NSW Branch Newsletter - The Australian and New …anzfss.org/nsw/files/2012/09/Issue36.pdf · Sonia BORG Nicole ... Page 2 NSW Branch Newsletter . 3 The NSW Branch congratulates members

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If any Member has not received their 2012 membership card, please email the Secretary at [email protected] as soon as possible to arrange distribution. If any Member has changed email or postal address since renewing, or if this occurs any time during 2012, please advise us so we can update the database accordingly and ensure you don’t miss out on any special notices, newsletters and invites to branch events. - Aldo

As well as stream-lining our membership contact details, we are proud to announce our efforts in “going green”. This means we encourage our members to elect to receive the newsletter electronically. We will be

phasing out hard-copies by the end of this year so please update your work and/or home email address (where attachments can be received) with our Secretary today!! We also suggest you add our email address to your contacts so our correspondence doesn’t end up in your spam folder, and check our website regularly for news and event information. Kindly note that our honoured Life Members will continue to receive newsletters in print, unless they elect not to.

Thanks for your support in helping us go green :)

Membership Notice:

June 2012 Issue 36

NSW Branch Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Membership Notice 1

New Society Members President’s Message Next Meeting Branch Awards; Scholarship Winners

1 2 3 3

REVIEW by Glenn Wilcher; Prof Jaquet-Chiffelle on Virtual Identities

4-6

ANZFSS Merchandise

7

Members Research Corner

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REVIEW by Glenn Wilcher; CSI Then & Now New Committee Members

9-11 12-13

NSW Branch Contact Details

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Scholarship Winners announced, page 2

CSI Then & Now, Review, pages 9 - 11

Meet our new Committee Members, pages12 - 13

New Society Members:

The NSW Branch of ANZFSS warmly welcomes the following new members:

Ryan ANDERSON Sonia BORG Nicole CATTAROSSI Joyce CHAN Taryn CRIGHTON Andrej DESPOTOVSKI Christopher DONNELLY Carmen DUTHOIT Robert EBEYAN Leesa ELLAM Erin ELLIS Katerina FARAC William FORTIER Cliff HOBDEN

Natasha HORNE Fiona JACKSON Cassandra KAVANAGH Hui Tan (Danielle) LAU Samantha QUINN Sonia SCOTT Lyndsay SHARP Regina TAUDTE Brendan TROTTER

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Dear Members, The NSW Branch recently held the 42nd Annual General Meeting. Thanks to those who attended and a big welcome to our new Committee Members (see profiles on pages 12-13). In my president’s report, I was pleased to highlight some of the exciting events over the past year and I recap here for all members. It has been a particularly difficult year for forensics, with many organisations undergoing budget cuts and “tightening of the belt”. I note with some disappointment the demise of the Mortuary Science course run at Sydney Institute of Technology (TAFE), which has traditionally been run by esteemed, experienced colleagues who are also members of the NSW Branch. This is one indication of budget cuts and ‘rationalisation’ of resources. I also know that there have been many more changes that have impacted deeply on our members over the past 12 months. It is my observation that the horizon for forensics in many disciplines is a changing one, and I hope that sanity will prevail in times to come. Despite all this, it is fantastic to see our membership has flourished. Given the financial stress that has been placed on both individuals and businesses these days, I see this as a great vote of confidence for the Society as a whole. I would like to mention our newest addition to our life members – Mr Eric Murray. I welcome Eric and thank him for all his years of service, dedication and great generosity to the Society (he continues to contribute financially in support of the Eric Murray Award). Eric joins a notable list of Life Members; Carl Cameron, Grahame Cook, Henry Delaforce, Paul Donkin, John Snowden, Alan Hodda and Tony Raymond. It is planned that each of our Life Members will have their profile added to our website in the coming months. Also visit the new National website; anzfss.org.au The ANZFSS NSW Branch has always had an emphasis on education for all our members, as well as providing support for our students. To this end, we have had several very interesting and informative presentations over the last year. We proudly announce the NSW winners of National and Branch Travel Awards – see page 2. Another avenue of support for students was our running of the Inside Forensic World in September 2011. This was an extremely successful programme with 100 students attending to gain information and insight

