FRS581

PBL on Hair and Fiber

Nur Atiqah binti Ahmad

2013574299
Date Performed: 21st March 2015
Date Submitted: 25th March 2015
Group: AS2534B1
Lecturer:
Pn. Khairulmazidah binti Mohamed

Question
1. At the lab, the analyst do further examination on each piece of the evidence submitted
to the lab. A piece of hair was put under a microscope to observe the microscopic
characteristic of the hair such as the thickness, colour and the present of medulla as
shown in figure ME4. The fibers that are combed from the victim's clothing are also
observed under the microscope. There are three types of fibers collected as shown in
figure Item 3. Other pieces of fibers were analysed using Infrared Radiation
instrument and the spectrums of each piece of the fibers are shown as IR1, IR2, IR3,
and IR4. From these spectrums, the analyst can make a conclusion on the origin of the
fibers found on the projectile and on the victim's cloth by comparing the spectrum.
2. The photomicrograph ME4 shows that the hair part has medulla. The medulla is less
than one third of the hair shaft. From this characteristic, the analyst can determine the
origin of the hair. The photograph of the fiber shows the colour of the fiber. On figure
ME3, short, red and flattened piece of fiber was observed. Figure Item 1 shows that
the fiber is red in colour, the end of the fibre is fibrous, it has twist direction to the left
while figure Item 2 shows that the colour of the fibre is red feature crumpled. Figure
Item 3 shows the microscopic images of the fibers combed from the victim's clothing.
In this figure, the direction and colour of the fiber can be observed. From the left, the
fibre is red in colour, in the second image medulla can be seen at the centre of the
fibre indicating it is most probably coming from the natural fibre and the last
photomicrograph is transparent.
3.

By using microscopic technique, the colour and morphological characteristics of the

natural fiber which are cotton and wool and synthetic fiber which is nylon can be
distinguish. For further examination, the most common techniques used to identify
natural fiber are staining and ashing test. However, synthetic fibers are not suitable to
be identified using white light microscopy alone, as they are often fairly featureless.
In such situations, the differences in the chemistry between generic fiber types such as
nylon can be exploited using polarized light microscopy or Infrared microscopy.

4. The picture with the bullet and fiber is possibly transferred from the victim cloth
when the bullet passes through the victim's shoulder. The infrared microscopy can be

used to determine the source of origin of the evidence. Based on the analytical data
obtained from the IR microscopy test, the fiber from the victim cloth and the fiber
with the bullet give out almost similar spectrum which is IR1 and IR2 respectively.
From these spectrums, we can conclude that, the evidence of IR1 and IR2 is come
from the same thing.
5. Other evidences that presences at this scene are hair that found on the blade and a
fiber under the victim's right hand fingernail.
6. The missing things that should have been done by the investigator are examine the
blanket and the fiber under the victim's right hand fingernail. The investigator also
should perform DNA analysis on the dried blood found on the blade and make
comparison to the suspect DNA. The bullet recovered from the victim's head also
should be examined to identify the type of gun used. The victim's clothing can be
tested for burned and unburned powder residues, often associated with the proximity
of the gun muzzle when it was fired. Chemical solutions can be applied to the clothing
fabric to enhance visualization of the residues. The suspect hand also should be test
for any gunshot residue present to prove that the suspect had recently fired a gun.
7. Reconstruction of the case:
Around 2.00 a.m in the morning, the victim could have possibly goes to the subjects
house. Struggles might have happened between them and turned into a fight. There
was a sign of struggles found on victim's face and arm. The struggles might have
occurred on the carpet of the house. The victim run to the kitchen and grabbed a large
kitchen knife to protect himself. The victim then found that the subject is pointing a
gun toward him. The subject tried to kill the victim by firing a gun at the victim.
However, his first attempt was unsuccessful. The bullet entered and passed through
the victim's right shoulder and hit a wall. A piece of fiber was discovered on the wall.
The gunshot caused the victim to fell on the floor. After the bullet hit the victim
shoulder, the victim might have drop the knife. The suspect then picked the knife
stabbed the victim in his chest. The suspect might have held the kitchen knife with his
left hand. During the struggling to stab the victim, the knife slips and accidentally cut
the subject hand. The subject then shot the victim at point blank in the head to make
sure he was dead.

The subject covered the victim's dead body with a blanket and drags the body into the
trunk along with the knife. Then he goes back into his home and cleans up the floor to
conceal the possible evidence of the crime. The subject then drive to the strip mall and
dumped the dead body behind the strip mall. At same time, police officers arrived at
the disturbance scene regarding to the call report. No one was present at the scene.
At 7.00 a.m in the morning, the victim's dead body was recovered. Thoroughly
examination was performed to the dead body. The blanket that covers the body and
the victim's clothing was brought to the laboratory for further examination. An
autopsy of the dead body was performed to determine the cause of death.
After search warrant obtained, homicide investigator went to the original disturbance
scene to search for homicide evidence. The investigator found that the floor of the
suspect house was very cleaned and smelled like pine scented floor cleaner. The
investigator also found suspicious cut on the suspect left hand. The suspect was
unable to explain how he gets the cut on his left hand. The investigator then found a
large kitchen knife which dried blood and a hair were found on it in the suspect
vehicle.