Arson investigator

Searching a crime scene is a complex process (25), involving poHce, crime scene technicians, and forensic scientists. The procedure requires careful documentation, collection, and preservation of the evidence. Trace evidence (26) in criminal investigations typically consists of hairs (27,28) both natural and synthetic fibers (qv) (29,30), fabrics glass (qv) (31,32) plastics (33) sod plant material budding material such as cement (qv), paint (qv), stucco, wood (qv), etc (34), flammable fluid residues (35,36), eg, in arson investigations explosive residues, eg, from bombings (37,38) (see Explosives and propellents), and so on. 

J. F. Boudreau and co-workers, Mn o and Arson Investigation Survey and Assessment, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Law... 

Professional arson investigators have developed highly effective methods of deducing facts from a systematic study of burn, char, and melt patterns. Typical examples include ... 

Arson investigator—for expertise to help find probable point of origin in cases involving fire... 

Chapter 4, Eire Patterns, has some very useful information related to melting points, char patterns and the V burn pattern marker used by arson investigators. 

The demand for such an LC/MS luggable would come from the field environmental chemist, from the arson investigator, and obviously from your local forensic CSI and drug enforcement teams. It would avoid the problem of... 

Hurteau, W. K., "Arson Investigation and The Collecting of Evidence," Security VJorld, March, 1974, p. 18. 

All chemists who try to identify unknown compounds are like detectives. Forensic chemists, however, actually work with investigators. They use their chemical knowledge to help explain evidence. Forensic chemists are especially helpful in an arson investigation. 

Chapter 3 Career Arson Investigator 91 Chapter 23 Career Molecular Paleontologist. 849... 

Arson investigations The use of NMR spectroscopy has been reported to complement the results of other methods for analyzing debris from suspected arson cases. The type of accelerant used to start the fire can be identified by the relative sizes and shapes of the peaks in different regions of the NMR spectrum - the strictly aliphatic portion from 0 to 2 ppm, the aliphatic moieties attached to aromatic components from 2 to 3 ppm, and the aromatic region from 6.5 to 7.5 ppm. Thus, paint thinner, lighter fluid, kerosene, diesel fuel, and various brands of gasoline all give their own unique patterns. These patterns... 

Heat transfer to the substrate has interesting effects on fire behavior and arson investigation. As shown in Figure 9.16 (top frame), heat may reach deep into a substrate such as wood even when oxygen cannot. The result is pyrolysis ("fire cutting") or decomposition in a reducing environment. We discussed pyrolysis in Section 5.5.2 in the context of an inlet to a gas chromatograph, and the same principles apply here. The products of p)uolysis are different from those of... 

D. R. Redsicker and J. J. O Conner, Practical Fire arul Arson Investigation, 2nd ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1997. 

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