Corruption Perception Index 2014

(By Transparency International, first published on 3 December 2014 at the following site: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results)

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A country or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This year's index includes 175 countries and territories.

 

N.B. Transparency International represents one global movement sharing one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.
In 1993, a few individuals decided to take a stance against corruption and created Transparency International. Now present in more than 100 countries, the movement works relentlessly to stir the world’s collective conscience and bring about change. Much remains to be done to stop corruption, but much has also been achieved, including the creation of international anti-corruption conventions, the prosecution of corrupt leaders and seizures of their illicitly gained riches, national elections won and lost on tackling corruption and companies held accountable for their behaviour both at home and abroad.

Crime Scene Investigation : Tylenol Murders

(By Wally Kowalski and reproduced in full from the following website:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/tylenol/)

INTRODUCTION

In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area collapsed suddenly and died after taking Tylenol capsules that had been laced with cyanide. These five females and two males, all relatively young, became the first victims ever to die from what came to be known as product tampering. The poisoned capsules had been placed on shelves in six different stores by a person intent on killing innocent people at random. One victim was a 12 year old girl who had a cold. Another victim had just returned from the hospital after giving birth to a baby boy. The tragedy was compounded for one family who lost three members. Overcome by grief at the sudden inexplicable death of a close relative, two other family members were offered Tylenol capsules from the same bottle, not yet aware that poison was the cause of death. The case has never been solved, and the $100,000 reward offered by Johnson & Johnson remains unclaimed.

A wave of copycat tamperings occurred afterwards: Lipton Cup-A-Soup in 1986, Exedrin in 1986, Tylenol again in 1986, Sudafed in 1991, and Goody's Headache Powder in 1992. Deaths resulted in these cases. Prior to 1982, tamper-proof capsules and tamper-proof packaging were essentially unknown. The technology evolved rapidly in response to the threat, and today such packaging is a familiar sight to all. Although copycat product tamperings have tapered off, probably as a direct result of improved packaging, cases continue to occur sporadically to this day. Incidents have occurred throughout the country, but with a surprising number in the Chicago area. Some 53 threats of product tampering have, in fact, been received by the FBI with a Gary, Indiana or south Chicago area postmark. Gary, of course, is a part of the Greater Chicago area. Cases of tampering, including the use of cyanide, have occurred in North Chicago, Lombard, Chicago proper and outlying areas. One unsolved cyanide poisoning occurred in Detroit, and another in Tennessee. Could the Tylenol Killer still be at work, continually attempting to bypass the latest tamper-proof products?

THE VICTIMS

Mary Kellerman, 12, Elk Grove Village
Adam Janus, 27, Arlington Heights
Stanley Janus, 25, Lisle
Theresa Janus, 19, Arlington Heights
Paula Prince, 35, Chicago
Mary Reiner, 27, Winfield
Mary McFarland, 31, Elmhurst

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Tylenol killer has never been caught. Many believe he never will be caught. A somewhat bumbling suspect who attempted to cash in on the unprecedented publicity was arrested and charged with extortion, but not with the murders. The police concluded he was merely an opportunistic extortionist, and could not be the murderer. Although some believed he should have been tried for the murders, too many details and circumstances suggested he could not be the poisoner. James Lewis was released in 1995, after serving 13 years of a 20 year sentence.

The lot numbers of the tainted Tylenol capsules were MD 1910, MC 2880, MA 1801, and MB 2738. Evidently they were taken from different stores over a period of weeks or months, prior to being poisoned and placed back on the shelves of five different Chicago area stores. One package was placed in each store, except that two bottles were recovered from the Woodfield Osco. Also, two bottles were recovered from one other retail outlet that was not identified. Some of the packages had 5 or less poisoned capsules. One had 10 poisoned capsules.

THE ROUTE

The choice of locations for placement suggests the poisoner drove the highway routes 90/94, 290 & 294, driving in a near circular route, and selecting obvious and typical sites. The killer apparently spent several hours, possibly Wednesday all day or in the evening, distributing the fatally laced packages. The choice of supermarkets for placement suggests the killer was most comfortable with shoplifting from these types of stores. He probably lived near a similar supermarket, where he likely stole the original packages, although he would have been unlikely to place them back on the shelf of the same store. Sufficient information has not been released to determine the probable store(s) from which the Tylenol packages were taken, or the order in which the laced packages were placed on the shelves, but this might enable reconstruction of the driving route, including his possible origin, and whether the killer worked a day job at the time.

