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.
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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I’m sorry, no. I don’t feel qualified to do that.
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Biology would help with the natural fibers (like cotton or fibers from plants, or hairs from animals like wool) and chemistry helped with analyzing synthetic fibers with polarized light or fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Those last two don't work on natural fibers because they're not consistent all the way through like a synthetic fiber, that comes out of a machine.
Fiber analysis was usually only examined in cases of stabbing, strangling or bludgeoning, where there had to be close physical contact between victim and suspect. (A gunshot didn't mean there had to be contact.) It was only a small part of my days. Very little is done any more because you can only say the fibers are consistent with having come from a particular sample, you can't say they did, as in DNA or fingerprints. You can't even give a statistic for how likely it would be to find a particular fiber unless it came from the suspect, etc., because we can't know how many items with that fiber are in the environment.
Only collection would be done in the field, to do anything more you would need the microscopes and the equipment at the lab.
Hope that helps!
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I'll email you.
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Sure, email me at lisa-black@live.com.
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Hi, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Again, titles and job requirements aren't uniform, so the only way to know is to call the crime labs in your area or whereever you might be interested in working and ask them. You can also go on the websites for professional organizations such as the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and check out their job vacancy postings and see what the various positions require. Good luck.
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If you want to be a pathologist you will have to be a doctor, and will need to go to med school. So you are looking for a pre-med program. Best of luck!
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