Scene of the Crime

by Wingate, Anne

• ISBN13: 9780898795189
• ISBN10: 0898795184
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-09-01
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books

Summary

Part of the Howdunit Series, Scene of the Crime is written by a professional in the field. It provides the inside details that writers need to weave a credible - and salable - story. essential buys for any serious author...Will cut research time in half! - Mystery Scene Magazine

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Working the Crime Scene	p. 4
Arriving at the Scene
Preserving the Scene
Capturing the Scene: Notes, Photographs, Sketches and Measurements
Dividing the Work
Table 1: Who Does What When?	p. 24
Crime-Scene Search	p. 29
Searching With a Warrant
Collecting Evidence
Preserving Evidence
Table 2: Processing the Crime Scene	p. 45
Firearms	p. 47
Types of Firearms
Types of Ammunition
Collecting and Assessing Firearms and Ammunition at the Crime Scene
Firearm and Trace Metal Residue Tests
Table 3: Some Characteristics of Handguns	p. 62
Working With Fingerprints	p. 65
What Surfaces Hold Fingerprints and For How long?
Dusting for Prints
Finding and Collecting Latent Prints
Testing and Fuming
Using Lasers and X-Rays to Find Prints
Latent Prints From Human Skin
Where to Look
Table 4: The Latent Fingerprint	p. 89
More about Fingerprints	p. 93
A Brief History of Fingerprinting
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System
Types of Fingerprints
Identification by Fingerprints
Using AFIS
Table 5: How You Can Use Experts	p. 119
Identifying Human Remains	p. 121
Identifying the Body
Unusual Coloration
Defense and Hesitation Wounds and Other Visible Marks
Spontaneous Human Combustion
Postmortem Lividity
Rigor Mortis
The Processes After Death
Bodies Under Water
Identifying the Remains
Ear-Print Identification
Table 6: Finding Reference Sources	p. 140
More on Identifying Human Remains	p. 142
Forensic Dentistry
Sieving
Long-Bone X Rays
Dealing With Skeletal Remains
Reconstructing the Face From the Skull
Strange Identifications
Corpus Delicti
DNA Fingerprinting
Table 7: Cost and Value of Different Means of Identification	p. 159
The Autopsy and After	p. 160
The Importance of the Autopsy
Determining the Cause of Death
Difficulties in Proving Disguised Murder
Tools of the Investigative Trade
Murder or Suicide?
Table 8: The Person Who Finds the Body	p. 180
Inside the Crime Lab	p. 182
Bombings
Bloodstain Evidence
Other Types of Evidence
Documents
Table 9: Sex-Crimes Evidence Collection	p. 202
The Unoffcial Investigator	p. 205
I Know Who Did It But I Can't Prove It
Why Is a Innocent Person on Trial?
Table 10: What Is That Thing?	p. 212
Afterword	p. 214
Appendixes	p. 215
Bibliography	p. 226
Index	p. 228
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.