood stain evidence either on the object or the clothes in different conditions which may adversely affect the investigation. Hence, proper collection and preservation of blood stain is of paramount importance, as it may provide a strong link between an individual and a criminal act. The present study was undertaken to find out the maximum duration for which blood grouping is possible when the stains are exposed to varied environmental conditions.

A Study of Similarities Between Bloodstain Pattern Analysis and Fire Investigation In Point View of Event Analysis / 대한법의학회지

Crime scene reconstruction is the use of scientific methods, physical evidence, deductive and inductive reasoning and their interrelationships to gain explicit knowledge of the series of events that surround the commission of a crime. Event analysis is the method of crime scene reconstruction. As disciplines of crime scene reconstruction, bloodstain pattern analysis and fire investigation have many common points. Comparing bloodstain pattern analysis with fire investigation in point view of event analysis helps us to further understand crime scene reconstruction as well as bloodstain pattern analysis and fire investigation themselves. We study event analysis and apply it to cases and we seek similarities and differences between bloodstain pattern analysis and fire investigation by analyzing the methodology of both of them. In a fire scene, the point with the greatest damage is the point where the fire burned longest, which is likely to be the origin. In bloodstained scenes this approach is reversed. The greatest bloodshed point is most likely the ending point of the incident and is likely at or near the point where the bloodshed started. Above this, there are other similarities between them. Mastering the crime scene reconstruction requires long time hard training. Thus if the fire investigation experts or arson experts among crime scene investigators join the field of bloodstain pattern analysis(or reverse), then there will be many synergy effects to both of them.

A Case Study for the Reconstruction of Crime Scene by Computer Simulation / 대한법의학회지

Especially in design of automobile, there are many professional softwares based finite element or multi-body like Madymo, Pam-Crash, Ansys. These program have been released almost every car maker and university. Also in accident reconstruction fields, there are some softwares like PC-Crash, HVE was developed. Unfortunately these programs for accident reconstruction are so general and its input data are so limited, it is very difficult or even impossible to analyze some special cases. In this study, we reconstruct two crime scenes using Madymo program. Although this program was developed for design of car, we apply to crime scene reconstruction. First case is regarding traffic accident. A car was fell under 5m from the road and turn over and then move about 40m. Finally the driver eject from the car. Second case is regarding suicide by hanging. When the police investigate the crime scene at first time, they assume that this crime is a murder case but we carried out autopsy and investigated the crime scene again and analyzed by computer simulation and finally find out this crime is suicide case not murder.

A Serial Rapist - Male Identification and Crime Scene Analysis in the Cases of a Serial Rapist / 대한법의학회지

The study presents the application of STR polymorphisms to male identification in the cases of a serial rapist in Korea. Since October 2000 a rapist from Cheongju city (a town located in central district) committed at least 36 rapes. DNA profiles obtained from semen stains, buccal cells and tongue tissue left at the scenes of crime and vaginal swabs of victims gave information that one and the same man had committed all the rapes. The Y-chromosome haplotype (12 loci) obtained was used for the identification process of rapist in mixed genotypes including victim's alleles. The crime scene data were referred from investigating police authorities described the relationship of victim to the offender, victim's age, time and place of sexual assault and rape locations. The behavioural analysis of crime scenes showed more similarities than differences for related crimes. These components were usually assessed in terms of proximity in time and space. Certain crime scene aspects of a serial rapist help identify components of offender spatial behaviour. As a result of this work, future research on the geography of rape and behavioural aspects of rapist will be directed towards those aspects of offences, which have been identified as relevant to the distance between an offender's base, and the site where he approached his victim.

A Serial Rapist: Male Identification and Crime Scene Analysis in the Cases of a Serial Rapist / 대한법의학회지

The study presents the application of STR polymorphisms to male identification in the cases of a serial rapist in Korea. Since October 2000 a rapist from Cheongju city (a town located in central district) com-mitted at least 36 rapes. DNA profiles obtained from semen stains, buccal cells and tongue tissue left at the scenes of crime and vaginal swabs of victims gave information that one and the same man had com-mitted all the rapes. The Y-chromosome haplotype (12 loci) obtained was used for the identification process of rapist in mixed genotypes including victim's alleles. The crime scene data were referred from investigating police authorities described the relationship of victim to the offender, victim's age, time and place of sexual assault and rape locations. The behavioural analysis of crime scenes showed more similarities than differences for related crimes. These components were usually assessed in terms of proximity in time and space. Certain crime scene aspects of a serial rapist help identify components of offender spatial behaviour. As a result of this work, future research on the geography of rape and behav-ioural aspects of rapist will be directed towards those aspects of offences, which have been identified as relevant to the distance between an offender's base, and the site where he approached his victim.