The population, transfer and persistence of fibres on the skin of living subjects

Palmer, Ray; Burch, Hilary J.

doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2009.02.008

Cited by 48 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…To our knowledge, however, no specific data regarding the number of fibers recovered on the face of victim's in smothering homicide cases (criminal activity) or after a night's sleep (legitimate activity) have existed prior to this work. Nonetheless, it is possible to refer to studies that have investigated the transfer of fibers on the skin of living subjects [14] and even on pig skin [50] in order to extrapolate the potential results of smothering scenarios. For nights' sleep, it is more difficult as it is uncommon to find data about the transfer of fibers in activities involving soft and extended contacts.…”

Section: Interpretation Without Any Specific Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, reasoning needs to take place at the activity level. Many have already studied transfer and persistence of fibers in various scenarios [1,4,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and, with the exception of transfer on car seats [18][19][20], most studies have systematically considered simplified activities rather than realistic scenarios [1,4,17,[21][22][23][24]. Moreover, to the knowledge of the authors, no transfer study has yet been carried out based on legitimate alternative activities involving contact close to criminal actions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…contamination fibers). Based on a literature search, orange and burgundy fibers appeared to be rarely recovered from the bare skin and hair of living subjects [14,40]. Hence, six orange and six burgundy pillowcases (one per individual and one for preliminary testing, see following section) were bought at Manor supermarkets in Vevey and Geneva (Switzerland) respectively.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A preliminary investigation of textile fibers in smothering scenarios and alternative legitimate activities

Schnegg

Turchany

Deviterne

et al. 2017

Forensic Science International

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Was this group of target fibers transferred during a criminal action? Is it possible that it was transferred during another legitimate activity? Acquiring knowledge about the activity, whether legitimate or criminal, leading to the transfer of a group of fibers is a recurring challenge encountered throughout the evidence interpretation process. Trace evidence such as fibers may assist with generating a reasoning of the activity which produced the trace, but this assumes that one already has a thorough understanding of the transfer phenomenon. How to generate and then use such relevant knowledge? What are the influencing parameters and which ones should (or can) be controlled? The present work focuses on homicides by smothering using a pillow and the transfer of fibers on the face of the victim in such events. A legitimate activity - represented by a night's sleep on a pillow - was also investigated since such legitimate, alternative explanations concerning the presence of fibers could likely be formulated by the suspect. The number and distribution of fibers transferred onto the victim's face in either scenario were investigated and interpreted using a Bayesian approach. Results showed that the shedding capacity of the pillowcase strongly impact the number of fibers recovered. The nature of the action, modus operandi and amount of friction could not be excluded in their influence on the transfer of fibers. Finally, likelihood ratios indicating the number of fibers recovered from the victim's face can provide relevant information by supporting either criminal or legitimate proposition (i.e., smothering or night's sleep scenario).

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Section: Interpretation Without Any Specific Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A preliminary investigation of textile fibers in smothering scenarios and alternative legitimate activities

Schnegg

Turchany

Deviterne

et al. 2017

Forensic Science International

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“…Transfer parameters are very important in a forensic context, in either an investigative or evaluative approach, to assess the evidential value of microtraces at the activity level. Over the years, several studies have been carried out for materials such as textile fibres [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], paints [8,9], glass [10][11][12][13][14] or glitter particles [15,16]. However, there has been a lack of this type of research for soils, although, the last few years, increasing interest in the forensic analysis of soil was revealed as it has sometimes been the only available evidence in some cases [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of some factors influencing soil transfer on shoes

Werner

Burnier

et al. 2019

Science & Justice

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In criminal activities, soil can be transferred from a crime scene to items linked with a perpetrator; for example, shoes, cars or tools. Several parameters will influence the quantity of soil transferred in a given scenario. The knowledge of the most influential factors can help the expert to assess the evidence using a logical approach at the activity level or to predict the amount of soil that can be expected in a given scenario. The influence of five chosen parameters, namely the shoe profile, shoe size, walker's weight, soil type and soil humidity were assessed using Design of Experiment (DOE) in order to understand their influence on soil quantity transferred on shoes. The Faced Central Composite Design (FCCD) using a quadratic model was found to be highly significant, thus they could be adequately used to model and to interpret the amount of soil recovered from one shoe. These designs demonstrate that the characteristics of the donor (soil type and soil humidity), as well as a combination of these two factors have a very significant impact on the soil transfer. The characteristics of the receptor (shoe profile, shoe size and walker's weight) also have an impact on the transfer but to a lesser extent. Globally, this research provides valuable information for the forensic scientist both in investigative mode: evaluation of the soil quantity possibly transferred on shoes, and in the evaluative steps: is the quantity of soil found on the suspect shoes in accordance to the proposition/scenario given by the prosecution and the defence?

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“…It is well documented that following the transfer of textile fibres between items these fibres will be lost over a period of time [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] . Less well documented is the movement of fibres from the initial area of contact and the factors that may influence that movement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of front-loading and top-loading washing machines on the persistence, redistribution and secondary transfer of textile fibres during laundering

Szewcow

Robertson

Roux

2011

Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences

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This study investigated the influence of several factors on the redistribution of extraneous textile fibres on garments during machine washing. Cotton T-shirts were seeded with known numbers of acrylic, wool and viscose target fibres in controlled positions and laundered in top-and front-loading machines, both individually and accompanied by undergarments. The persistence of target fibres was low (generally 510%), but never zero. Between 50% and 100% of recovered fibres were redistributed away from the primary contact area. A secondary transfer of target fibres always occurred to at least one undergarment, 90% of experiments resulting in fibres transferred to the inside surface of the undergarments. This implies that whilst valuable fibre evidence may be recovered from garments after machine washing, the location of recovered fibres should not be relied upon to corroborate alleged scenarios when it is known or suspected that the garment under investigation has been laundered.

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The population, transfer and persistence of fibres on the skin of living subjects

Cited by 48 publications

References 18 publications

A preliminary investigation of textile fibers in smothering scenarios and alternative legitimate activities

A preliminary investigation of textile fibers in smothering scenarios and alternative legitimate activities

Identification of some factors influencing soil transfer on shoes

The influence of front-loading and top-loading washing machines on the persistence, redistribution and secondary transfer of textile fibres during laundering

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