The Casebook Of Forensic Detection

Updated with new material and the latest scientific discoveries, an introduction to the field of forensic science examines the evolution of crime-solving technology and describes the investigative techniques behind one hundred real-life groundbreaking cases while covering such topics as fingerprinting, ballistics, and DNA analysis and their law enforcement applications. Reprint.

PRAISE FOR The Casebook of Forensic Detection "Pithy, concise, and remarkably accurate." -Science Books & Films "Contains ample material to hold the attention and foster interest in science." -Science Teacher "A mystery novelist's essential resource guide." -Book News, Inc. "Even the most dedicated devotee of the genre will find much that is new in these brief but exciting accounts." -Publishers Weekly

“Brilliant and persistent scientific work that brought murderers like John List, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey MacDonald to justice.”—Publishers Weekly “Landmarks of forensic science [that] are representative of the evolution of the discipline and its increasingly prominent role in crime solving.”—Library Journal Modern ballistics and the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti case. DNA analysis and the 20th century’s most wanted criminal—the hunt for Josef Mengele. “The Iceman”—a contract killer and one-man murder machine. Scientific analysis and history’s greatest publishing fraud—the Hitler Diaries. How the “perfect crime” can land you in prison. In a world so lawless that crimes must be prioritized, some cases still stand out—not only for their depravity but as landmarks of criminal detection. Updated with new material, this collection of 100 groundbreaking cases vividly depicts the horrendous crimes, colorful detectives, and grueling investigations that shaped the science of forensics. In concise, fascinating detail, Colin Evans shows how far we’ve come from Sherlock Holmes’s magnifying glass. Although no crime in this book is ordinary, many of the perpetrators are notorious: Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, John List, Bruno Hauptmann, Jeffrey Macdonald, Wayne Williams. Along with the cases solved, fifteen forensic techniques are covered—including fingerprinting, ballistics, toxicology, DNA analysis, and psychological profiling. Many of these are crime fighting “firsts” that have increased the odds that today’s techno sleuths will get the bad guys, clear the innocent—and bring justice to the victims and their families.

Scientific sleuthing and slip-ups in the investigations of fifteen famous cases Ranging from the Turin Shroud and the suspicious death of Napoleon Bonaparte to the murder cases of Dr. Sam "The Fugitive" Sheppard and O. J. Simpson, A Question of Evidence takes readers inside some of the most vexing forensic controversies of all time. In each case, Colin Evans lays out the conflicting medical and scientific evidence and shows how it was used or mishandled in reaching a verdict. Among the other cases: the assassination of JFK, the strange history of Alfred Packer (the only convicted American cannibal), the death of Vatican banker Roberto Calvi, and the trials of Lindy Chamberlain (the "dingo baby" case) and Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald (the case recounted in Fatal Vision). Though the science of forensics has helped solve a huge number of crimes, it's clear from A Question of Evidence that many cases are more open than shut. Colin Evans (Pembroke, UK) is the author of the popular Casebook of Forensic Detection (Wiley: 0-471-28369-X) as well as Great Feuds in History (Wiley: 0-471-38038-5).

This chilling foray into the dark side of medicine reveals the horrific crimes of such doctors as Michael Swango, aka "Dr. Death," who may have killed thirty-five patients, and Charles Friedfood, whose incompetence led to murder and exposed the American Medical Association's "brotherhood of silence." Original.

Before there was CSI, there was one man who saw beyond the crime and into the future of forensic science. His name was Bernard Spilsbury—and, through his use of cutting-edge science, he single-handedly brought criminal investigations into the modern age. Starting out as a young, charismatic physician in early twentieth-century Britain, Spilsbury hit the English justice system—and the front pages—like a cannonball, garnering a reputation as a real-life Sherlock Holmes. He uncovered evidence others missed, stood above his peers in the field of crime reconstruction, relentlessly exposed discrepancies between witness testimony and factual evidence, and most importantly, convicted dozens of murderers with hard-nosed, scientific proof. This is the fascinating story of the life and work of Bernard Spilsbury, history’s greatest medical detective, and of the cases that not only made him a celebrity, but also inspired the astonishing science of criminal investigation in our own time.

THE ULTIMATE READERS’ GUIDE TO THE ART OF FORENSICS! An intrepid investigator crawls through miles of air conditioning ducts to capture the implicating fibers of a suspect’s wool jacket . . . A forensic entomologist discovers insects in the grill of a car and nails down a drug dealer’s precise geographical path . . . A gluttonous criminal’s fingerprints are lifted from a chocolate truffle. . . . Filled with these and many other intriguing true stories, and packed with black and white illustrations and photographs, The Forensic Casebook draws on interviews with police personnel and forensic scientists—including animal examiners, botanists, zoologists, firearms specialists, and autoposists—to uncover the vast and detailed underworkings of criminal investigation. Encyclopedic in scope, this riveting, authoritative book leaves no aspect of forensic science untouched, covering such fascinating topics as: • Securing a crime scene • Identifying blood splatter patterns • Collecting fingerprints—and feet, lip, and ear prints • Interpreting the stages of a body’s decay • Examining hair and fiber evidence • Trace evidence from firearms and explosives • “Lifting” DNA prints • Computer crime and forensic photography • Career paths in criminal science Lucidly written and spiked with real crime stories, The Forensic Casebook exposes the nitty gritty that other books only touch upon. Here is a reference book as addictive as a page-turning novel of suspense.

The development of forensic science in solving crimes, with real-life case examples.