bit of histroy

A Bit of History…

  • Overview of forensic history and its importance in crime detection.

  • Mention of police evidence through a fragmented checklist or form.

    • Reference numbers: Force.MET 39361, Court Exhibit No. B.V.35791.

    • Sections requiring details like name, rank, number, signatures, and dates for transparency and record-keeping.

A Brief History of Crime

Introduction to Crime

  • Crime has existed alongside humanity since ancient times.

  • Evolution of crime correlates with human society.

  • Some crimes remain fundamentally unacceptable across time.

Historical Crimes

Perennial Crimes

  • Examples of historically unacceptable crimes include:

    • Murder

    • Theft

    • Property disputes

    • Sin

The Foundations of Crime

Conceptualization of Crime

  • Much of what constituted a crime in history was predicated on:

    • Religious rules

    • Retribution as a response to perceived offenses considered illegal or harmful.

Psychological Response to Wrongdoing

Human Reaction to Being Wronged

  • The natural gut response to feeling wronged includes feelings of offense and indignation.

Retribution as a Common Response

Nature of Punishment

  • Punishment often disproportionate to the crime committed; lacks measured and just scales.

Crime Viewed Through a Religious Lens

Religious Definitions of Crime

  • Crime often viewed in religious terms, including:

    • Blasphemy

    • Sin

    • Adultery

    • Coveting

  • Some acts (like murder and theft) were universally unacceptable in both religious and secular contexts.

Maintaining Order through Religious Laws

  • Religious laws served to regulate behavior and ensure social order in communities, towns, and nations.

  • Punishments intended to promote accountability and deter further offenses.

Non-Religious Behavioral Control

Other Methods of Control

  • Societal controls also existed outside religious frameworks but served similar purposes in deterring unacceptable behavior.

Historical Codes of Law

The Code of Hammurabi

  • The historical significance of the Code of Hammurabi, established by the 6th king of a Babylonian dynasty.

  • Notably represents an early record of "lex talionis" (law of retaliation): "an eye for an eye".

The Code Written in Stone

  • Encompasses 282 laws expressed in conditional (if-then) formats, delineating punishments that matched crimes.

    • Example law 6: Punishment for stealing from a temple or court is death for both thief and receiver.

    • Example law 14: Kidnapping a minor results in death.

The Bloody Code

Implementation and Context

  • A series of harsh statutes enforced in London, juxtaposing the severity of punishments against minor offenses.

    • Instituted during the Old Bailey Court in the 18th Century.

Punishments under the Bloody Code

  • Examples of punishments included:

    • Whipping

    • Hanging

    • Stocks

    • Hard labor

    • Death

    • Vivisection

Societal Changes Influencing Crime and Punishment

Reasons for the 'Bloody Code'

  • Contributing factors leading to the adoption of the Bloody Code included:

    • Changing society marked by rising population, growing towns, and the rise of businesses and wealthy individuals.

    • Increase in broadsheets with crime stories, enhancing public awareness and fear of crime.

    • The belief that crime rates were escalating.

    • Concerns regarding unemployment and fear of rebellion among the poor.

    • Rich people's desire to maintain control over the lower socioeconomic classes and protect their property.

Evolution of Forensic Science

Introduction to Forensics

  • Discussion of historical methods for solving crimes, spotlighting early forensic science and its significance.

The Oldest Known Forensic Text

The Thinking of the Era

  • Description of challenges faced in the 12th century when determining the cause of death.

  • Introduction to "Washing Away of Wrongs" by Sung Tz’u (1186-1249), acknowledged as a founding figure in forensic science in China.

  • This text developed methods to appropriately assess suspicious deaths.

Significance of the Work

  • Emphasis on avoiding miscarriages of justice; the design and intent behind Japanese contributions to forensic methods—an exploration into determining deliberate versus accidental deaths.

Formula for Assessment

  • Detailed methodologies for determining:

    • Sex of the body

    • Time of death

    • Cause of death

    • Observations concerning bones

    • Seasonal effects on corpse condition.

Practical Forensic Techniques

Evidence Handling and Sealing

  • Parallels drawn to modern procedures for preserving crime scene integrity, including proper sealing and documentation of crime scene evidence.

  • Quoting a process for sealing evidence from the proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1924.

Early Forensic Investigations

Notable Case Studies

3rd Century China: The Pig Experiment

  • Overview of an early forensic investigation:

    • A woman's claim of her husband's accidental death by fire was challenged by a local death investigator.

    • Experimentation involved burning pigs to verify the presence of ashes correlated with being alive or dead.

    • The results indicated the man died before the fire, leading the woman to confess.

Development of Fingerprinting and Toxicology

Key Milestones in Forensic Science

  • 700s: Adoption of fingerprints in document analysis in China.

  • 1248: Further writings on the topic in "Washing Away of Wrongs."

  • 1686: Marcello Malpighi identifies unique characteristics of fingerprints (Italy).

  • 1813: Mathiew Orfila—recognized as the father of toxicology—publishes work on poisons.

  • 1823: John Evangelist Purkinji develops a classification system for fingerprints, noting they could not uniquely identify individuals at the time.

  • 1828: Invention of the light microscope by William Nichol.

  • 1835: Henry Goddard employs bullet comparison for solving a murder case.

  • 1836: James Marsh utilizes toxicology in court, specifically for arsenic detection.

  • 1839: H. Bayard innovates the first reliable sperm detection technique and characterization of substrate fabrics, expanding forensic science.

  • 1775: Karl Scheele provides proof for arsenic detection principles.

Cold Cases and Contemporary Investigations

Case Study: Betsy Ruth Aardsma

Overview of Historical Investigation

  • Examination of a cold case from 1969 in Pennsylvania, USA:

    • Betsy Ruth Aardsma, aged 22, was stabbed in the heart in a library setting.

    • The investigation focused on her red dress for DNA evidence, but results were not disclosed.

    • A suspect considered during inquiries is Richard Haefner; investigation remains active.

Evidence Collection at Crime Scenes

Best Practices

  • Importance emphasized on scene integrity, highlighted by statements indicating the necessity to prevent scene tampering or contamination.