Chapter11

TraceEvidencel:
HairsandFibers

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

111

Introduction
Hairisencounteredasphysicalevidenceina
widevarietyofcrimes.
Althoughitisnotyetpossibletoindividualizea
humanhairtoanysingleheadorbodythrough
itsmorphology,itstillhasvalueasphysical
evidence.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

112

Introduction
Whenproperlycollectedandsubmittedtothe
laboratoryaccompaniedbyanadequate
numberofstandard/referencesamples,hair
canprovidestrongcorroborativeevidencefor
placinganindividualatacrimescene.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

113

MorphologyofHair
Hairisanappendageoftheskinthatgrowsout
ofanorganknownasthehairfollicle.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

114

 Thelengthofahairextendsfromitsrootor
bulbembeddedinthefollicle,continuesintoa
shaft,andterminatesatatipend.
Itistheshaft,whichiscomposedofthreelayers
thecuticle,cortex,andmedullathatis
subjectedtothemostintenseexaminationby
theforensicscientist.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

115

CuticleandCortex

Thecuticleisthescalestructurecoveringthe
exteriorofthehair.
Thescalesalwayspointtowardsthetipofthehair.
Thescalepatternisusefulinspeciesidentification.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

116

CuticleandCortex
Thecortexisthemainbodyofthehairshaft.
Itsmajorforensicimportanceisthefactthat
itisembeddedwiththepigmentgranules
thatimparthairwithcolor.
Thecolor,shape,anddistributionofthese
granulesprovidethecriminalistwith
importantpointsofcomparisonamongthe
hairsofdifferentindividuals.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

117

Medulla

Themedullaisacellularcolumnrunning
throughthecenterofthehair.
Themedullaryindexmeasuresthediameter
ofthemedullarelativetothediameterofthe
hairshaft.
Forhumans,themedullagenerallyoccupies
lessthanonethirdthediameteroftheshaft,
whileforanimalsitisgenerallyonehalfor
greater.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

118

Medulla
Themedullamaybecontinuous,
interrupted,fragmentedorabsent.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

119

Medulla
Thepresenceofthemedullavaryfrom
individualtoindividualandevenamong
hairsofagivenindividual.
Medullaealsohavedifferentshapes,
dependingthespecies.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1110

Root

Therootandothersurroundingcellsinthe
hairfollicleprovidethetoolsnecessaryto
producehairandcontinueitsgrowth.
Whenpulledfromthehead,sometranslucent
tissuesurroundingthehairsshaftnearthe
rootmaybefound.Thisiscalledafollicular
tag.
ByusingDNAanalysisonthefolliculartag,the
hairmaybeindividualized.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1111

ComparingStrands
Thecomparisonmicroscopeisanindispensable
toolforcomparingthemorphological
characteristicsofhair.
Whencomparingstrandsofhumanhair,the
criminalistisparticularlyinterestedin
matchingthecolor,length,anddiameter.
Acarefulmicroscopicexaminationofhairwill
revealmorphologicalfeaturesthatcan
distinguishhumanhairfromthehairof
animals.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1112

ComparingStrands
Scalestructure,medullaryindex,and
medullaryshapeareparticularlyimportantin
animalhairidentification.
Otherimportantfeaturesforcomparing
humanhairare:
thepresenceorabsenceofamedulla.
thedistribution,shape,andcolorintensityof
thepigmentgranulespresentinthecortex.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1113

ComparingStrands
Themostcommonrequestistodetermine
whetherornothairrecoveredatthecrime
scenecomparestohairremovedfromthe
suspect.
However,microscopichairexaminationstend
tobesubjectiveandhighlydependantonthe
skillsandintegrityoftheanalyst.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1114

Questions
Canthebodyareafromwhichahair
originatedbedetermined?
Cantheracialoriginofhairbedetermined?
Cantheageandsexofanindividualbe
determinedfromahairsample?
Isitpossibletodetermineifahairwasforcibly
removedfromthebody?
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1115

Questions
Areeffortsbeingmadetoindividualizehuman
hair?
CanDNAindividualizeahumanhair?