President’s Messsage: into the world of a variety of forensic disciplines. I take the opportunity to thank all those who were involved in the mammoth task of organising/running this event; members are encouraged to get involved next year! We certainly reflect on some great branch events; Dr Rebecca Hoile speaking on Bioterrorism, a fantastic field trip to the Australian Museum with Dr Rebecca Johnson (also a new committee member) who gave us an insight into the world of wildlife forensics, International Guest Speaker Dr Ian Hanson from the UK on forensic archaeology and the work he has carried out in Bosnia and Dr Glenn Porter on CCTV evidence and case studies related to this type of evidence. The year was rounded off with a fantastic annual dinner at the UTS Aerial Function Centre, which was extremely well attended. This dinner was also supported by a presentation by (retired) Detective Inspector Ian Waterson and Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Horn from the Cold Case Justice Program, NSW Police Force. I take this opportunity to thank again the hard work put in by the committee to ensure our branch meetings and events are so successful. 2012 started with a presentation by another International Guest Speaker, Prof. Dr. David-Olivier Jaquet-Chiffelle, from the University of Lausanne; Glenn Wilcher reviews his presentation on pages 4-6. I take this opportunity to thank again the hard work put in by the committee to ensure our branch meetings and events are so successful. For our interested members, I thoroughly recommend attending the 2012 Symposium on the Forensic Sciences in Hobart in September this year. It as a great avenue to meet many colleagues in your field, learn and hear about some innovative research going on in Australia and internationally, as well as enjoy the traditional social events that have made for some very interesting photos and stories over the years! In closing, it would be remiss of me not to thank the out-going committee for 2011. I thank them for their commitment, patience, tolerance and professionalism in all things we have approached. Lastly, your NSW Branch could not have been as successful without hav-ing you as its members to support meetings and events. We are keen for member involvement and I hope you all keep coming along to our meetings to catch up with colleagues and friends and to learn more about the wide world we know as forensics!

- Alison Sears

President NSW Branch ANZFSS

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The NSW Branch congratulates members Kate Grimwood and Melanie Holt (regular registrations) and Mike Wood and Natasha Stojanovska (student registrations) who received National Symposium Travel Awards to attend the 21st International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences in Hobart.

Applications received this year for the NSW Branch Scholarships were of a commendably high standard. For this reason, some additional awards were granted. We proudly announce the following winners of the 2012 NSW Branch Scholarships:

Rebecca Kendrew Scholarship – Melanie Meredith Michael Dawson Scholarship – Kate Grimwood Eric Murray Student Scholarship – Susan Luong

Rebecca Johnson was also awarded a financial scholarship covering registration costs to attend the Symposium and Mike Wood won a financial award as a Highly Commended student applicant. A reminder to our members that your involvement in any Society activities (regular attendance at branch meetings, AGM and Annual Dinner, pre-event catering, assistance at Inside the Forensic World, promotions, presenting at branch meetings, merchandise sales and/or newsletter and website contributions) are considered in the adjudication of scholarship applications. The more you contribute, the greater boost to your score…keep that in mind over the coming year to be in the best possible standing for future awards.

Next Meeting - THIS WEDNESDAY 20th June:

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Members and guests are cordially invited to a presentation on forensic image analysis by international guest, Dr Richard Vorder Bruegge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI's Digital Evidence Laboratory is one of the few forensic laboratories in the world accredited in the discipline of image analysis. This presentation will provide a brief review of forensic image analysis cases worked by the FBI in the last twenty years and will describe photographic comparisons of people and objects, height determination analyses, face and iris recognition and image manipulation detection. We are lucky to have Mr Vorder

Bruegge present and look forward to seeing many of our members turn out to learn more about this interesting topic. Note the earlier meeting time. Also see promotional flyer & map emailed separately.

WHERE: University of Technology, Sydney Building 4, Level 2, Room 2.35 (corner of Thomas St & Harris St, opposite ABC) WHEN: Wednesday 20th June, 6:00pm refreshments for a 6:30pm start COST: FREE for members, $5 for non-members

International guest speaker, Dr Richard Vorder Bruegge of the FBI will present this week.