THE RESIDENCE AREA

The specific avoidance of the numerous drug stores within the dense urban areas of west and north Chicago proper can hardly go unnoticed. The one odd location, the Wells street store, sits in the midst of a higher rent district, making it unlikely that the killer, unemployed, a student, or menially employed, would have lived there. Likewise, most of the other suburban locations can be ruled out. The area of most probable residence of the Tylenol Murderer would seem to have been areas of north and west Chicago proper, including neighborhoods like Lincoln Park (excluding the lakeshore), Rogers Park, Oak Park, and other non-black, non-Hispanic, non-affluent, rental areas between North & Touhy and Halsted & Harlem. Alternatively, the Woodfield Osco, where two bottles were placed, is a very unlikely location for a non-resident to stumble across, and the route shown in the image would be reversed if we take Woodfield as the first placement location.

STORES WHERE POISONED TYLENOL WAS PLACED

Jewel Foods, 122 N. Vail, Arlington Heights
Jewel Foods, 948 Grove Mall, Elk Grove Village
Osco Drug Store, Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg
Walgreen Drug Store, 1601 N. Wells, Chicago
Frank's Finer Foods, 0N040 Winfield Rd, Winfield
(one unidentified retail outlet)

THE POISON

The poison used in the Tylenol Murders was a cyanide compound. Such compounds, which include potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide, are available to those in certain industries, such as gold and silver mining, fertilizer production, steel plating, and the film processing/chemicals industries. Workers in these industries have anonymous access, but then so do a variety of other people who are obliquely associated with these industries, such as truckers and college students.
The specific form of cyanide used in the poisonings has been reported to be potassium cyanide, according to then Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner, in an article in the Chicago Tribune dated Oct. 3, 1982. The level of purity was not publicly reported, but in the 1986 incident, which also involved potassium cyanide, the purity was reported as 90%. Potassium cyanide is commonly used in the metal electroplating, metal extraction, photographic and cinematographic film processing industries.

THE TAMPERED CAPSULES

The amount of cyanide inserted in each capsule was reported as 65 milligrams but was probably 100 milligrams or more since the fatal dose for NaCN is about 150 milligrams. Other doses reported in the newspapers (5-6 micrograms) were clearly incorrect.

The killer completely emptied each of some 20 or 30 capsules, and then refilled them with the grayish crystalline potassium cyanide. The capsules that were recovered all appeared deformed or bulky. This crude, clumsy work would have been obvious to a careful eye, but such a cruel and pusillanimous act could not have been anticipated in 1982.

The rather imprecise work indicates an amateur of limited skills -- probably someone incapable of performing quality work even in his own field or employment. This young man was no chemist, no biologist, no computer programmer, no precise professional of any sort, but more likely a facile, inexperienced amateur in his early twenties with pretensions to real knowledge.

The quantities used in this crime also suggest that he had anonymous access to no insignificant quantity of potassium cyanide, in amounts that were not missed. Furthermore, placement of the tampered product on store shelves, apparently on a Wednesday afternoon; suggest no daytime employment, or at least no full-time employment. Is this a possible college student or recent graduate without employment? Did he perhaps have access to a film processing laboratory? These possibilities are not inconsistent with what is known. Only a complete theory is lacking to tie it all together, and what a theory requires for completeness is a motive.

THE MOTIVE

No evidence was ever found that anyone profited specifically from the Tylenol Murders. No unusual stock trading activity was detected, although Johnson & Johnson stock dropped dramatically overnight. None of the victims were wealthy or seemed to be a possible target of a murder plot to be covered up with 6 random murders. All the victims were relatively young, and no large insurance policies had been recently taken out on any of them. One of the victims had a manufacturing subcontract worth some $25,000 (gross) annually, and transfer of which was requested by two different relatives (actions apparently unknown to each other) shortly after his death. However, this is hardly the sort of money such an elaborate and horrendous crime is staged for. Neither relative was granted the subcontract anyway.

The motivation for this crime does not seem to have been any kind of direct profit. In fact, the motivation may not have been money at all. It may have been sheer hatred for humanity, or perhaps the attempt to gain publicity or fame for some other venture. Whatever the motivation of the killer, it would seem his objective was unrealized.