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1116

HairandDNA
RecentmajorbreakthroughsinDNAprofiling
haveextendedthistechnologytothe
individualizationofhumanhair.
TheprobabilityofdetectingDNAinhairroots
ismorelikelyforhairbeingexaminedinits
anagenorearlygrowthphaseasopposedtoits
catagen(middle)ortelogen(final)phases.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1117

HairandDNA
Often,whenhairisforciblyremoveda
folliculartag,atranslucentpieceoftissue
surroundingthehairsshaftneartherootmay
bepresent.
Thishasproventobearichsourceofnuclear
DNAassociatedwithhair.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1118

HairandMitochondrialDNA
MitochondrialDNAcanbeextractedfromthe
hairshaft.
MitochondrialDNAisfoundincellular
materiallocatedoutsideofthenucleusanditis
transmittedonlyfromthemothertochild.
Asarule,allpositivemicroscopichair
comparisonsmustbeconfirmedbyDNA
analysis.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1119

CollectionandPreservation
Asageneralrule,forensichaircomparisons
involveeitherheadhairorpubichair.
Thecollectionof50fulllengthhairsfromall
areasofthescalpwillnormallyensurea
representativesamplingofheadhair.
Aminimumcollectionoftwodozenfulllength
pubichairsshouldcovertherangeof
characteristicspresentinpubichair.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1120

CollectionandPreservation
Hairsamplesarealsocollectedfromthevictim
ofsuspiciousdeathsduringanautopsy.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1121

TypesofFibers
Naturalfibersarederivedinwholefromanimal
orplantsources.

Examples:wool,mohair,cashmere,furs,andcotton.

Manmadefibersaremanufactured.

Regeneratedfibersaremanufacturedfromnatural
rawmaterialsandincluderayon,acetate,and
triacetate.
Syntheticfibersareproducedsolelyfromsynthetic
chemicalsandincludenylons,polyesters,and
acrylics.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1122

TypesofFibers
Polymers,ormacromolecules,aresynthetic
fiberscomposedofalargenumberofatoms
arrangedinrepeatingunitsknownas
monomers.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1123

FiberEvidence
Thequalityofthefiberevidencedependson
theabilityofthecriminalisttoidentifythe
originofthefiberoratleastbeabletonarrow
thepossibilitiestoalimitednumberofsources.
Obviously,iftheexaminerispresentedwith
fabricsthatcanbeexactlyfittedtogetherat
theirtornedges,itisavirtualcertaintythatthe
fabricswereofcommonorigin.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1124

FiberEvidence
Microscopiccomparisonsbetweenquestioned
andstandard/referencefibersareinitially
undertakenforcoloranddiameter
characteristics,usingacomparisonmicroscope.
Othermorphologicalfeaturesthatcouldbe
importantincomparingfibersare:
Lengthwisestriationsonthesurfaceofthefiber.
Thepresenceofdelusteringparticlesthatreduce
shine.
Thecrosssectionalshapeofthefiber.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1125

FiberEvidence
Compositionaldifferencesmayexistinthedyes
thatwereappliedtothefibersduringthe
manufacturingprocess.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1126

MethodsforFiberComparison
Thevisiblelightmicrospectrophotometerisa
convenientwayforanalyststocomparethe
colorsoffibersthroughspectralpatterns.
Amoredetailedanalysisofthefibersdye
compositioncanbeobtainedthrougha
chromatographicseparation.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1127

MethodsforFiberComparison
Infraredspectrophotometryisarapidand
reliablemethodforidentifyingthegenericclass
offibers,asdoesthepolarizingmicroscope.
Dependingontheclassoffiber,eachpolarized
planeoflightwillhaveacharacteristicindexof
refraction.

FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.

By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1128

CollectionandPreservation
Theinvestigatorstaskoflookingforminute
strandsoffibersoftenbecomesoneofidentifying
andpreservingpotentialcarriersoffiber
evidence.
Relevantarticlesofclothingshouldbepackaged
carefullyinseparatepaperbags.
Ifitisnecessarytoremoveafiberfromanobject,
theinvestigatormustusecleanforceps,placeitina
smallsheetofpaper,foldandlabelthepaper,and
placethepaperpacketinsideanothercontainer.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein

2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

1129