Scholarship Winners:

National President Prof. Claude Roux congratulates NSW winners of Travel Awards; (left) Kate Grimwood and (right) Melanie Holt.

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Review by Glenn Wilcher. Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle is a Professor with the Faculty of Law and Criminal Justice, School of Criminal Justice at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He is the head and founder of V.I.P; the Virtual Identity and Privacy Research Centre (one of the partners in the European Project, FIDIS since 2001).The Professor has a PhD in Mathematics (number theory) and previously worked at Harvard University as a Post-Doctoral research fellow and lecturer. He was also a scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Section of Cryptology (Swiss Government). His research interests include security and privacy, cryptology, identities and virtual persons, PET’s, pseudonyms and online anonymisation techniques. He presented to the NSW Branch in March 2012. With the increased use of the internet there has been a significant impact on identification processes and the concept of identity. In the information society there are new forms of identities such as SIM cards with mobile phones, IP addresses, usernames and pseudonyms, profiles and biometric identities. These types of identities are associated with our habits, behaviour and preferences resulting in multiple identities. Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle discussed the concept of the ‘Virtual Person’ (VP) developed within the European Project FIDIS (Future of Identity in the Information Society – a network of excellence).

FIDIS Network of Excellence FIDIS (Future of Identity in the Information Society) is a multidisciplinary organisation of 24 leading institutions from research, government and industry. Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle stated there were 150 researches with a budget of $10 M. The European Information Society (EIS) requires technologies that address trust and security but preserve privacy of individuals. Digital representations of personal characteristics change ways of identifying individuals and supplementary digital identities known as virtual identities.

Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle discussed a model for identities in the information society, driven by the applications of identification, authentication and authorisation schemes. In the model, identity does not refer to an entire person but parts of one. Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle stated the word ‘person’ comes from the Latin ‘personae’ which means ‘mask’. He referred to masks instead of the whole person which leads to the concept of the virtual person or VP. The creation of this concept comes about by a subject being accessed by the mask it is wearing at each specific time of interaction; with the subject having many masks such as at work, at home, being with friends etc. One mask can also be worn by many, such as more than one person having the same IP address. In some situations it is difficult or impossible to link a mask and a subject behind the mask. Virtual persons are defined by different criteria such as roles and acquisitions, and by the knowledge or commodities that VP possesses.

What is a Virtual Person (VP) and how are VPs used? Something is considered to be virtual if it is the product of ones mind or imagination. Virtual persons (VPs) exist in the virtual world, the collection of all (abstract) entities, which are or have been the product of the mind or imagination. A VP in the information society is a virtual entity that can have rights, obligations and/or responsibilities associated to it in a context. A VP is like a mask and is defined by its attributes, roles, ability/ies and/or its acquisitions. A VP is a mask defined by what it knows, what it has, what it is and what it does. For example, a VP can be defined by its attributes (e.g. who owns the fingerprint), roles and abilities and its acquisitions (such as who knows my PIN number? or who is the holder of the credit card?). The entity behind the mask, if it exists, is a subject. The term ‘virtual person’ can be extended to


REVIEW: “Virtual Persons & New Forms of Identities” presented by Professor David-Olivier Jaquet-Chiffelle (branch meeting 21/03/12).

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describe and understand new forms of identification in the information society in relation to rights, duties, obligations and responsibilities. Virtual persons allow a better description and understanding of many identification and authentication schemes by creating a generic unifying model for; Username / password schemes Border control Identification of suspects Biometric authentication & identification New technologies have a direct impact on the concept of identity with new identities appearing. The simple model of one identity equating to one person is no longer valid in today’s society where each of us bear many ‘identities’.

