Crime Scene Investigator Network Newsletter

JULY 2008

Welcome to the JULY 2008 Crime Scene Investigator Network Newsletter

Analysis of Bullet Wipe
Patterns on Cloth Targets

James A. Bailey

From the Journal of Forensic Identification
Vol. 55, No. 4, July/August 2005*

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the reliability of bullet wipe patterns on cloth targets for use by the investigator in analyzing and reconstructing the events in a crime scene investigation. The study included variables such as ammunition, distance to target, and angle of impact. The study examined the coloration and measurements of the bullet wipes and the effect of the variables tested. Although bullet wipe patterns can assist in reconstructing the events, the investigator should exercise caution when interpreting bullet wipe patterns.

Introduction
This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of bullet wipe patterns in investigations. Bullet wipe is a gray or black ring around the circumference of an entrance bullet hole. It consists of bullet lubricant, by-products of propellant, traces of metal from the bullet, and any residue in the barrel from previous use. Bullet wipe is present on lead and full metaljacketed bullets. Figure 1 illustrates bullet wipe around the margin of an entrance bullet hole. When a weapon is fired from a distance of greater than three feet, there usually will not be any visible gunshot residue on the target’s surface. However, a dark ring around the hole is characteristic of a bullet entrance hole. Bullet lubricant and propellant by-products are wiped off around the margin of the hole as the bullet passes through the target. The sodium rhodizonate test can be used to test the dark gray ring around the hole’s margin for the presence of lead. Even though bullet wipe may be left on materials such as doors, walls, and other solids that the bullet passes through, this study deals only with bullets passing through cloth targets. Bullet wipe patterns can be useful as investigative aids because investigators attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events at a crime scene to identify types of physical evidence that may be present. Also, physical evidence can be used to corroborate or expose deception in statements from suspects or witnesses.

Figure 1: Uniform bullet wipe around the margin of an entrance bullet hole.
Shot was fired from 3.04 m (10 ft) at 90 degrees angle of incidence.

Methods
Square cardboard targets approximately 12.38 cm by 12.38 cm (12 x 12 in.) in size and .64 cm (1/4 in.) thick were prepared and covered with 100% white cotton fabric. The fabric was wrapped around the cardboard target, stapled in place, but was not stretched.

A Smith & Wesson, model 686, revolver with a four-inch barrel was used to conduct the test. Because a clean weapon might yield inconsistent results for bullet wipe patterns for the first shots, ten shots were fired from the revolver before testing targets to maximize propellant by-products in the weapon’s cylinder and barrel.

The first set of tests was conducted to determine whether bullet wipe coloration on the fabric varies with target distance. A single shot was fired at six distances to determine whether there were any observable differences in bullet wipe coloration. The ammunition used was Winchester .38 Special with a 150-grain lead round nose bullet (RNB). Six distances were tested at 90 degrees

< read the complete article and view example photographs >

*From the Journal of Forensic Identification Vol. 55, No. 4, July/Aug 2005.
The Official Publication of the International Association for Identification "Reproduction of the Journal of Forensic Identification, in whole or in part, for noncommercial, educational use is permitted provided proper citation of the source is noted."

In This Issue
New CSI and Forensic Job Announcements

Featured Forensic Program

CSI In The News

Resources on the Crime Scene Investigator Network Website

Learn How to Become a Crime Scene Investigator

T-Shirts from ForensicWear.com

New CSI and Forensic Job Announcements

Police Evidence Technician | Prince George's County, MD Police Department
Final Filing Date: August 7, 2008
$34,598.00 - $67,197.00 per year
Selected candidates will examine crime scenes for latent fingerprints; collect and preserve physical evidence; take photographs and make diagrams; attend autopsies; testify in court; assist in investigations and training of municipal police officers and police recruits; and prepare transmittal letters and reports.
<View complete job listing>

Civilian Crime Scene Technician | Union County, NC Sheriff’s Office
Final Filing Date: August 9, 2008
Salary: $2,930.42 - $4,395.58 per month
Under general supervision, performs technical work related to the collection, processing, analysis, preservation and disposition of crime scene evidence and other types of property. The employee identifies, documents, preserves, processes and collects physical evidence found at crime scenes. The employee maintains detailed records of all evidence in accordance with County, state and federal rules and regulations. Employee must exercise initiative and independent judgment in completing assigned tasks. Employee must also exercise tact, courtesy and firmness in frequent contact with the public. The employee is subject to the usual hazards of law enforcement work. This position reports to the Detective Bureau Supervisor.
<View complete job listing>

ISP Forensic Scientist 1 | Idaho State Police
Final Filing Date: August 13, 2008
Salary: $21.44 - $23.52 per hour
The Forensic Scientist 1 is an entry-level position, which will work under the direct supervision of a more experienced Forensic Scientist. The Forensic Scientist 1 position converts to a Forensic Scientist 2 position upon successful completion of a specified training program and two (2) years in the Forensic Scientist 1 position. An experienced scientist who meets the minimum qualifications and *qualifying work experience of a Forensic Scientist 2 will be certified upon completion of a qualifying examination and the six-month probationary period. Pay will be adjusted accordingly at the time the incumbent is certified as a Forensic Scientist 2.
<View complete job listing>

