Gunshot residue on dark materials: a comparison between infrared photography and the use of an alternative light source.
Alternative light source
Crime scene investigation
Forensic light source
Gunshot residue GSR
Infrared photography
Shooting distance
Journal
International journal of legal medicine
ISSN: 1437-1596
Titre abrégé: Int J Legal Med
Pays: Germany
ID NLM: 9101456
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Jul 2019
Jul 2019
Historique:
received:
05
03
2018
accepted:
07
11
2018
pubmed:
16
11
2018
medline:
3
1
2020
entrez:
16
11
2018
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The pattern of gunshot residue (GSR) includes important information about muzzle-target distance since a larger GSR distribution diameter indicates a larger shooting distance. GSR may not be visible to the naked eye when, for example, it is located on dark textiles. In such cases, further procedures need to be performed in order to visualize the pattern of GSR. Besides chemical procedures, an alternative light source or infrared photography can be utilized for non-destructive GSR visualization. In the work presented, these two techniques are compared based on shooting experiments using 26 different dark textiles. Within the range of the alternative light source, the use of a 440-nm light in combination with an orange-colored filter led to the best visualization of GSR in the form of fluorescent particles. Infrared photography, on the other hand, visualized GSR as dark particles, whereas-ideally-the dark textile reflected the infrared light and appeared bright. The comparison of both techniques revealed that the GSR distribution visualized by infrared photography was not identical to the GSR distribution visualized with 440-nm illumination in combination with an orange-colored filter. We concluded that infrared photography visualizes the inner powder soot zone, whereas illumination at 440 nm leads to fluorescence of the outer powder soot zone, which can be visualized using an orange-colored filter. Knowledge of this difference in visualization of the two powder soot zones is important for forensic practitioners assessing firing distances. In the literature, however, this difference is not noted as clearly.
Identifiants
pubmed: 30430255
doi: 10.1007/s00414-018-1965-7
pii: 10.1007/s00414-018-1965-7
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1115-1120Références
Karger B (2004) Schussverletzungen. In: Brinkmann B, Madea B (eds) Handbuch gerichtliche Medizin. Springer, Berlin, pp 593–682
Pollak S (2015) Schussverletzungen. In: Madea B (ed) Rechtsmedizin, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, pp 245–262
Di Maio VJM (2016) Introduction to the classification of gunshot wounds. In: Di Maio VJM (ed) Gunshot wounds. Practical aspects of firearms, ballistics, and forensic techniques, 3rd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton London New York, pp 57–108
Brown H, Cauchi DM, Holden JL, Allen FCL, Cordner S, Thatcher P (1999) Image analysis of gunshot residue on entry wounds II - a statistical estimation of firing range. Forensic Sci Int 100:179–186
doi: 10.1016/S0379-0738(98)00211-4
Neri M, Turillazzi E, Riezzo I, Fineschi V (2007) The determination of firing distance applying a microscopic quantitative method and confocal laser scanning microscopy for detection of gunshot residue particles. Int J Legal Med 121:287–292
doi: 10.1007/s00414-006-0110-1
Sellier K, Kneubuehl BP (2001) Wundballistik und ihre ballistischen Grundlagen, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin
Mohd Nor F, Das S (2012) Gunshot wound in skeletonised human remains with partial adipocere formation. J Forensic Legal Med 19:42–45
doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2011.07.008
Kobayashi M, Sakurada K, Nakajima M, Iwase H, Hatanaka K, Matsuda Y, Ikegaya H, Takatori T (1999) A ‘keyhole lesion’ gunshot wound in an adipocere case. Legal Med 1:170–173
doi: 10.1016/S1344-6223(99)80031-5
Ferllini R (2010) Tissue preservation and projectile context in a Spanish Civil War victim. J Forensic Legal Med 17:285–288
doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2010.04.004
Baraybar JP, Gasior M (2006) Forensic anthropology and the most probable cause of death in cases of violations against international humanitarian law: An example from Bosnia and Herzegovina. J Forensic Sci 51:103–108
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2005.00035.x
