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A Fresh Look at Cold Cases
DNA analysis, improved database searches and the instant availability of Internet research have revolutionized the field

By Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

Candace Matthews (left) and Hope Hancock, Crime Scene Technicians with the Brevard County Sherriff's Office. Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2003.

Forensic technologies and methods continue to evolve providing finer tools for locating, prosecuting and convicting those who commit crimes.

The lot number on a plastic bag can help tie a suspect to a crime scene, as can the type of adhesive used on a piece of tape.

A suspect or victim's DNA can be recovered from a dried piece of nasal mucous or even a sweatband.
"Anything is potential evidence depending upon how it relates to the crime scene," said Virginia Casey, a crime scene technician and latent print examiner with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit.
But the investigators' and prosecutors' crime scene units require a significant amount of evidence to arrest suspects and produce convictions.

That's why Casey and others in her profession analyze and document every inch of major crime scenes. Numerous photographs are taken and diagrams sketched. Fingerprints, blood samples and other pieces of evidence are carefully collected.

Technicians make meticulous sweeps that can turn up a tiny hair or thread that would otherwise be overlooked. Fluorescent powders and light tools can detect fingerprints and blood samples not visible to the eye.

"There's a lot to do at a crime scene and there are more stringent requirements all the time. It takes a team," she said.

The Brevard unit assists municipalities that don't have their own unit and Titusville, Melbourne and Palm Bay when their crime scene units need help. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) also provides assistance.

Casey, who has worked in crime scene investigation for 18 years, has seen tremendous advances in crime scene collection methods and technologies. She has also marveled over the increased capabilities of forensic laboratories, including those of FDLE, which analyzes evidence for law enforcement agencies across the state.

"Eighteen years ago there was no such thing as video or DNA (analysis)," Casey said.

Advances that have revolutionized the field in recent years include DNA analysis, improved data base searches and the instant availability of Internet research.

"DNA analysis continues to improve. Everyone knows that we're able to use blood to collect DNA, but now it's possible to get DNA from the saliva on a old cigarette butt," said Lori Sanders, FDLE public information officer.

Because of advances in forensic science and technology as well as a renewed interest in double-checking information gathered on old cases, FDLE is helping law enforcement agencies across the state take a second look at unsolved cases.

"We believe that by taking a fresh look at cold cases we'll be able to solve some of them," said Wayne Ivey, FDLE special agent supervisor. Ivey works with law enforcement agencies in Brevard County and its municipalities as well as those in surrounding counties.

Candace Matthews (foreground) and Hope Hancock, Crime Scene Technicians with the Brevard County Sherriff's Office, document developed friction ridge detail using black and white 35mm film. Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2003.

While FDLE's seven regional laboratories are used to analyze many types of evidence across the state, other laboratories, including those of the Department of Agriculture and the FBI may be called upon to analyze specific types of evidence.

"Certain laboratories have specialized equipment and staff with the expertise to perform certain types of analysis," Sanders said.

A specialty of the FDLE lab in Daytona Beach, for example, is analyzing gunshot residue.

Because of ever-improving technologies and research methods, it's critical for crime scene unit technicians to understand the capabilities of the forensic laboratories, said Walt Ivey, the program coordinator for Brevard Community College's crime scene technology associate degree program.

The BCC crime scene technology program is one of the few in the state and draws students from across the nation.

"We teach our students what occurs in the laboratory so they'll better be able to collect evidence and request specific lab tests," said Walt Ivey, who is not related to Wayne Ivey.

The crime scene technology program tends to appeal in general to more women than men, Walt Ivey said. About 90 percent of the students who complete the program are women and many of the women are former nurses or schoolteachers.

"The program appeals to people who are meticulous and drawn to mental challenges rather than those who are attracted to more physical occupations, such as being a police officer," he said. "Our students are dedicated to letting the evidence speak for itself. The group's slogan is 'crime scene technology: the voice of the victim.'"

Just as laboratories depend upon the careful collection methods of crime scene units to obtain the best samples possible, so do the units depend on collection products. Advanced products allow unit technicians to correctly harvest and preserve evidence.

Armor Holdings in Jacksonville is a major crime scene product manufacturer and supplier for the Brevard County unit as well as other units across the nation and the world. The holding company provides products through Armor Forensics, Lightning Powder Co. and other companies.

"Law enforcement agencies are always seeking the best products they can find," said Allen Miller, forensics technical manager for Armor Forensics. Miller worked in FDLE's crime scene unit for 20 years.

But every new product or process developed, no matter how promising, is put through rigorous tests by units and labs to make sure it works as intended and doesn't jeopardize case," Sanders said.

Suppliers like the companies of Armor Holdings also field-test their products before putting them on the market.

"Armor Forensics has had good reports from crime scene units on a new product, a laser scaling device, the company hopes to put on the market after January," Miller said.

The device, which is attached to a camera with a tripod mount, uses two laser beams to mark a 1-inch scale on photographs of evidence such as bloodstains. Computer software is then used to determine needed measurements.

The technology makes documenting the measurements of two-dimensional evidence an easier, faster, more accurate procedure, Miller said. Currently a ruler is photographed with such two-dimensional evidence as blood stains.

"The basic technology is simple yet effective," Miller said. "We think it's going to be very popular with law enforcement agencies."

The scaling device technology was licensed from NASA at Kennedy Space Center. It was developed to enable technicians to determine the size of damaged areas on the space shuttle's external tank.

NASA scientist Robert Youngquist invented the technology after the tanks were damaged by hail. The device and software, developed by KSC's Applied Physics Lab, was also used as part of the Columbia debris reconstruction efforts.

"This is one example of how KSC's Technology Transfer Office partners with industry to take technologies developed for the space shuttle program and further their applications in commercial markets such as forensics," Jim Aliberti, chief of the office said.

Another new crime scene unit product on the horizon: Armor Holding's Lightning Powders is developing a line of environmentally friendly chemicals to lift latent prints from paper. The current products contain acetone and petroleum ether, which the new products would not.

"We're always looking for better products," Miller said. "It's important for our products to help produce accurate results, but it's also important that they be as safe as possible."