THE TYLENOL KILLER

What do we know about the real Tylenol Killer? We can reasonably surmise all of the following:

1. The Tylenol killer is a white male.
2. He was in his twenties in 1982; he'd be in his 40s today.
3. Lived in the Chicago area in 1982.
4. Owned a car or truck.
5. Devious but not particularly intelligent.
6. A skilled shoplifter.
7. Has few friends, and temporary ones at that.
8. Definitely misanthropic, cowardly.
9. Limited income, and works a low wage job.
10. Perhaps has a degree, but is a failure in his degreed field.
11. Has comparatively menial employment, if any.
12. His objective in the Tylenol killings remains unachieved.

We could speculate the following:

1. He has an Associate's of Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts.
2. May have majored in photography, cinematography, or related fields.
3. He has trouble holding a job and can't get along with people.
4. Probably myopic -- wears glasses.
5. Probably uses drugs.
6. A prankster who enjoys playing tricks on people.
7. Has a morbid sense of humor.
8. He probably moved out of the Chicago area within a couple years of the crime.
9. He didn't move far, but lives in the vicinity.
10. Owns a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook and related literature on poisons.
11. Probably attended a Chicago area college or university during or before the killings.
12. Deceptive, a good liar.
13. Has a violent temper, becomes irrational.
14. Likely to be a domineering and self-justifying.
15. Has probably been in trouble with the law, but for unrelated matters.

Ever know anyone like this? Certainly someone does, or did once.

Most people believe the Tylenol Killer will never be caught, and that this was an unsolvable crime. But consider the fact that the Unabomber now sits in jail, all because one person in the world recognized him in the published information. The Tylenol Killer is probably still alive, and as long as he lives there is still hope of solving this crime, because someone, somewhere, knows him personally.

N.B.
During the evening of 8 November 1895, William Konrad Roentgen [1845-1923] was working alone in his laboratory, studying the Lenard effect, the penetration of cathode rays through different materials. In his darkened room, he covered his Hittorf tube (a variant on the glow tube of Hertz) with black cardboard. Quite by accident, on the wall six feet from the end of his tube, was a sheet of paper which had been treated with the salt barium platinum-cyanide which he used as a screen for other experiments. Because it was dark he noticed that the paper was glowing, fluorescing. Further study demonstrated that this fluorescent glow originated from the tube and that it exhibited amazing properties! He knew from his earlier work that source of the glow could not be the cathode rays themselves, as they seemed unable to penetrate the tube's glass wall and the cardboard. Rather, they were of unknown origin, so he called them "X-rays".
It is this unique property of cyanide compounds of being able to prevent x-rays from penetrating themselves that gave the investigators of the Tylenol murders the idea of efficiently sieving through large bulks of Tylenol products for the cyanide laced bottles by running all the cartons through the airports’ x-ray machines.

Crime Scene Investigation - Asphyxiation (electrical shock)

Death by asphyxiation can occur as a result of electrical shock. The shock stops the action of the heart, and if the brain is deprived of oxygen, it will cease its function. The effect of electrical shock on a person depends on many things. It depends on their health. It also depends on their location and how wet or dry it is. In addition, it also depends on the amount of voltage they receive, how long they are in contact with this voltage, and the after-effects of the shock.

Electrical shocks often leave marks, although it is possible for a body not to show any outer or inner damage. Usually electrical shocks leave entrance and exit wounds on the body. These generally have a grey or white puckered look. Severe burns from higher voltage, called Joule burns, are often brown and take the form of the thing that caused the fatal contact. Lightning deaths leave a characteristic mark that resembles a fern leaf. High-voltage shocks may leave marks where metal objects have melted on the person. And there may be extensive fractures of the bones.

When one investigates a death by electrical shock, one needs to check the weather conditions, the electrical appliances the victim may have been using, and the victim's location and activity at the time of death to determine if the death is accidental or not. Deaths from electrical shock are most often accidental. Murder by electrocution is generally rare, but possible.

Crime Scene Investigation - Stockholm Syndrome

The Stockholm Syndrome is an emotional attachment, a bond of interdependence between captive and captor that develops 'when someone threatens your life, deliberates, and doesn't kill you.' (Symonds, 1980) The relief resulting from the removal of the threat of death generates intense feelings of gratitude and fear that combine to make the captive reluctant to display negative feelings toward the captor or terrorist. In fact, former hostages have visited their captors in jail, recommended defense counsel, and even started a defense fund. It is this dynamic, which causes former hostages and abuse survivors to minimize the damage done to them and refuse to cooperate in prosecuting their tormentors. "The victims' need to survive is stronger than his/her impulse to hate the person who has created the dilemma." (Strentz, 1980) The victim comes to see the captor as a 'good guy', even a savior. This condition occurs in response to the four specific conditions as listed below:

1. A person threatens to kill another and is perceived as having the capability to do so;
2. The other cannot escape, so her or his life depends on the threatening person;
3. The threatened person is isolated from outsiders so that the only other perspective available to her or him is that of the threatening person; and
4. The threatening person is perceived as showing some degree of kindness to the one being threatened.

