SCIENCE V. CRIME

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 54, Issue 32652, 30 November 1945, Page 6

SCIENCE V. CRIME

LABORATORY DETECTIVES MURDER COMPLEX HOW CASES ARE SOLVED ‘•Perhaps the most interesting work done is for the Police. No two jobs are alike, the results are wanted quickly and the results must be final,'' said Mr It L. Andrew, Dominion Analyst, in his address in Thames recently. “The motor-car lias brought its special problems and we are called on to identify' glass splinters. This has been done simply by taking a liquid of greater density than the glass and diluting it with a liquid of less density until the glass neither floats nor sinks. The pieces with which it is to be compared are then tried, if they float or sink they are not the same glass. We recently sorted out a considerable number of fragments in this manner. If the glasses are of the same density other tests are applied. “A specially interesting and very useful job is the determination of the alcohol content ‘of blood and urine in cases where alcohol mas 7 be a factor where death has resulted. The method of determination was developed in Europe and very small quantities of material need be used, say seven grains. Alcohol Content “It is generally accepted •■that if the alcohol content is less than 0.05 percent, the subject was not under the influence, if between that and 0.15 per cent, he was possibly drunk, but otherevidence would be required to establish it, if above 0.15 per cent definitely intoxicated. “In a case where a man was killed by being run down by a tramcar 0.25 per cent alcohol was found in the blood proving Ire was drunk and supported the motorman’s evidence thus freeing him from all suspicion. In another case where a man was run down and killed by a motor-car- on a country road his blood was found to be free from alcohol, so that it would have been useless for the accused to say the man was drunk.

“It is very curious that while in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin we have had much to do with suicides, accidental deaths etc., we have had little to do with murders. “Auckland has been a noted exception. In the 18 years that the branch ■has been established Mr Griffin has been involved in a succession of most

important eases. The Munn Case

“The first was the Munn case in which Mrs Munn was killed with strychnine. This is an unusual poison for • murder, as the symtoms are so very distinctive and it is quick. It has the grave disadvantage for the murderer that it does not decompose Easily, it has been recovered from remains long after death and it gives a very distinctive and sensitive colour reaction and has an extremely bitter taste.

“In spite of all this Munn nearly escaped partly owing to the facst that some of the material was lost through rough but inconclusive tests being applied before Mr Griffin was called in. The loss of material was very awkward. In many of these cases the amount of material available is small and every care must be taken not needlessly to destroy any of it. “The next was the Kerr case, where the accused, a nurse, attempted to murder a foster child with veronal, the well-known sedative. Fortunately this poison is very easily detected and was so in the case. However, for certain reasons two bodies of patients of Mrs Kerr, were exhumed, one had been down 6 months and the other 15 months. Veronal was isolated in both cases but it was found difficult to separate it from decomposition products. It was a particularly disagreeable and arduous piece of work as methods had to be devised.for (separating the veronal under these special conditions. Convicting Bayley “You will all be familiar with the famous Bayley case, where Mr and Mrs Lakey were murdered. In this, poison was not a factor but Mr Griffin was called on to identify a very wide range of diverse materials including minute pieces of bone and a wick from a pipe lighter. The latter was shown ■to be the same as that in the murdered woman’s work basket. Lakey’s body had been destroyed by burning and one interesting experiment showed that a calf of the average human body weight could be burned in an oil drum incinerator in 2% hours. In with the an mal we®® burned false teeth, gum boots and

other objects similar to those worn by the victim for comparison with odds and ends found in ,the ashes recovered from Bayley’s. Even Stolen Bicycles “One problem neatly 'solved by Mr Griffin, has been the bringing up of the numbers filed off stolen bicj cles. The metal where the numbers originally were is in a slightly different physical state from the other metal and if treated with acid of suitable strength and applied under proper conditions it will be etched differently and the numbers will show up. “After much experimenting, Mr Griffin was very successful. A note published in our annual report came to the attention of the city analyst at Shanghai. He had tried a similar method With firearms, but had not succeeded, and was relying among other factors on the marks given to bullets fired' from the gun. He was given details of Mr Griffin’s procedure and subsequently replied that he had used it and had 'been entirely successful. Famous Arson Case “Auckland seems to specialise in sensational cases, for we have the Piha case, which figures in our annual report as follows: — “The most interesting investigation for the police was carried out at Auckland, the problem 'being that of identification of clay, in connection with a case of arson in which human remains were found after the fire. A heavy claim for insurance was involved, and it was suspected that the remains were those of a 'body obtained by robbing a grave. For proof, it was essential that the grave be located. Clay found on a shovel left by the accused was compared with clay from 28 cemeteries in the district,' and as a result one cemetery was selected for closer examination. Examination of clays from different parts of this cemetery narrowed the search down to a certain area. Exhumation of the only grave in this area of the required date revealed an empty coffin.”