Identification Lab Manager | City of Lincoln, Nebraska
Final Filing Date: September 5, 2008
Salary: $47,347 - $81,040 per year
Lincoln Police Department/Administrative Support seeks individual for supervisory and administrative work; directing and coordinating the operations of the Identification Unit; examining and comparing questioned documents; analyzing, classifying and filing, and identifying fingerprints; operating the NAFIS computer system; writing reports or identifications; preparing and giving expert witness testimony; and maintaining the Digital Imaging System and evidence files and records.
<View complete job listing>

Search for more job listings in Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics
<Crime Scene Investigator Network Employment Listings>

Featured Forensic Training Program

Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc., brings you a multimedia, software version of their highly-successful crime scene processing manual that combines text with full-color photographs and videos that will take you through the steps of processing crime scenes right in the field! Simply insert the data DVD in your laptop computer and select the lesson you need to review. Can't remember how to apply amido black to a tile floor? Just select the video and you'll be shown all the steps you need to know to properly get the job done. Learn more at: Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc.

CSI In The News

<Monkey from Mars: A GA. crime lab's museum oddity>
Other museums might have more or flashier items to display. But only the mini-museum of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can boast of possessing such an other-world oddity as the monkey from Mars. The bureau's state crime lab lobby has its requisite displays on forensic science, including an illegal moonshine still and the microscopic fibers that solved the 1981-82 Atlanta child murders. But tucked away in a glass cylinder are the preserved remains of a monkey that three pranksters passed off as an alien 55 years ago in a UFO hoax that drew headlines worldwide. At the height of UFO hysteria then sweeping the nation, two young barbers and a butcher took a dead monkey in 1953, lopped off its tail and applied a liberal dose of hair remover and some green coloring to the carcass. Then they left the primate on an isolated road north of Atlanta in the pre-dawn hours of July 8, 1953, burning a circle into the pavement with a blowtorch before a police officer came around the curve in his patrol car.
The Associated Press, by Wlter Putnam – July 29, 2008

<Panel To Consider Police Forensic Lab Project>
The third phase of the state's Police Forensic Laboratory project that includes a 26,000-square-foot addition is expected to gain approval when the State Bond Commission meets Aug. 4, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Thursday. The addition to the existing facility will house the toxicology, controlled substance laboratory and the computer crime unit. The toxicology and controlled substance lab tests evidentiary material and screens blood, breath, and urine samples taken from drivers suspected of DUI. The new wing of the laboratory will allow the toxicology lab to move out of its cramped quarters in Hartford and be joined with the rest of the forensic departments.
Hartford Courant – July 25, 2008

<DPS charging crime-lab fees>
Local governments across Arizona face new fees that add up to big dollars to get crime-scene evidence examined by state Department of Public Safety labs. The fees were authorized in the new state budget to offset a $7.8 million cut in DPS funding and came as a surprise to city, town and county officials who had already approved their own budgets for the fiscal year that began July 1. That has left local governments scrambling to find funds to pay for the lab work but has also elicited some fears that cash-strapped jurisdictions could cut back on evidence testing. Previously, DPS provided evidence testing for free.
Arizona Republic - Phoenix, AZ – July 24, 2008

<Mobile crime lab to help on scene fast>
Garrett County authorities say federal grant money will help them fight crime faster. Garrett County has been awarded a $20,340 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant, which will be used "to purchase and equip a mobile crime scene processing four-wheel drive vehicle," Susan Sullam, communications director for Sen. Benjamin Cardin's office, said recently. Currently, whenever the Garrett County Sheriff's Office investigates a crime, it must wait for a mobile crime scene lab from the Maryland State Police to arrive. Sheriff Gary Berkebile said this means waiting for MSP personnel from nearby Cumberland, or as far away as Westminster in Carroll County. "We can use this immediately, instead of waiting until a proper crime scene unit gets here," Berkebile said.
Cumberland Times-News – Cumberland, MD, by Daleen Berry – July 10, 2008

<Sheriff's Office gets new crime scene unit>
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office has a new set of wheels for rolling out to crime scenes. In early June, the agency debuted its new Crime Scene Unit composed of a former ambulance and a 20 foot long trailer. "We want to be able to bring more and more (tools) to the scene," said Cpl. Rick Winer, supervisor of the evidence unit. "It's the worst feeling to get on a crime scene and need something." The trailer and ambulance each contain dozens of items including a fiber optic scope, cameras, lighting, crime scene tape, tents, tarp shields and DNA collection kits.
The Frederick News-Post – Washington, DC, by Gina Gallucci-White – July 9, 2008

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