LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
Most any job in forensics is hands-on, either lab work or field work or both, and legalities are usually the responsibility of the officers, who are trained in such, and the attorneys. So I don’t think you’ll have a problem. Best of luck!
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They would most likely have rope fibers on their hands whether they hung themselves or were strangled. No, the furrow will usually get less deep and maybe disappear, depending on how tight the rope is, toward the spot where the knot is since it is usually higher up on the body as gravity pulls the body downward. As far as I know the location of the knot will depend on where it’s tied, if it’s slid around before suspension occurs, and the structure of the knot (if it slips or not). Being right or left handed shouldn’t make a difference therefore.
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Hi Cybill, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I believe that they can use the inside of a tooth for DNA analysis, but of course if the tooth is loose they may not be able to determine which body it came from if there's more than one. I expect a dentist would need the teeth still in the jaw to compare with dental x-rays in order to make a comparison that way, but it may all depend on what work, if any, has been done to the tooth and how distinctive that work is. I'm not a DNA analyst (any more) or a dentist so I'm not 100% sure.
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Sorry it took me so long, I was out of town at a conference. But I really don’t know for sure—it’s up to the hiring lab, what they want. I would think a 4 year in Biology with as many Forensic classes as you can get would be best, but a better way to guess would be to call all the labs you’re considering and ask them.Best of luck!
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Many forensic chemistry departments only analyze possible drugs, so I would think it would be possible to find.
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I’m sorry but I have no idea. I’ve never worked in Toxicology.
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Wow, that's kind of hard, possibly because we in forensics don't 'solve' cases, the detective does. We provide them the information that hopefully solves or helps to solve the case. Some that took a surprisingly short time: we had a would-be rapist drop his wallet at the scene. I recently had a burglary/arson/car theft in which I had some decent fingerprints, but they didn't match anyone in our city database. The detective had no leads at all and no idea where the car was. Then as is routine I checked the prints against the neighboring city's database, and got a hit, they questioned the suspect and he confessed. In my small town we often have the killer waiting at the scene and telling us that they did it. However, after sitting in jail for a while they may decide they were justified, so the legal trial may not even begin until 2-3 years later. One that took longer: we had the brutal double murder of a woman and a young girl in 1989. Despite a copious investigation of every friend, acquaintance, fingerprint or hair involved, no leads. Then two years ago a man was arrested on a relatively minor charge and his DNA was searched and hit on the unsolved murder. Hope that helps!
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