Epilogue - The truth told.

Behold, my fellow readers! After weeks of continuous investigation and analysis, we now have the truth of this murder case in our hands. So, let us bring to you the very last piece of story to complete the whole puzzle! :)




Frustration filled up the investigation room as the doctors couldn't figure out the culprit for the murder case. At the verge of giving up, Dr Rudi angrily swept the table with her arm, scattering the documents around. The DNA report of the victim laying on the floor then caught Dr. Suriati's eye and she picked it up. "Why didn't you check through the other traces of DNA?" she asked. "Its  irrelevant to our case Suri... Plus ,the amount is too little to be considered as evidence." "No! Look at chromosome 22 here, they are similar!" exclaimed Dr Suri.

Through further investigation, it is found that the DNA belongs to Anya's father......

"What were you doing on 28th October 2014 from 6.30 pm till 9.00 pm?" asked Detective Tham.
"I was in the park, playing with my daughter, like I reported," answered Ray swiftly. "We've found traces of your DNA among the evidence in your daughter, Anya's crime case. How do you explain this?!"

Cold sweat ran through Ray's face, his body was trembling. "I..I..I.." he stuttered. " Its because you killed your own daughter!" exclaimed Detective Tham. Ray broke down in tears, finally admitting to the murder.

"It's all his fault! I wouldn't have killed my sweet sweet Anya if he hadn't showed up and snatched my wife away!" Ray cried harder. "We were a happy family until he showed up, I no longer see the spark in my wife's eyes". "I loved her so much, I saw that bastard playing with his son happily at that park that day. They don't deserve this kind of happiness after what they did to my family!" he said as hatred filled his eyes. "I don't get it, why kill your own daughter?" Detective asked. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident! She tried to stop me, but I was blinded by my emotions. I wanted to hit that bastard but Anya got in the way. As she bled, I got angrier and killed both that rascal and his son." Ray said as he burst out in tears.

As we have now reached the epilogue, we would like to thank everyone who has been following us through this enthralling journey ;) Hope you have learned something new and perhaps feeling inspired to be the next Sherlock Holmes? ;) Also, a big thanks to the lecturer for giving us this opportunity to gain new knowledge and to work together as a team! :)













The End. :)

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Part III Question 6

Part III Question 6

Every kingdom is bound to have its great ruler. For all our cells, we look up to the majestic power of DNA. On a general scale, we understand that DNA contains the instructive signals for protein formation. These proteins essentially determine our physical characteristics and play a vital role in keeping the normal functions of a human body (i.e. hormones, enzymes….).

Is he my dad? Are they my real parents? Do I have any siblings? Was he there at the crime scene? Who are the faces that once covered these bony skeletons?

Yes that’s right! The role of DNA isn’t limited to just creating proteins, it too, however, solves mysteries through DNA profiling. With the advancement of technology, forensic scientists are fortunate, as ‘DNA profiling’ has made it stand in the world today.

Figure 1.1 Broad application of DNA profiling

(Extracted from biocyclopedia based on Chawla, 1998) 

DNA profiling or more commonly known as DNA fingerprinting is a test to identify and evaluate genetic information- DNA.

Figure 1.2 depicts the steps involved in creating a DNA profile via the RFLP (Restriction Fragments Length Polymorphism) method.

Figure 1.2 Steps in creating a DNA profile.

(Extracted from How Stuff Works, http://science.howstuffworks.com/dna-profiling1.htm )

So, my dear budding detecteeth, after having a better understanding on DNA profiling, let us now put on our detecteeth caps and return to the murder case!

According to our resources, DNA profile showed evidence of a father and son.

How can we go about confirming this statement? 

What we have:

1. Skeletal remains

2. Files of possible victims

     - Herman Hartono

     -Adi Hartono

     -Anya Suriati

 Steps taken by detecteeth :- 

1) DNA profiles of Herman and Adi Hartono

DNA profiles for Herman Hartono and Adi Hartono are prepared from DNA samples such as hair, skin, semen or even blood samples kept by their family doctor. Authorities most probably had collected these DNA samples as evidence at the time of their disappearance and kept these records safe in their respective case files.

2) Extract DNA samples from bony remains found at crime scene

New sets of DNA profiles are prepared from the DNA samples extracted from these skeletal remains found at the crime scene.

3) Identify the victims

Compare the DNA profiles of the possible victims to the DNA profile generated from the bony skeletal remains at the crime scene.

Identify Herman and Adi Hartono respectively.