It takes only 3-4 days for the characteristic bond of the Stockholm syndrome to emerge when captor and captive are strangers. After that, as research shows, the duration of captivity is no longer relevant.

The above phenomenon was dubbed "Stockholm Syndrome" by the criminologist Nils Bejerot in relation to an actual bank robbery in 1973 where four Swedes were held captive in a bank vault for six days, during which they became attached to their captors.

On August 23, 1973, Jan Erik "Janne" Olsson, on leave from prison, walked into Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, central Stockholm. Police were called in immediately, two of them went inside, and Olsson opened fire, injuring one policeman. The other was ordered to sit in a chair and "sing something". He started singing "Lonesome Cowboy". Olsson then took 4 people as hostages. (See picture.) He demanded his friend Clark Olofsson to be brought there, along with 3 million Swedish Krona ($360,000 US 2003 value), two guns, bullet-proof vests, helmets and a fast car.

Olofsson was brought in by permission of the government and established a communication link with the police negotiators. One of the hostages, Kristin Ehnemark (not present on the photo), said she was confident with the robbers but feared the police might cause trouble by violent methods (this was the beginning of the Stockholm syndrome). The robbers barricaded the inner main vault together with the hostages. The doors to the vault were closed. The robbers were permitted to have a car to escape but were not allowed to take the hostages with them, if they were to leave.

The robber, Olofsson, called up the Prime Minister Olof Palme and said he would kill the hostages, and took a stranglehold on Elisabeth; she was heard screaming as he hung up.

The next day Olof Palme received another call. This time it was Kristin Ehnmark who said she was very displeased with his attitude, asking him to let the robbers and the hostages leave.

Olofsson walked around in the vault singing Roberta Flack's "Killing me softly".

The drama went on. On August 26, the police drilled a hole into the main vault from the apartment above. This was the hole from which the picture of the hostages and Olofsson was taken. Olsson opened fire and threatened to kill the hostages if any gas attack was attempted. He attached small snare traps to the necks of the hostages which would cause them to strangle themselves in the event of a gas attack. These can be seen on the deposit boxes on the left.

On August 28 the gas was used anyway, and after half an hour the robbers gave up. Nobody was injured physically.

Both Olsson and Olofsson were charged and sentenced to extended imprisonment for the robbery. However Olofsson claimed he didn't help Olsson and was only trying to save the hostages by keeping the situation calm, and at the court of appeals he was freed of any charges. He was later to become a friend with one of the hostages, Kristin Ehnemark, and they meet sometimes, their families becoming friends. Olsson was sentenced to 10 years of prison and has not committed a criminal act since he was released. He got many admiring letters from women who found him attractive. He later got engaged to one of them (not one of the hostages, however, as some state).

The hostages still repeatedly claim they were more frightened of the police than the robbers during their six days of confinement. They clearly identify with their unlawful guardians. This leads to academic interest in the matter.

Clark Olofsson has repeatedly committed armed robberies and acts of violence, both before and after the events in 1973, all since he was 16 years old. He was finally released from prison in 1991, but in 1999 he was arrested in Denmark and was sentenced to another 14 years of prison. He has spent some 24 years in prison.

Crime Scene Investigation - Asphyxiation (hanging)

Hanging is asphyxiation by strangulation using a line of rope, cord, or similar material to work against the hanging weight of the body. Hanging is most often suicidal. But sometimes it is accidental. It is seldom homicidal, except in cases of lynchings.

A person does not have to be fully suspended to be hung. Hanging may occur if a victim jumps or is pushed from a height while tied by a line to a rafter or a tree limb. If the height is more than just a few feet, the victim's neck may break. But the neck is seldom broken in suicidal or accidental hangings.

At the scene of crime, one must check the beam or rafter over which the line is laid for marks showing the direction of travel of the line. One may want to remove the line for inspection. The hanging line must be checked in a laboratory to learn if it pulled against the weight of the body. The scene must be inspected for signs of a fight and signs of defensive marks or rope burns. However, an unconscious victim may convulse, and in the process knocking over items in the immediate area.

