Crime Scene Investigator Network Newsletter

Bleach is a common cleaning product that may be used to clean up trace evidence at crime scenes or on bodies. The destructive nature of bleach can pose several challenges to the crime scene reconstructionist. Cleaning a crime scene or body with bleach may alter or destroy the original condition of certain evidence such as bloodstain patterns. Bleach is a volatile liquid, however, and may quickly evaporate from a crime scene environment depending on the environmental conditions. As such, investigators may need to search for bleach-damaged items to confirm the presence of a bleach source before their examination. Recognizing that bleach has been used by a suspect may help to explain why evidence is found in altered conditions, or not found at all. In October of 2004, the senior author responded to the scene of a deceased adult female who had been dumped nude in an alleyway. Based on eyewitness accounts, the time between the dumping and discovery of the body was less than 12 h. The victim was nude and her body was wet to the touch with a strong odor of bleach. The victim’s body also contained a ‘‘ribbon’’-like ‘‘burn’’ pattern along the areas of her shoulders, lower back, and back of the thighs. The skin in this area had a dried reddish/brown appearance similar to a ligature that one might find associated with a hanging victim. The defects also resembled postmortem abrasions that are often described as yellowed with a parchment-like appearance. None of the investigators or analysts consulted on this case had seen injuries like these in previous case work. Based on the location and appearance of the burn marks on the female victim, it was hypothesized that liquid bleach had been poured over the top of the victim’s body while she was in a supine position, causing these characteristic burn marks (Fig. 1). In order to test this hypothesis, an experiment was set up to see whether the burn marks could be replicated by pouring liquid bleach over a deceased body.

Research Methods
A 100-pound adult pig (deceased) was used to test the effects of pouring bleach on a body. Pigs have been commonly used as human models due to the similarities they have with skin to tissue ratios and the fact that they are large,

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