Dead Men Talking: Solving Crimes

Have you ever wondered how investigators figure out who the criminal is in the investigations? Is it luck or is it science? Forensic Science is the use of scientific principals to analyze information connected to a crime and who committed it. One type of forensics is autopsies. In the Rage and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier, investigators did some analysis of the crime scene, but should have used other forms of forensic science to solve the crime. The use of forensics in the novel hindered the investigation.

Many murderers will leave the victim at their home or dump the body in a different location. Then they will look at how and if the criminal acts out after the crime such as contacting the media or sending threatening letter to the police. Some more evidence profilers look at is the “signature” which is a personal make or imprint that the offender leaves behind. This just serves as the perpetrators emotional or psychological needs and it tends to be the same throughout all crimes. Another instance they look at is if any staging occurred at the crime scene, such as position of body, this can narrow down the perpetrators to rape-murder or autoerotic deaths.

Forensic scientists can identify the body through dental records, DNA samples or if the fingers are intact, fingerprints.

Forensic anthropology is the physical or biological studies of a human skeleton. The purpose of a forensic anthropologist is to discover secrets hidden in bones. Forensic anthropologists are trained physical anthropologists. The difference between the two are the amount of knowledge involved in forensic anthropology. In forensic anthropology science, biology, and culture are applied to the legal process.

Imagine that you have been called to an area where bones have been found. What would you do at this spot to help you better understand what happened?

Description: Forensic Anthropologists helps to study the skeletal systems of people to determine the sex, ethnicity, and distinct characteristics of the dead skeleton they are studying.

What can the distribution of bones tell a forensic scientist? What do you think would be the most challenging aspect of collecting skeletal remains at a crime scene?

“This is my lab and what we do is study bones,” states Kari Bruwelheide in her video entitled “30,000 Skeletons”. Out of all three resources, “Puzzles of the Chesapeake” by Sally Walker, “Forensic Anthropology” by an unknown author, and “30,000 Skeletons” by Smithsonian Education, but presented by Kari Bruwelheide, “30,000 Skeletons” is by far better at explaining the role of an anthropologist. It is unbeatable because it is a video and Kari Bruwelheide has personal experience of being a forensic anthropologist. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist that studies human remains, or in another word, skeletons, to try to find out information.

Your Work: Forensic anthropologists work with professional organizations to identify disaster victims. They analyze skeletal and badly decomposed human remains. They will try to assess the age, sex, ancestry, stature, and unique features of the skeleton. They will frequently work with forensic pathologists, odontologists, and homicide investigators. Their goal is to be able to match the skeleton with a missing person or victim.

As a forensic anthropologist, Brennan main focus is to assist law enforcement agencies with her knowledge to inspect skeletons. Her main motive in this case was to determine individual 's age, sex, time of death, and physical condition from their skeleton remains. It is extremely crucial that Brennan diagnoses the skeleton remains accurately, as the legal investigation greatly depends on it. Brennan refers to multiple biological anthropology methods while she was assessing

Dr. Brennen, a forensic anthropologist, finds remains all throughout the book in different scenarios. She finds human bones among lots of bear bones in a bag in the woods and she examines the remains of a baby found in a wood stove, in a plane crash, privy, and a submerged car. She briefly goes into discussion of what she does as a forensic anthropologist. She uses her knowledge of bones to identify the cause and manner of death in victims that are too compromised for autopsy; meaning there is little to no tissue left for a proper autopsy. (Reichs 2004:16). She also uses various methods throughout the book to identify the sex, age, stature, and ancestry, as well as securing an identification of the victim.

After calling the police, I dug up the rest of the bones and made sure I got all of them. When I was done finding all of the bones, I looked around the crime scene to see if there were any clues as to what happened to the victim. I found a rusty knife under a pile of leafs. I told the police that there was a rusty knife in a pile of leafs and that it could be the cause of death.

Forensic anthropologist knowledge of the human body, helps aid in the outcome of a death investigation. (Stanojevich) To help solve criminal trials, the systematic recovery and collection of physical evidence in the field, the scientific analysis in the laboratory and the protection of integrity of evidence, is crucial. Usually, response teams from either federal, state, or local authorities will gather and examine the physical evidence of a crime scene, but there are often times, when a forensic anthropologist is called in. Forensic anthropologist are major players, because they are trained in anthropology, archaeology, human osteology, forensic taphonomy, and chain-of-evidence procedures. Their study of human remains, aids in the case by working to assess the age, sex, stature, ancestry and unique features of a skeleton. Forensic anthropologist have been used to investigate victims of homicide, accidental deaths, natural deaths, and mass fatalities. The cases a forensic anthropologist works on usually involve victims that are decomposed, skeletonized, or have body parts that are missing. Often times, the forensic anthropologist, is the last chance for identification and justice for the victims. (Walsh-Haney)

e found the bones and put the yellow tape that say “POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS”. When I was a kid, I always thought someone died there, but that is not always the case.

After doing their job in he crime scene, the evidence they took will be taken to the forensic scientist. Crime scene investigators will look at the photographs and connect their theories based on the crime that occurred. The forensic scientists will also examine the victim’s clothes, while the medical examiner will analyze the victim’s body for more clues and evidence that they may find and they will all be doing this in the crime lab. The things they may find could be hair, fiber, semen, blood, another person’s DNA, bruises and many more. After the forensic scientists