Forensics !

There must be some very nervous people out in the community as the police "Cold Case  "  teams wrap up old crimes.  What is unnerving to many is that dreaded box of evidence still sitting in police evidence rooms decades after the crime was committed, simply awaiting the time when advanced forensics will reveal a new understanding of what occurred.

Another ten year old mystery is back under the police microscope. Back on December 18, 2006 a seemingly happy twenty-five year old woman attended a race meeting at Hawksbury before visiting her parents and driving across the city through the Cross street tunnel.  Later, her handbag and some of her clothes were found at the Gap, a notorious suicide spot - and days later her body was found floating in Sydney harbour.

The coroner found that this womans body was inconsistent with the theory that she fell forty metres off a cliff into the sea, and tidal experts thought it highly unlikely that a body would be washed from the Gap into Sydney harbour.   Clues from her association with others  fed police suspicions and now a hundred thousand dollar reward is offered for information that might track this case.

That is a vital police strategy.  Time tends to dissipate the fear that a murderer can inflict on others and those with knowledge may now be inclined to talk - and that amount of money can be a huge incentive to come forward as indemnity from prosecutions is usually part of the deal.  Sometimes a guilt of conscience induces a witness to forego the money and help the investigation with an anonymous phone call tip.  The police have long suspected that this murder took place elsewhere and that evidence was planted at the Gap to suggest death was by suicide.

More threatening to those sheltered by the passage of time is the relentless march of science in the forensics field.   The discovery of DNA opened a new area of research and this has been ever widening.  We are fast approaching the stage where the mere presence of a person breathing the air of a room will leave detectable traces of DNA on the wall surfaces.  When the police forensic investigators descend on todays crime scene the investigation goes to lengths that would formerly seem to be science fiction - and every year the scope widens further.

Crime has always held a high degree of public fascination.   The media are well aware that intense reporting of murder trials keeps readers buying newspapers and todays electronic media are big on investigative journalism.   Shows like CSI have a big following and it is from these that the public learns a lot about the technology being used.   Unfortunately, it also imparts information on new killing techniques.

Recently a nurse employed in a nursing home killed two elderly patients by injecting them with Insulin.   Insulin is a common medication required by the elderly for the control of Diabetes and a measured dose is given to regulate blood sugars.   One of the advantages for those planning misuse is that it quickly clears from the body and is near impossible to detect after a reasonable period of time.   It seems that this nurse maliciousl6y murdered two of her patients because they had complained about her shoddy services.

Since then there has been a spate of insulin murders using this same technique.  Because of the prevalence of Diabetes thousands of people take regular Insulin injections and many self medicate. Insulin is only available with a legal script, but there is no doubt that it is freely available where drugs are sold illegally.

Unfortunately crime is an ever present reality and the battle between perpetrators and detection will never end.   Perhaps we would be wise to restrict the reporting of actual crime techniques in the public forums as a public safety measure.   As things stand, shows like CSI are actually giving the criminals a head start !