ABSTRACT
Blood is commonly discovered at crime scenes in various forms, including stains, dried residue, pools, and fingerprints on assorted surfaces. Estimating the age of bloodstains is a crucial aspect of reconstructing crime scenes. This research aimed to investigate how the nature of different surfaces affects the estimation of bloodstain age, utilizing a reliable and non-destructive approach. The study employed ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in conjunction with Chemometric techniques such as PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and OPLSR (Orthogonal Signal Correction Partial Least Square Regression Analysis) to analyze spectral data and develop regression models for estimating bloodstain age on cement, metal, and wooden surfaces for up to eleven days. The chemometric models for bloodstains on all three substrates demonstrated strong performance, with predictive Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values ranging from 1.1 to 1.43 and R2 values from 0.84 to 0.89. Notably, the model developed for metal surfaces was found to be the most accurate with minimal prediction error. The findings of the study showed that the porosity of the substrates upon which bloodstains were found had a discernible influence on the age-related transformations observed in bloodstains; the majority of which occured within the spectral range of 2800 cm- 1 to 3500 cm- 1.
ABSTRACT
Forensic Science is the application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system. It is a science which relies on physical evidence; one of the important physical evidences being blood. The purpose of this research was to determine the efficacy of luminol reagent in detecting bloodstains on different surfaces, concealed by multiple layers of paint, over a period of time and also to compare the intensities of chemiluminescence exhibited by them. In this study, dry wall, wooden planks and metal surfaces were identified as commonly encountered surfaces at crime scenes and hence 25 of each surface were simulated and blood was spattered, which were then concealed by progressive layers of paint specific to each surface. Thereafter, each surface was critically observed for the intensity of chemiluminescence, following the application of luminol and the results were documented as photographs. The research was conducted for duration of 50 days, in order to study the effect of ageing of concealment upon detection of bloodstains using luminol. Varying intensities of chemiluminescence were displayed by all the three simulated surfaces deposited with paint over bloodstains up to three layers of concealment, depending on the nature of the surface which were captured using photography. The highest intensity of chemiluminescence was shown by concealed bloodstains on dry wall and metal surfaces, despite the number of layers of concealment. However, an increase in the number of layers of concealment produced a significant decrease in the intensity of chemiluminescenece displayed by the bloodstains concealed by paint upon reacting with luminol on metal sheets, which was not found to be uniform and consistent on the other surfaces. These findings highlight the fact that bloodstains concealed by paint could be effectively detected by luminol reagent, despite the nature and ageing of concealment and thereby provide a lead to the investigation.