Definitions The law distinguishes two types of personalities, the physical and the legal person. The physical person is the individual, physical human being. The legal person is any personality which is recognised by the law of a country. It has rights and duties. The legal person can be a company, community or organisation. A subject is any set of physical or legal persons being some analogy with a physical entity. A subject is accessed through the mask it is wearing. One subject can have multiple masks. Identity (R)Evolution At a technological level, information is easier to gather, store, exchange and process than ever before. Profiling transforms information into knowledge to anticipate behaviour, needs or preferences. This results in new forms of identities. The identities are not necessarily related to names, but traces left when we act/interact, go somewhere or make a choice. The identities are related to our SIM cards, credit cards, pseudonyms we use on the internet, our email addresses, login names, incentive schemes and IP addresses of our computers. The identity (r)evolution is part of living; people sharing information in social networks and chat rooms etc. Traditional identification is being replaced by biometric passports. Biometrics creates a strong non-revocable link between a physical person and a virtual person. They are used to authenticate, identify or verify identification of a physical person. Avatars. Anonymity & Privacy Concerns Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle discussed how VPs often refer to ‘avatars’, being characters in a Multi User Dungeon (MUD), Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORG) and other computer games. Avatars are a special kind of virtual person. Avatars act in a game with some reliance on human beings (the players) for their actions and behaviour, with other avatars directed by the game. Avatars have rights, responsibilities and obligations associated with the game. Players of virtual games act as if they were themselves the characters, with players feeling emotion; pleasure, getting upset or insulted. In these instances, the players have projected themselves into an avatar body. Players have a dual role and act as two persons i.e. being their avatar and their off-line physical self. Players of virtual games frequently assume anonymity especially towards other participants. However, participation in virtual games reveals personal information to the service provider and owner of the platform. Personal details and information provided can be the basis of ‘profiles’ and can be a source for identity theft. Forums are public in nature and service providers store conversations.


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Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle stated that as online conversations (from chat rooms, games, “tweets”, posts and blogs etc) are stored, comments by persons can be a source of embarrassment and some may be haunted by the information for years to come. This may even affect a person’s “real world” employment prospects. Improvements in search engines mean ideas and beliefs previously held and stated which subsequently change over a person’s lifetime, as well as past ideologies, remain accessible in the present day and today, a person may have to justify their past histories. Aside from employment assessments, this may have legal implications for a person. The Professor discussed how current laws can be applied or adopted to these new concepts in the information society. He also emphasised the importance of defining new laws specific to the information society which encompass both the physical and virtual worlds. Issues involve confirming who is responsible for legal consequences, who is forced to compensate with respect to a tort and will laws pertaining to a virtual world be able to be enforced? Legal subjectivity is already granted to entities other than human persons such as the unborn, a corporation, association, fund, public bodies and the state. Steganography Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle discussed steganography and cryptology. Steganography known as ‘stego’ is a term referred to in the IT community, derived from the Greek for “covered writing”. Stego is the art and science of communicating in a way which hides the existence of the communication. Stego can involve hiding private or sensitive content in images or audio data or could involve messages inside other harmless messages not obviously allowing parties to detect these as a second message. The science is used by terrorists and pedophiles. Criminals and terrorists use encryption to hide activities - there have been several reports that the terrorist organisation behind the September 11 attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and outside of Pittsburgh used steganography as one of their means of communication. As populations become better educated in technologies, criminals will have knowledge and skills to evade law enforcement. An interesting talk by Professor Jaquet-Chiffelle, providing a better understanding of the multiple identities we operate under online in our everyday lives.

- Review by Glenn Wilcher References Portions of the Presenters own PowerPoint

presentation 23/3/2012 ANZFSS NSW Branch are re-created here with permission.

Virtual persons and identities D2.13 Deliverable

http://www.fidis.net/resources/deliverables/identity-of-identity/d2600/

FIDIS Network of Excellence http://www.fidis.net/

about/ Denning & Baugh (1999) Hiding Crimes in Cyberspace

Information, Communication and Society Vol 2 No 3 Dunbar, Bret (2002) A Detailed Look at Steganographic

Techniques and Use in an Open System Environment. SANS Institute.

We give special thanks to our guest speakers for generously volunteering their time to present at branch meetings. Feedback and suggestions for future presenters is always welcome. Please email any ideas or speaker contact details to our Secretary.

NSW Branch President Alison Sears with guest speaker Professor David-Olivier Jaquet-Chiffelle, at the March 2012 branch meeting. Photo by Annalise Wrzeczycki.

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Get your ANZFSS merchandise today, ready to proudly represent in Hobart!!