Figure 1.3 Identifying Herman and Adi Hartono 

(Prepared by Kavitta. T)

 4) DNA paternity testing

Here comes the fun part! We are about to enlighten ourselves as to whether Herman and Adi Hartono are biological father and son. To do so, we will be comparing 3 DNA profiles: Adi (son), Herman (father), and Mrs. Hartono’s (mother) DNA.

Figure 1.4 DNA paternity testing

(Prepared by Kavitta. T) 

Look at these three DNA profiles carefully, noticed that a good amount of DNA bands from Adi’s match those of Herman’s and Mrs. Hartono? Since a high percentage of Adi’s DNA bands actually match those of Herman’s and Mrs. Hartono’s, we can conclude that Herman and Adi are indeed biological father and son.

(Note: Green coloured DNA bands showing genetic variation, which is a main feature of meiosis)

References:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dna-profiling1.htm
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/dna-fingerprinting

http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask20

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Revealing the unknowns [Part III Question 5]

Question 5 

Match the photos of the victims’ pieces of evidence, explaining your rationale for doing so. 

A short recap of our progression which includes the evidence we have collected up to this moment are:

1. An adult's skull and jaw
2. Pieces of jaw 
3. A child's jaw

Possible victims of the murder case:

1. Herman Hartono
2. Adi Hartono (son of Herman Hartono) 
3. Anya Suriati (9-year old, missing since 4 months ago)

From the first picture above, if you observe close enough you are able to see 8 dental alveolus in each quadrant of the mandibular arch; thus, we detecteeths can assure you that this skull and jaw belong to an adult. What is the rationale behind our interpretation? This is because there are 7-8 teeth in each quadrant of a permanent dentition whereas there are only 5 teeth in each quadrant of a primary dentition . The pictures below show both permanent (adult) dentition and primary (child) dentition. 

PRIMARY DENTITION

PERMANENT DENTITION

Besides that, the dentition also clearly shows a third molar at quadrant 4, which further indicated that the skull and jaw do not belong to Anya Suriati as she is a 9-year old girl. Up to this part, we can safely assume that the skull and jaw from picture 1 can either belong to the once living Herman Hartono or his son.

Moving on to the second group of pictures, we detecteeths can deduce that they are different views of the lower right jaw bearing first, second and third molars according to the position of mandibular foramen. Besides that, all the teeth show characteristic of permanent molars, especially the third molar where it is the smallest molar among all three. As explained above, since there is a third molar, this piece of jaw could also belong to either the father or the son. 

Now that we have interpreted the first 2 pictures, we can make a conclusion that the jaw shown in the third picture belongs to Anya. From our observation, the jaw bears a primary mandibular canine with a sharp cusp tip and the mesial slope is shorter than the distal slope. By comparing this jaw to the previous ones, it is relatively smaller, hence further proves our finding.

Here we would also like to enlighten you on some facts about the rate of decomposition of human bodies as we can clearly observe that the child jaw was rather decomposed. From a forensic pathologist point of view, decomposition which can also be known as putrefaction is the final stage following death, which is mainly caused by the action of bacterial enzymes. There are certain conditions that can affect the rate of decomposition:

• Moisture can speed up the rate of putrefaction, rapid drying of body is able to inhibit the process of decomposition.
• If the surface of the body is injured, decomposition tends to take place more rapidly. This is because if there is any presence of wound or other forms of violence before death, decomposition becomes easier for microorganism to gain access to the damaged tissues. 
• Body of children putrefy faster than those of older people.
• Tight clothing such as under the belt, socks or tight-fitting undergarments slows down the process as it causes compression of tissues and prevents access of airborne organisms, flies or insects which can destroy the tissues.
• Acidic soil and high soil moisture content will hasten the rate of decomposition of buried bodies.
• Bones exposed to the air and sunlight blanch more quickly, they can also take on the colour of the material which they are buried. 
• If the bones are found to have a splotchy brown discolouration and greasy texture, it means that there is fats present in the bones and that the bones are from a recent death that occured months, not years ago.

So...my budding detecteeths, what do you have in your mind now? ;)

References:
1. http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/post-mortem-changes/putrefaction
2. The Use of Forensic Anthropology by Robert B. Pickering and David Bachman

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MURDER Most Brutal! [Part III]

Welcome back again our avid readers! :)

Without even realising it we detecteeths (and of course you!) have been dealing with this brutal case for almost 2 weeks! We are getting nearer and nearer to the truth don't you think so? 

Just a few more steps and we will be unraveling this murder case, so let us present to you Part 3!

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A short video for PART II!

Here's a short video to summarize the investigation by the Detecteeths! 

