LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
See above.
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On the shooter's hands, not very long. When we did GSR testing we would not do it if more than 4 hours had elapsed since the shooting. On clothing, it could depend on the type of material and how far away the item was--if it's a smooth fabric it would probably brush right off, but a more fuzzy type of thick material might get some particles stuck in it.
That was talking about primer residue. Gunpowder residue is bigger, heavier, and hot so it can fuse to some fibers or get 'stuck' to the item by the victim's blood.
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Because human bodies are in constant flux. Cells slough off, fluids wash out other fluids, but a stain on a piece of cloth doesn't change.
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Time of death is not determined as precisely as it is on television, I know, and they often use a number of factors to make an estimate such as when the person was seen last, mail piling up at the door, rigor mortis, lividity, etc. But honestly a pathologist could answer that question much more accurately than I could. They are the ones that determine TOD.
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DNA and fingerprints will still be the main forms of identification, but the focus on video, computers, social media and phone evidence will continue to expand. Anything that's not absolutely yes or no such as gunshot residue, fibers, maybe bitemarks will be discontinued.
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I don't really watch any except the ones on the ID channel, and those are mostly about the investigation. But when they do mention forensic evidence, they're accurate.
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That's always a good question. Black powder or superglue will not ruin the DNA, so we can photograph the print and then swab for DNA. Usually we're swabbing areas that we wouldn't normally be able to get a print from (like textured steering wheels or rough gun grips or the edge of a plastic bottle that someone drank from) so we do one or the other.
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