Page 7 Issue 36

ORDER NOW by em

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catalogue at:

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merchandise.htm

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We continue to highlight the research being conducted by Society members. This edition’s Members Research Corner features work contributed to by ANZFSS members Kate Grimwood, Ronald Shimmon, Xanthe Spindler and Philip Maynard, from the NSW Branch as well as Chris Lennard and Claude Roux (both from the National Executive) on the generation of Hydrogen Cyanide during the cyanoacrylate fuming process. Carlos Fung and these Society members published their findings and recommendations in an interesting article titled; “Investigation of hydrogen cyanide generation from the cyanoacrylate fuming process used for latent fingermark detection”. This article can be found in Forensic Science International, Volume 212, Issue 1, pages 143-149 (October 2011). The following is an abstract: Cyanoacrylate fuming is one of the most common techniques employed for the detection of latent fingermarks on non-porous surfaces such as plastic and glass. The technique is generally applied by exposing items of interest to the vapours generated by heating a suitable quantity of commercial cyanoacrylate adhesive. In this study, the potential for highly toxic hydrogen cyanide (HCN) to be generated from the overheating of cyanoacrylate was investigated. Two commercial cyanoacrylate adhesives and two quantitative methods for the determination of HCN were employed: (i) the sodium picrate method; and (ii) the picrate–resorcinol method. 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis was used to confirm the presence of cyanide. In addition, the thermal decomposition of cyanoacrylate was studied using simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA–DTA). It was determined that detectable and quantifiable amounts of HCN were generated from the thermal decomposition of cyanoacrylate monomer and polymer at temperatures as low as 200°C. Using an optimised picrate–resorcinol method, it was shown that around 10μg of HCN could be generated from the heating of 1g of cyanoacrylate monomer at 200°C. For one of the adhesives tested, this increased to above 100μg of HCN when 1g of cyanoacrylate monomer was heated at 280°C. Recommendations are provided that, if followed, should ensure that the cyanoacrylate fuming process can be safely applied with minimal risk to the operator.

If YOU have recently published and care to share/promote an Abstract with your fellow ANZFSS members, send details to us at [email protected] We look forward to your contributions!

Members Research Corner:

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Review by Glenn Wilcher. Detective Senior Sergeant Carl Cameron (retired NSWPF) Carl Cameron joined the NSWPF in 1964 graduating from the Redfern Police Academy and commencing as a Probationary Constable at Petersham. In 1966 he completed the Police Drafting Course. At 19 years old, Carl commenced duty at Grafton, a two-staff unit whose jurisdiction was a huge area from Tweed Heads in the north to Johns River (north of Taree). Carl stated the SIB unit only had one vehicle, with facilities consisting of a lounge room (as an office and examination room), a bathroom (used as a darkroom) and part of a condemned residence for the lockup keeper. A new facility was completed at Ulmarra Court in 1975. In 1988 Carl returned to Sydney Physical Investigation Section based at the old Hat Factory, then moved to the Sydney Police Centre. Carl mentioned the Gibson Review in 1989/90 which was the start of changes in forensic investigation. Mr Cameron gave an interesting and sometimes humorous account of the life of a crime scene officer during his investigation of crimes over previous decades back to 1968. He attended the ANZFSS branch meeting carrying a well-worn brown leather school-type suitcase which carried photographic equipment, lighting gear, batteries, flashbulbs, graph paper, pens and pencils etc. He began by describing the SLR 124 camera with no light meter or autofocus and told stories of scene attendance and photography using only manual hand-held light meters. Next, he described the enthusiasm of obtaining a camera with an aperture and f stops, and progressing to a Pentax model with a light meter, then an SLR 66 Rolaflex camera. Carl described the black and white processing of photographs taken at the scene using chemicals such as fixer (hypo) and resin coated photographic paper and emulsions, and how officers would use rotary dryers for the films and soup ladles for measuring out developing chemicals! He discussed the method of communications at the crime scene being a relay of radio calls to the car and the police station. He also mentioned times when he had to use landline telephones from a neighbours house, next door to the crime scene. Carl provided his own insight on how to cope in the job for younger officers; by having a life other than the job and not bringing your work home, upsetting your spouse or children. He discussed the changes with documentation requirements and introduction of DVI forms back in 1961 (then just six pages long as opposed to today’s’ 16 page standard forms). He also mentioned the introduction of RBT’s in December 1982.