ENJOY! :D

Part II Question 4

Part II Question 5

We hope you have acquired some new knowledge as we investigate more about this spine-chilling murder case ;) We shall see you again for Part 3 in no time!

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Modus operandi. [Part 2 Question 5]

Question 5      :  

• List the evidences that have been presented to both the doctors.

• Considering the evidences available up to this point in time, describe in detail how you would go about investigating further, assuming you are Dr. Rudi or Dr. Suria, explaining what you anticipate at each step.

The evidence that have been presented to both the doctors are:

1. Adult’s skull & jaw

2. Pieces of a jaw

3.Child’s jaw

Considering all the evidence brought up at this point, we have determined how we would like to tackle the challenge of identifying the victim by :

1. First determining the age by tooth eruption
2. Identify the victim through dental records
3. DNA cross-referencing with missing people list
4. As a last resort, facial reconstruction with 3D facial mapping

The first and most obvious step is to look and observe the skull and mandible given.

What is the first thing that catches your eye??



To us budding detecteeth,we find most interest in the tooth still present on the mandible.

But, what can we learn from the remaining tooth that can aid in our investigation?

Well, believe it or not, dentist can make an accurate guess of a person’s age by looking at their dentition especially with regards to the primary dentition. Although this method is relatively accurate and cost-free, it is effective mostly in determining child and adolescent victims.

By analysing the dates of different teeth, calcification, root formation and resorption of deciduous roots can help to establish the age of a dead person for identification and living person to establish whether the person is juvenile or adult.

**FUN FACT: Dental age determined by eruption dates can be as accurate as ±1.5 years!

We can categorise dental age into 3 phases:

1- ageing in prenatal, neonatal & early postnatal (in utero)

2- age estimation in children & adolescents

3- age estimation in adults

With regards to our case, we are interested in the 2^nd and 3^rd point.

The first evidence shows an adult skull and a complete mandible which is pretty straightforward. Since the mandible is not broken off, we can deduce that the second evidence which is only pieces of a jaw belongs to another individual. 

In the second evidence, there are only pieces of a jaw.
We can clearly see the 3 teeth on the mandible, by :

Deduction: The mandible belongs to an adult victim
Explanation: 3rd molars are only present in people of at least 17 years old.

In the 3rd evidence, we can see a child's jaw covered in black dirt or soot which makes it harder to identify the age of the child just by looking. One way to extract more information would be to take a radiograph of the child's jaw to see the calcification, root formation and resorption of deciduous roots and determine the estimated age of the child using this handy table as reference.

So, we now know that we are dealing with 2 adult victim and a child victim.
But, we cannot accurately determine the victims with just their age.
Which brings us to our next strategy:

2. Identify the victim through dental records

Teeth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, which can withstand temperature of more than 2000 degrees! So it will remain intact for identification purpose even after other body parts are gone. Firstly, the list of missing persons in and beyond the area is retrieved from the police department. Then, after analysing the teeth remains, the missing persons whose age are out the range are crossed out from the list. Next, dental record in the physical form or electronically (Open Dent) must be obtained from the remaining missing person’s dentist. Through examination and comparison, the missing person will be identified as tooth arrangement and fillings and other dental work are unique to the individual

3. Mitochondrial DNA profiling

Hhmm...why mitochondrial DNA?
Why not use nuclear DNA instead?

Since we are looking at a highly decomposed corpse, it is better to obtain mitochondrial DNA because it is more resilient compared to nuclear DNA, hence making it possible for it to be extracted from highly degraded samples.

As soon as the victim's mitochondrial DNA is extracted from the remains, HV1 & HV2 regions are amplified using Polymerase Chain Reaction method (PCR). The next step would be sequencing the mitochondrial DNA to create a DNA profile so that it can be entered into a computerized DNA database.

Yes, in case you are wondering, there is a DNA database which contains each individual's DNA including yours and mine!

These information entered into the DNA database will be cross referenced with the Missing Persons Database or Unidentified Persons Database and voilà.... the victim can be identified!

4. Facial Reconstruction with 3D Facial Mapping

So…what if all we’d gotten so far are negative results?! How disappointed must you be feeling right now! Fret not because we have yet to utilize our last resort!

As our avid reader, you must have read that there’s an incredibly amazing technique that allows us to reconstruct one’s facial outlooks. Yes, you’ve guessed it correctly and it is indeed the 3D Facial Mapping!
 

