Medicolegal death investigations

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Chuck Heurich, senior physical scientist with the National Institute of Justice, and Dr. Jennifer Snippen, experienced medicolegal death investigator and consultant, to discuss recent updates to NIJ's guide for the Death Scene investigator. 25 years ago NIJ released a guide to help medicolegal death investigators navigate complex scenes and cases, a document that has since evolved with the development of best practices and technological advancements.

In episode four of our Supporting Medicolegal Death Investigators mini season, Just Science sat down with Bridget Kinnier and Bethany Smith, the President and Executive Director of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators, also knows ABMDI, to discuss the importance of standardization and accreditation within the MDI community. Because of the complex and multidisciplinary role of a medicolegal death investigator, it is important that there are national standards of knowledge for those who work in the field.

In episode two of our Unidentified Human Remains season, Just Science sat down with Neal Parsons, a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International, to discuss how rapid DNA analysis has become an important method for identifying unknown human remains, especially in cases of mass fatality. Rapid DNA analysis is a fully automated process of developing DNA profiles without the need for a DNA laboratory or human interpretation.

In episode four of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Katharine Pope, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, Dr. Bruce Anderson, a forensic anthropologist with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, and Joe Mullins, an instructor at the New York Academy of Art, to discuss human identification using forensic anthropology and facial approximations.

In episode two of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Bryan Johnson, the Major Incident Program Manager in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Latent Print Unit, to discuss how postmortem prints can be used to help identify unknown decedents. One of the cheapest, easiest and fastest methods of identifying individuals is through friction ridge prints. However, challenges can arise in cases where trauma or decomposition affect quality of a decedent's hands.

In episode one of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Heather McKiernan, a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International, and Ashley Rodriguez, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, to discuss the use of forensic genetic genealogy in identifying human remains. Oftentimes unknown human remains are recovered fully or partially skeletonized, with no close biological relatives in CODIS to facilitate identification.

In episode three of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Lori Bruski and Amy Jenkinson, two research public health analysts at RTI International to discuss inter-agency efforts to compile crime, missing persons and decedent information and comprehensive databases. In the digital age, criminal justice information can be uploaded into databases and organized in a searchable, centralized location, making it more accessible than ever.

In episode one of our Case Studies: Part 2 mini season, Just Science sat down with Kelly Ayers, an International Association for Identification Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst, to discuss how preliminary autopsy results can help investigators piece together a story of what happened at a crime scene. For crime scene investigators, preliminary autopsy results issued by forensic pathologist and medical examiners can be used in conjunction with other disciplines, such as bloodstain pattern analysis, to provide pivotal information about a case.

In episode three of our Case Studies Part one mini season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Sharon Moses, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, to discuss forensic archeology and locating victims of no-body homicides. Forensic archeologists can play a critical role in body recovery and search strategies for locating human remains because homicide offender’s choices and body disposal sites are influenced by various social and environmental factors.