When the body is taken down, the knots must not be untied. The type of knot may give the investigator a lead to follow. One must remove the hanging line from the victim's neck by cutting the line on the side opposite to the knot. Then, a careful inspection of the groove must be make around the neck. A close look at the edges of the groove will often show black and blue marks from minute bleeding. Ruptured blood vessels in the skin mean the victim was alive at the time of the hanging. But the lack of these marks does not necessarily mean the victim was dead at the time of hanging. This, combined with other conditions, could however raise suspicions.

In addition, One must also note the position of the groove as it relates to the location of the knot. The mark of the ligature should agree with the location of the knot. For example, if the knot is in front of the face, the deepest part of the groove should be on the nape of the neck. Anything different suggests homicide.

When a fixed knot is used in hanging, the groove will form an inverted V on the side of the knot. The bruise on the skin in the groove is greatest opposite the knot. It tapers off as it reaches the knot. If a slip knot is used, the groove may be uniform around the neck.

If the victim is nude, suspended before a mirror, or suspended in an unusual manner, or if any of these conditions are combined, one may suspect an accidental hanging from sexual activity. Accidental deaths may occur from autoerotic sexual acts that uses restraints like ropes, cords, chains, and handcuffs. The victim, in trying to reach sexual contentment, uses these items to restrain his or her hands, arms, legs, and neck. When strain on the neck causes unconsciousness or when the victim loses balance during the act, accidents occur. The victims are unable to release themselves because of the binding on their hands, arms, and legs. They may end by hanging themselves. Sometimes, when they use binding material or plastic bags on their faces, they suffocate. A notable feature of this type of death is the presence of female attire and articles on or near a male body. And erotic material is often present. In the past, these deaths were often incorrectly labeled suicides. But they are accidental and they. must be listed as such.

Other accidental hangings differ from autoerotic deaths in the lack of female attire, erotic material, or constrained hands or feet. And accidental hangings often involve infants and young children. Infants can get caught in restraining devices. They can get their clothing caught on things, or they can get their heads caught between crib or fence slots. If they are unable to get themselves free, they may strangle. For no known reason, young children, especially boys, will put nooses around their necks. They too may be strangle to death.

Crime Scene Investigation - Asphyxiation (strangulation)

Strangulation is asphyxiation arising from compression on the neck. It can be done manually or with any ligature like a binder, a rope, a necktie. Strangulation may also be caused by hard blows made to the neck. Punches or chops that are aimed to strike at the throat may cause damage to the larynx, which would be followed by suffocation.

Manual strangulation is a homicide. A person cannot strangle himself with his own bare hands by virtue of the fact that when he loses consciousness from asphyxiation, his hands will relax and his breathing will resume. In manual strangulation, the attacker's fingernails will often make small tell-tale bruises or marks on the neck. However, the marks on the neck will unfortunately not show the direction from which the victim was attacked. In addition, fingernails also vary in size and shape. Another sign of manual strangulation is hemorrhaging in the throat area, and this can normally be seen in an autopsy. Sometimes a fracture of the hyoid bone (a U-shaped bone at the base of the tongue) is also found.

Strangulation by ligature may be homicidal or suicidal. It is a fairly common form of suicide, but it is a rare form of homicide. The ligature often is made from something handy at the scene. Pieces of loose clothing like shirts, neckties, belts and hosehold appliances like electrical cords can often be used. Strangulation by a garrote of rope or wire sometimes is used in homicidal strangulation, but it is not seen very often. Close inspection of the marks left on the skin may show the type of garrote used.

When investigating crime scene involving strangulation, one should normally search the scene and the victim for signs of struggle. One should also obtain fingernail scrapings. In addition, one should check the victim's body for signs of defense wounds as the presence of such wounds may suggest homicide. Finally, one should look for the presence of hesitation marks which hints at attempted suicide by other means before ruling it a homicide.

Crime Scene Investigation - Asphyxiation (General)

Asphyxia is defined as a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis. In essence, when the body or any vital part of the body is deprived of oxygen, asphyxia occurs.

Death arising from asphyxia alone is most often due to natural or accidental causes. As for natural causes, it is worthwhile to note that many diseases and infections can in fact hinder airways. As for accidental causes, foreign bodies like meat or bone can become trapped in the throat or windpipe, thereby blocking the airways and causing asphyxia in the process. Food particles are often the cause of accidental choking deaths in adults. On the other hand, choking deaths of children are normally derived from small plastic or metal toys in addition to food particles. In addition, pressure on the outside of the chest that restricts breathing can also cause asphyxia. This pressure can occur during cave-ins, building collapses, or traffic accidents.