Carl gave a synopsis of cases mentioning the Fine Cotton Case, and how in that case square holes in a vehicle, created by a Farriers hammer, were mistaken for bullet holes. He mentioned the Port Macquarie Mail Bag Theft, the Tweed Heads multiple murders and suicide resulting in six autopsies, and that the morgue at the Tweed Heads Hospital was next door to the hospital kitchen (no doubt somewhat convenient when working tirelessly to attend back-to-back post mortems). Other famous Australian crimes and cases were the Victor Chang murder in July 1991, the Calligic murder of August 1986, the Boggle-Chandler case January 1963 and the Port Arthur massacre in April 1996. Carl also commented on disasters such as the Granville train disaster in January 1977, the Thredbo disaster in 1997, Kempsey bus disaster and, back in June 1950, a DC4 crash in Western Australia, which involved 18 fatalities and, in those days, no black box to assist the investigation.

REVIEW: “A Life of Crime...Scene Investigation” presented by Carl Cameron and Dr Jennifer Raymond (branch meeting & AGM 02/05/12).

Fatal bus crash at Clybucca Flat December 22, 1989, left 35 people dead. Photo source: smh.com.au

Detective Snr Sgt Carl Cameron investigated crime scenes for over two decades.

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Carl also mentioned various unforgettable international incidences such as the Mt Erebus Disaster (NZ), the Tenerife airport incident with 583 fatalities, and DVI processes and a DC10 crash in Paris 1974. This last incident occurred in a forest area. Gold fillings were removed from victims by local gypsies – an odd discovery by investigators. Carl Cameron has been a member of the ANZFSS since its inception in the 1970’s and has served as a Committee Member and Treasurer. His extensive contributions were formally recognised when Carl was made a Life Member of the Society. Dr Jennifer Raymond, Crime Scene Officer NSWPF Dr Raymond presented a case study of a NSW Homicide discussing the crime scene processing of the murder scene and the procedures carried out by modern-day crime scene officers. Background of Case The murder occurred in Mudgee on the 27/3/2010. The deceased victim was a 19 year old female Michelle Morrisey who worked as a receptionist in a local real estate agency. Michelle’s body was found at 6:30pm in the family home in Cox St, Mudgee, by Jake McGowan, her boyfriend. Michelle’s family was away in Dubbo at the time. A teenage male John Cotterill aged 18 years from Londonderry, Western Sydney, had been ‘casing’ the home on visits to Dubbo for the purpose of robbery. Michelle was preparing for a party when Cotterill entered the property and confronting Michelle stabbed her multiple times. She sustained wounds to the throat, chest and abdomen. Cotterill was being transported from Bathurst Correctional facility to Silverwater when he attempted an escape from the prison van which resulted in him being shot and wounded by prison officers. Cotterill had a long history of behavioural and psychological problems with episodes at school of violence toward students and teachers. He eventually plead guilty and will serve 16 years non-parole. Crime Scene Jennifer showed photographs of the crime scene and briefly described various investigation techniques for collection of evidence. The deceased was located in the kitchen. Blood staining was evident in the lounge room, kitchen and hallway to the bathroom. Jennifer described how carpet was collected from the crime scene for examination at the laboratory. Shoe marks were developed from the carpet utilising light sources and chemical treatments, not all available in the 60s and 70s. Jennifer stated that the processing of the crime scene took nearly three days. But her efforts to reveal identification marks paid off; a total of 11 shoe marks were found with a partial she mark found on the ear of the victim. Investigations revealed the shoe mark to be a size US 13 shoe which was uncommon. Further use of comparative databases and investigation revealed 885 Osiris Series Abel 3 shoes were sold out in 2009, with only 189 pairs in size US 13-14, ever sold in Australia. Jennifer showed images of the shoe marks found at the scene and demonstrated the match to the Osiris shoe specimen. When blood is found at a crime scene, there can be partial impressions in blood. Blood impressions may be produced by touching objects at the scene with bloody hands/fingers/feet and/or by stepping into blood with shoes, boots and other footwear and leaving impressions. Other sources of impressions include weapons, tools and clothing. While portions of a bloody impression are often visible, there can be areas that are vague or not visible at all which are suitable for chemical enhancement. Examples were given by Dr Raymond of current investigation tools used at crime scenes. Some of these are explained over the page.


