ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 July 1974
Page Count: 1

A Review of “Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood”
Vagnina, LL
Forensic chemist, Mitre Corp., Westgate Research Park, Va.

Abstract

Mr. MacDonnell's object in writing Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood was to advance the state of the art in an area of forensic science that has been neglected. The author states that the guides are just suggestions and not firm rules and will rarely be conclusive in and of themselves. The research was initiated because of the author's belief that there is a deficiency in documented knowledge regarding bloodstain evidence. Literature searched by the author contained little beyond elementary rules for establishing the direction of travel or simple correlations of a general character as a function of the distance a drop falls. The literature search included Dr. Kirk's text on Crime Investigation. However, the author states that the most comprehensive source of accurate information on this subject to date is the 1955 affidavit of the late Dr. Paul Kirk regarding his investigation of the Dr. Samuel Sheppard murder case. Mr. MacDonnell often refers to Dr. Kirk and states that in all instances the current investigation has verified both the accuracy and conclusions of Dr. Kirk's earlier work.

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Paper ID: JFS10228J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10228J
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