ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 4

Use of Fecal Material to Associate a Suspect with a Crime Scene: Report of Two Cases
Norris, DO
Professors, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, CO

Bock, JH
Professors, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, CO

(Received 4 March 1999; accepted 17 May 1999)

Abstract

Fecal matter analyses were applied to two cases: a homicide and a robbery. Scrapings of fecal matter removed from samples of clothing obtained from a homicide suspect were examined for their plant cell and cell fragment content and compared with fecal matter from a rape-homicide victim and scrapings from her clothing. Scrapings were hydrated and examined microscopically. Types of food plants were identified from the observed cells by comparison with known food plants. A similar analysis was conducted on the clothing of a robbery suspect and compared with fecal material left at the crime scene. The results showed that, respectively in the two cases, the reference samples were remarkably similar, if not identical, to those from the suspects' clothing.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic botany, feces, plant cells, companion

Paper ID: JFS14657J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14657J
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