Shoe prints were compared and it was found that the suspect shoe print from the crime scene matched an uncommon Osiris shoe.

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Electrostatic Lifter This device is used to recover dusty shoe prints from a variety of sources including doors, carpets, wooden floors, paper and bodies. Machines in the 1980’s were transported in suitcases but are now the size of smart phones. An electrical current is passed through a thin sheet of metallic film which attracts dust particles of shoe prints, transferring them to the film which is then photographed. At the crime scene a sheet of film is placed over the area suspected of having shoe prints, such as the hallway. The electrostatic lifter, or ESL, has positive and negative posts. When the unit is activated the current travels through the film “sucking” it down to the surface in a few seconds. The print must be composed of loose, dry residue (such as dust). The ESL enables evidence to be enhanced, collected, preserved, recorded and compared. TracER Jennifer showed photographs of the operation of the fully portable laser beam system designed for trace evidence detection, particularly latent fingerprints, hair fibres, bone and body fluids. The result is a high contrast image. The main purpose of using the laser at a crime scene is to excite fluorescence in trace amounts of evidence allowing it to be visualised and photographed where it is not in ambient light or where conventional dusting techniques are not feasible.

Luminol The forensic use of Luminol was first proposed in 1937. Luminol is a reagent that can detect trace amounts of blood. The application of Luminol is common at crime scenes, or on exhibits, where blood may be present but difficult to see such as outdoors in vegetation, or where attempts have been made to clean blood from surfaces. Luminol uses Sodium Perborate, the solution is applied as a spray and produces a bluish luminescence persisting for less than a minute when it reacts with the heamoglobin in blood. The luminescence is photographed using different techniques. Luminol is not specific for blood, however, and can react with other biological enzymes and metals providing ‘false positives’. These must be differentiated by an expert and will undergo further, confirmatory testing.

Leucocrystal Violet (LCV) LCV is used as a presumptive blood test and often for shoe print enhancement. The stain is indelible and will produce a blue stain that can be imaged.

Diaminobenzidine (DAB) Enhancement of blood fingerprints using DAB involves an oxidation reagent where hydrogen peroxide oxidises DAB to a dark brown product. The heme group of haemoglobin in blood exhibits a peroxide-like activity which catalyses the breakdown of peroxide. A chemical called ABB, structurally unrelated to DAB, produces a green colour in the presence of peroxide and haemoglobin, which is non toxic.

Dr Raymond made comment on the advances in the chemical techniques, lighting and specialised photography and post-processing software now available in the forensic processing of a crime scene and its subsequent exhibits. She appreciated the challenges Mr Cameron and his colleagues would have faced working similarly horrific scenes with fewer human resources and without the benefits of today’s’ technology, equipment and techniques. Both presenters gave impressive insights into scenes they’ve worked and allowed members to appreciate just how much “a life of crime…scene investigation” has truly evolved.

Images are reproduced here, with permission, from Jen Raymond’s PowerPoint presentation.

The NSWPF TracER laser is an effective, but very dangerous light source.

Modern Crime Scene Officers use specialised light sources and chemical techniques to reveal latent marks.

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Dr Jennifer Raymond graduated with a BSC (Hons) in Forensic Science from UTS in 2001, and joined the NSW Police Force Forensic Services Group in 2002 as a civilian Crime Scene Officer. In 2004 she joined the newly formed Forensic Armed Robbery Unit (FARU), where she facilitated the SICAR footwear database from 2006-2007, and in 2007 became a member of the Specialist Location & Recovery Unit (SLR). The SLR (now Evidence Recovery Unit) provides a support service to assist in the examination of complex major crime scenes with the detection of latent marks such as finger-prints and footwear marks, both at crime scenes and in the laboratory. Since 2007 she has been involved in the investigation of over 100 homicides. Dr Raymond is also a qualified Footwear Mark Examiner and completed her PhD thesis at UTS in 2010, on the characteristics of trace DNA evidence and its use in volume crime. Jen has been a dedicated Society member for over a decade.

