Criminal Poisoning : An Investigational Guide for Law Enforcement, Toxicologists, Forensic Scientists and Attorneys

by Trestrail, John Harris

• ISBN13: 9781588291332
• ISBN10: 1588291332
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781592590230
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Leading forensic scientist John Trestrail offers a pioneering survey of all that is known about the use of poison as a weapon in murder. Topics range from the use of poisons in history and literature to convicting the poisoner in court, and include a review of the different types of poisons, techniques for crime scene investigation, and the critical essentials of the forensic autopsy. The author also examines what is known about poisoners in general (psychological profile, types, and statistical analyses) and their victims (who gets poisoned, investigative considerations, and classic symptoms of poisoning). Two chapters probe the problems of proving poisoning and convicting the poisoner in court. Comprehensive and informative, Criminal Poisoning: Investigational Guide for Law Enforcement, Toxicologists, Forensic Scientists, and Attorneys offers forensic scientists, police and private investigators, forensic psychologists, and criminal lawyers a unique one-volume summary of the knowledge and techniques needed to solve the near-invisible crime of poisoning and convict the perpetrator.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Acknowledgments	vii
List of Tables	xiii
Poisoners Throughout History	1	(26)
Poisons in Ancient Times	1	(8)
Introduction	1	(1)
The Sumerians	2	(1)
The Ancient Egyptians	2	(1)
The Hebrews	3	(1)
The Asian Indians	3	(1)
Nicander of Colophon	4	(1)
Philon of Tarsus	4	(1)
Mithridates	4	(1)
The Greeks	5	(1)
The Romans	6	(1)
The ``Italian School of Poisoners''	6	(2)
The ``French School of Poisoners''	8	(1)
Poisoners in the Modern Era	9	(17)
``The Rugeley Poisoner''	9	(1)
William Palmer
``The Philandering Poisoner''	9	(1)
Edward William Pritchard
``The Slight-of-Hand Poisoner''	10	(1)
George Henry Lamson
``The Lambeth Poisoner''	10	(1)
Thomas Neill Cream
``The Scorned Poisoner''	11	(1)
Cordelia Botkin
``The Stockyards Bluebeard''	11	(1)
Johann Otto Hoch
``The Mild Mannered Murderer''	12	(1)
Hawley Harvey Crippen
``The Poisoning Miser''	13	(1)
Fredericki Seddon
``The First Scientific Murderer''	14	(1)
Henri Girard
``The Playboy Poisoner''	14	(1)
Arthur Warren Waite
Murderers of Mike Malloy, ``The Case of the Man Who Wouldn't Die''	15	(1)
``The Poisoning Pastor	16	(1)
Rev. Frank Elias Sipple
``The Poisoning Bank Robber''	17	(1)
Sadamichi Hirasawa
``The Poisonous Neighbor''	18	(1)
Christa Ambros Lehmann
``The Accidental Poisoner for Sex''	18	(1)
Arthur Kendrick Ford
Nannie (``Arsenic Annie'') Doss, ``The Poisonous Romantic''	19	(1)
``The Toxicomaniac''	19	(2)
Graham Frederick Young
``The Halloween Killer''	21	(1)
Ronald Clark O'Bryan
``The Minister Who Went Mad''	21	(1)
Rev. James Warren Jones
Murder of Georgi Markov, ``The Umbrella Assassination''	22	(1)
``The Camouflaged Poisoner''	23	(1)
Stella Maudine Nickell
``The Angel of Death''	24	(1)
Donald Harvey
``The Eccentric Genius	25	(1)
George Trepal
Conclusion	26	(1)
References	26	(1)
Suggested Readings	26	(1)
Types of Poisons	27	(18)
Definitions	27	(2)
Characteristics of ``Ideal'' Poisons	29	(1)
Contrasts Between Poisons and More Traditional Weapons	30	(2)
How Do Poisons Kill?	32	(3)
Central Nervous System (CNS) Effects	32	(2)
Other Categories of Poisons	34	(1)
Elements of Poisoning Investigations	35	(9)
Access	35	(1)
Knowledge	36	(5)
Sources	41	(3)
References	44	(1)
Suggested Readings	44	(1)
Poisoners	45	(14)
Types	45	(2)
Type S (where a specific victim is targeted)	46	(1)
Type R (where a random victim is targeted)	46	(1)
Misconceptions About Poisoners	47	(2)
Poisoner Schematic	49	(1)
Poisoner Thought Process	50	(1)
Psychological Profile of Poisoners	51	(1)
Public Perceptions of Poisoners	52	(1)
The Toxicomaniac	53	(1)
Statistical Analysis of Homicidal Poisonings	53	(4)
Most Common Poison Used	53	(1)
Poisoner's Background	53	(1)
Poisoner's Gender	53	(1)
Number of Victims	54	(1)
Poisoner's Motive	54	(1)
Offender's Conviction Status	54	(1)
Multiple Offenders on Victim(s)	55	(1)
Gender of the Offender vs Number of Victims	55	(2)
References	57	(1)
Suggested Reading	57	(2)
Victims	59	(6)
Who Gets Poisoned?	59	(2)
Investigative Considerations	61	(1)
Distinctive Pathological Findings	61	(1)
Classic Symptoms of Poisoning	62	(2)
References	64	(1)
Suggested Readings	64	(1)
Crime Scene Investigation	65	(12)
Physical Evidence	66	(1)
Investigative Considerations	67	(1)
Search Warrants	67	(1)
Poisoning Deaths Compared with Other Types of Violent Deaths	68	(1)
Investigating a Criminal Poisoning	69	(1)
Physical Evidence	69	(6)
Product Tampering	71	(1)
Analytical Toxicology	71	(1)
Analysis of Cremated Remains	72	(3)
How Did the Poison Get in the Patient?	75	(1)
References	75	(1)
Suggested Readings	76	(1)
The Forensic Autopsy	77	(4)
Proving Poisoning	81	(6)
Key Elements to Be Proven	82	(1)
Statistical Analysis of Poisonings in the United States	83	(2)
References	85	(1)
Suggested Reading	85	(2)
Poisoners in Court	87	(6)
Battery by Poison	87	(1)
Standard Defense Arguments	88	(1)
Poisoning Not the Cause of Death	88	(1)
Poisoning Not Homicidal	88	(1)
No Homicidal Intent	88	(1)
Substance Not a Poison	89	(1)
Accused Had a Reason to Have the Poison in His/Her Possession	89	(1)
Problems Proving Intentional Poisoning	89	(2)
References	91	(1)
Suggested Reading	91	(2)
Poisoning in Fiction	93	(6)
Conclusion	99	(6)
Appendix--Common Homicidal Poisons	105	(16)
Arsenic	107	(2)
Botulinus Toxin	109	(2)
Cyanide	111	(2)
Sodium Fluoroacetate	113	(2)
Strychnine	115	(2)
Thallium	117	(4)
Bibliographies	121	(36)
Poisoners Throughout History	123	(18)
Poisoning in Fiction	141	(2)
Forensic Poisoning	143	(12)
Analytic Toxicology	155	(2)
Index	157