Now that we’ve reconstructed the face of our victim, we can try to make a positive identification or to jog the memories of the public who may have been witness to something around the time of the victim’s disappearance or death. Who knows, maybe this can get us another step closer to the underlying truth…

Reference:
1. www.srmuniv.ac.in/sites/default/files/files/Forensic.pdf
2. http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0331103-130706/unrestricted/McClanahan_thesis.pdf

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Tracking the traces. [Part 2 Question 4]

How are you all doing my fellow budding Detecteeth? :) Another week has passed and our team has gathered around the clock to link all the new evidences together to solve this new part of the case.

With our brains put together, brainstorming everyday, here are some findings which we hope can help you along the way to become a forensic investigator like us! :D

Question 4

Other than examining the dental aspects provided as evidence, what other ways can the victims be identified?

Now, let’s broaden our search! How else are we to identify the victim apart from all the dental aspects that we’ve been zooming into? 

Amongst the things that can give clues about human identification are hair, skin, skull, bone, joints and soft tissue. That accounts for almost everything that we are made of! Looking at the available options, it seems like we’ve been designed to leave traces behind when we die. Therefore, it isn’t wrong for one to vaguely say that almost every part of our body can help with human identification.

With that being said, let us now briefly look at how these human remains can help us trace the victims.

   Hair

Hair analysis can indicate whether it is of human or animal origin and also identify the race of the victims. It can also determine if the hair has been dyed, cut in a certain way or pulled out, and which part of the body it was located in. In some cases. The hair shaft with a follicle can also offer genetic determinations, such as blood type or DNA. It is important to note that the external layer of the hair shaft can resist decomposition and therefore it is one of the evidence that has real “staying power”.

Fingerprints

It is no doubt that fingerprints are the most universally used forensic evidence around the world. What is so special about fingerprints that they are widely used as evidence? Here’s why, it’s due to their persistence and their uniqueness. A person’s fingerprints do not change over time. Permanent scarring is the only way a fingerprint can change. In addition, fingerprints are unique to an individual. Even identical twins have different fingerprints!

     Skin

Body marks can be characteristic of an individual and can be used to support an identification, in conjunction with medical or police records and/or identification given by family members. Body marks may include birth marks, tattoos, pimple marks from teen years, surgical scars and etcetera.

 Feet

Two main forms used for identification one being from records kept by podiatrist while examining and treating and the other being by marks left by objects they have come in contact with the foot like shoes and ground surfaces. Toe nails can contribute for DNA analysis too!

 Bones

First of all, it is crucial to ensure that the skeletal remains found belongs to a human! If so, different bones can identify things such as sex, race, and age. Leg or arm bones can determine stature and weight. Also, any pathology of the skeleton must be start in order to make an identification of the remains, determine the cause of death and, if murderer is involved, could even identify him/her.

 Joints & Soft Tissue

Almost always, if there are any surgical implantation done, it comes with a documented serial number on. For medical examiners, these small codes can close cases and give some comfort to the family of the identified. Originally these serial numbers helped to recall defective devices and ensure patient safety, However the serial numbers on implants and prosthetics are now being used to hurry the identification of the dead.

Skull

This is the most fascinating one! Computer graphics are used to perform a facial reconstruction to estimate the dead person’s appearance. Like other bones, scientists can determine a person’s sex and race from skull features. The difference is, with the aid of these graphics, they can also discover much about the soft tissue in the ears and nose and how much fat the person had on his or her face. The image is then usually distributed for identification.

More about Facial Reconstruction!

Yes, you read that right, you can reconstruct a person's face without even knowing anything about the person.  BUT...How?!?! 

When skeletal remains are found, and the victim remains unidentified even after traditional means of identification, investigators may seek the assistance forensic artist to utilize the three-dimensional facial reconstruction technique. The three-dimensional process is begins by placing the skull on a workable stand, where the skull can easily be tilted and turned in all directions.

Utilising proper tissue depth data can determine race, gender, and age. Artificial eyes are placed in the skull’s eye sockets, centered and at the proper depth. The tissue markers are glued directly onto the skull. Clay will be systematically applied directly on the skull, following the skull's contours. Various measurements are made, and recorded, to determine nose thickness/length, mouth thickness/width, and eye placement.

Information such as geographic location of where the deceased lived, his or her lifestyle, and the various information provided to the artist by the Forensic Anthropologist and other professionals, is heavily relied upon when completing the reconstruction.

Hair is accomplished by means of a wig, or by applying clay to represent hair. Various items (props), such as glasses, clothing, hats, etc. may be applied to better accentuate the features of the individual.

Upon completion, the sculpture is photographed. When executed properly, this technique is proven to have a high success rate.

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