A member for over 20 year Mr Ed Soliman’s specific interests are forensic entomology, health and safety. Born in Alexandria, Egypt Ed (Foud) has lived in many places, which include Orange in NSW, the Bay area California and Malta (where he taught Food Science when he wasn’t exploring the island’s rich history). After qualifying with his Bachelors of Science degree from Alexandria University he immigrated to Australia in 1966. Ed currently works as a food scientist, for Unigreen who specialise in soya been bi-products. In Australia, Ed completed Graduate Diplomas in Food Sciences from UNSW and Environmental Sciences from NSWIT (now known as UTS) specialising in entomology and pollutants. He later studied at the US Food and Drug Administration. He has worked all around this state as a professional officer for UNSW and as a food industry consultant for a variety of national and multinational companies. Ed has a varied background, from his role as proprietor of a fine menswear store to becoming a supply officer at UTS where he worked for at least a decade before beginning his recent venture. He brings his experience and gregarious personality to the NSW Committee in 2012.

Welcome to Our New Committee Members:

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Welcome to Our New Committee Members:

Dr Rebecca Johnson has a Bachelor of Science with honours in genetics from the University of Sydney and a PhD in the field of molecular evolutionary genetics from La Trobe University. Rebecca joined the Australian Museum in 2003 as Manager of the DNA Laboratory and then as Head of Research from June 2010 to December 2011. She is now Head of the Wildlife Genetics and Microscopy unit. She has over 16 years experience as a molecular geneticist, including as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, James Cook University, Townsville and Tufts University, Boston USA. Rebecca’s major interest is in the field of wildlife forensics. She has represented the Australian Museum on a number of government and industry committees in her area of expertise.

The Wildlife Genetics laboratory is one of the world leaders in DNA-based wildlife identifications and has done work for government agencies both in Australia and New Zealand including sample types such as: shark fins, bird embryos, gall bladders, seized fish meat, salted animal skin, bones and horns to list a few. A number of these cases have resulted in prosecution and heavy penalties in court.

Sonia Scott graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Forensic Science from UTS in 2009. Her honours project was on FTIR chemical imaging of fingerprints developed with novel cyanoacrylates specifically on difficult surfaces. Sonia also holds a BSc (Advanced) from University of Sydney in 2000 and a BComm in Accounting from Macquarie University in 2002. Prior to commencing her Forensic Science studies, she worked as an Accountant in the Insolvency industry for KPMG and McGrathNicol and worked on administrations such as the HIH Insurance and Pan Pharmaceuticals liquidations. Sonia is currently employed at the University of Technology, Sydney, teaching first year chemistry and as a Technical Assistant. In her spare time she enjoys going to the gym, spending time with friends and family and renovating her 120 year old house. Sonia is delighted to join the NSW Branch Committee in 2012.

You can read profiles of all the current NSW Branch Committee Members on the Society website at: http://www.anzfss.org.au/nsw/committee.htm

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If you have any query, comment, suggestion or content idea for this newsletter or any Branch activities, please do not hesitate to contact us. All correspondence regarding general enquiries, membership renewal, payment etc, can be addressed to: NSW Branch ANZFSS PO Box K208 Haymarket NSW 1240 Email: [email protected] Note - specific recipients (e.g. President, Treasurer, Membership Officer) can be reached c/o these details. Website: anzfss.org.au/nsw

Your Committee

President: Alison Sears Vice President: Alison Beavis Treasurer: Peter Jamieson Secretary: Kate Grimwood Memberships: Aldo Severino Public Officer: Denise Donlon Merchandise: Aaron Heagney Website: Philip Maynard Newsletter: Annalise Wrzeczycki Committee Members: Harry Albani Jen Raymond Sonia Scott Eric Murray Tania Prolov Dianne Reader Glenn Wilcher Ed Soliman Rebecca Johnson

Contact Details - NSW Branch:

NSW Branch ANZFSS Newsletter

anzfss.org.au/nsw

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Documents

NSW Branch Newsletter - The Australian and New …anzfss.org/nsw/files/2012/09/Issue36.pdf · Sonia BORG Nicole ... Page 2 NSW Branch Newsletter . 3 The NSW Branch congratulates members