Marin N, Buszka J (2013) UV and narrowband visible light imaging. In: Miller LS (ed) Alternate light source imaging. Forensic photography techniques. Anderson Publishing Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 25–61
Sellier K (1967) Schussentfernungsbestimmung. Verlag Max Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck
Berendes A, Neimke D, Schumacher R, Barth M (2006) A versatile technique for the investigation of gunshot residue patterns on fabrics and other surfaces: M-XRF. J Forensic Sci 51:1085–1090
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00225.x
Atwater CS, Durina ME, Durina JP, Blackledge RD (2006) Visualization of gunshot residue patterns on dark clothing. J Forensic Sci 51:1091–1095
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00226.x
Dalby O, Butler D, Birkett JW (2010) Analysis of gunshot residue and associated materials: a review. J Forensic Sci 55:924–943
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01370.x
Bailey JA, Casanova RS, Bufkin K (2006) A method for enhancing gunshot residue patterns on dark and multicolored fabrics compared with the modified griess test. J Forensic Sci 51:812–814
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00170.x
Kersh KL, Childers JM, Justice D, Karim G (2014) Detection of gunshot residue on dark-colored clothing prior to chemical analysis. J Forensic Sci 59:754–762
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12409
Brazeau J, Wong R (1997) Analysis of gunshot residues on human tissues and clothing by x-ray microfluorescence. J Forensic Sci 42:424–428
doi: 10.1520/JFS14142J
Hofer R, Graf S, Christen S (2017) The use of unburned propellant powder for shooting-distance determination. Part I: Infrared luminescence. Forensic Sci Int 273:10–19
doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.01.019
Zapata F, López-López M, Amigo JM, García-Ruiz C (2018) Multi-spectral imaging for the estimation of shooting distances. Forensic Sci Int 282:80–85
doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.11.025
Marsh N (2014) Light as a forensic photographer’s tool. In: Forensic photography. A practitioner’s guide. Wiley Blackwell, Chichester
doi: 10.1002/9781118852750
Robinson EM, Brown K, Watkins D (2016) Ultraviolet, Infrared, and Fluorescence. In: Robinson EM (ed) Crime scene photography, 3rd edn. Academic Press Elsevier, London, pp 365–409
doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-802764-6.00007-6
Marin N, Buszka J (2013) Electromagnetic radiation. In: Miller LS (ed) Alternate light source imaging. Forensic photography techniques. Anderson Publishing Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–9
Davies A (2018) Ultraviolet fluorescence photography. In: Peres M (ed) Digital ultraviolet and infrared photography. Taylor and Francis, New York, pp 71–102
Trostle F (1988) Photographic examination of gunshot powder burn patterns through the use of infrared film. J Forensic Identif 38:57–61
Lin AC, Hsieh HM, Tsai LC, Linacre A, Lee JC (2007) Forensic applications of infrared imaging for the detection and recording of latent evidence. J Forensic Sci 52:1148–1150
doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00502.x
Stein D, Yu JC (2013) The use of near-infrared photography to image fired bullets and cartridge cases. J Forensic Sci 58:1330–1335
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12256
Sterzik V, Bohnert M (2016) Reconstruction of crimes by infrared photography. Int J Legal Med 130:1379–1385
doi: 10.1007/s00414-016-1343-2
Sterzik V, Bohnert M (2015) Bloodstain pattern analysis by infrared photography. In: 19th Nordic Congress on Forensic Medicine & 1st Annual Meeting of NAFT. S J F S, Stockholm, p 35
Sterzik V, Panzer S, Apfelbacher M, Bohnert M (2016) Searching for biological traces on different materials using a forensic light source and infrared photography. Int J Legal Med 130:599–605
doi: 10.1007/s00414-015-1283-2
Redsicker DR (2001) Evidence documentation. In: The practical methodology of forensic photography, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 199–242
Plattner T, Kneubuehl BP, Thali M, Zollinger U (2003) Gunshot residue patterns on skin in angled contact and near contact gunshot wounds. Forensic Sci Int 138:68–74
doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2003.08.011
Di Maio VJM (1999) Gunshot wounds, 2nd edn. CRC Press, New York