Inhaling asphyxiants may also cause asphyxia. As the name implies, Asphyxiants are any types of poison which works by depriving human tissues of oxygen. Examples of asphyxiants include chemicals like ammonia, chloroform, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Sometimes these chemicals are the cause of suicidal or homicidal deaths. Homicide and suicide by asphyxia alone are rare. But in learning the reasons for death by asphyxia, anything suspicious must be pursued through background investigation and autopsy. Only then can the death be ruled accidental or natural.

N.B. Please kindly refer to my future posts under the "Crime Scene Investigation - Asphyxiation" series for further details on issues relating to homicide and suicide by asphyxia.

Crime Scene Investigation - Detection of Latent Prints

Latent prints are the kind of finger prints found at crime scenes which are formed by the oil and sweat secretions deposited by a person's fingers when they touch a surface or an object. They are invisible to the naked eye and need some kind of treatment to make them visible.

The most widely used method of detecting latent prints is to dust using a fine powder that adheres to the traces of oil and sweat. Dusting is suitable for hard and/or non-absorbent surfaces. There any many different kinds of powder in use today. For example;
aluminium dust, which is grey and highly visible on dark and mirrored surfaces;
carbon black for white surfaces; and
luminescent powders which fluoresce under ultraviolet light.

N.B. A common every day application of luminescence is washing powder that contains optical brightener. The optical brightener is nothing more than a fluorescent dye that shows a blue luminescence when excited by the ultraviolet radiation present in sunlight. The optical brightener is added to counteract the yellowing of cotton as it ages.

For porous surfaces like paper or cloth, a number of methods have been developed over the years to help detect fingerprints. Examples are as follows:

Iodine fuming
This is the oldest of the chemical methods for detecting fingerprints. Solid iodine sublimes (becomes a vapour without becoming a liquid) at room temperature. If an object, say a piece of paper, is placed in a chamber which a has had some crystals of iodine placed in it, any fingerprints on the object will appear as brownish prints. What is thought to be happening is that the iodine vapour is dissolving in the skin oils (or may be the traces of water from the perspiration) that make up the print. Whatever is happening the print is temporary and will soon fade. It must therefore either be photographed immediately or "fixed" by spraying with starch solution to give a blue print which will last longer.

Ninhydrin
Iodine fuming has to a great extent replaced by other methods including spraying with the chemical ninhydrin which reacts with amino acids present in the skin secretions to give purple prints.

Superglue
The active ingredient in superglues is a cyanoacrylate ester. When vapours of these compounds come into contact with fingerprints the molecules of the cyanoacrylate attach to the print and polymerise. The visible prints produced are white, to improve their detectability they are often treated with a fluorescent dye, such as Rhodamine 6G, before being photographed under an special light source or a laser.

Luminescence and Fingerprinting
Some molecules when irradiated with certain types of light fluoresce, the phenomenon is called luminescence. Researchers discovered some years ago that some components of sweat are luminescent and fluoresce when illuminated with lasers. There are disadvantages in using lasers as they are expensive and there are significant safety issues to consider. With the advent of treatment of fingerprints with fluorescent dyes (see above), the use of so-called alternate light sources which are essentially high intensity lights has increased as they are less expensive, safer and more portable than lasers.

Crime Scene Investigation - Luminol Test

Blood and other bodily fluids which are found at the crime scene may give important physical evidence in three ways;
1)The occurrence of a blood strain in a certain place, e.g. on a weapon may substantiate an account of a crime;
2)The shape, position, size or intensity of a bloodstain may support a particular sequence of events; and/or
3)The blood typing analysis can be used to eliminate whole groups of people as suspects.
It is therefore important to be able to identify a particular stain as blood or not, or maybe even to reveal "hidden" bloodstains on dark materials or where attempts have been made to wash the blood away.

Human blood contains a pigment called haemoglobin, which is used to transport oxygen around the body. This pigment is used by a number of tests to identify the presence of blood. One particular test that reveals the presence of blood is the Luminol Test. In this test the bloodstains can be made to glow with a blue light due to the chemiluminescent reaction of the luminol reagent with the iron in the haemoglobin.This test is sensitive enough to pick up minute traces of blood even when attempts have been made to wash away the incriminating evidence.