EVIDENCE REPORT

Piper Cannon
September 24, 2014

INTODUCTION
Anna Garcia was found dead in her entry way hall by the police and EMTs at 9:56 AM after
receiving a call from Annas concerned neighbor at 9:45 AM. Upon entering the house, police
found Anna face down with a pool of blood to the side of her head. It was questioned whether
Annas manner of death was foul play or if it was due to natural causes. Over the course of the
past several weeks, my class has studied and reviewed Annas death, acting as crime scene
investigators.
SUMMATION OF EVIDENCE
At the crime scene Anna Garcia was found face down with blood pooled to the right side of her
head, with vomit on and around her left shoulder. A table in her close proximity was over turned
and two unidentified white pills were found on the ground lying next to her. Its apparent that
Anna intended to ingest these pills, due to the spilled glass lying close to her on the floor. A
muddy shoeprint was also found in the entry way of Annas house. An unidentified hair and a
fingerprint were also found at the scene.
PERSONS OF INTEREST
Alex Garcia
Alex Garcia is Annas former husband. After their nasty divorce, Alex shortly remarried to a
woman named Erica Piedmont. Alex is expecting a baby and is the main beneficiary of Annas
life insurance plan, making him the primary suspect. With financial issues and a baby on the
way, Annas life insurance money gives Alex the motive to kill Anna. Upon further
investigation, Alex admitted he had seen Anna the night before her death while he had been at
her house discussing some unknown paper work. This confession shows that Alex had the
opportunity as well as the motive. (PBS 2014)
Doug Greene
Doug Greene is Annas neighbor and is the one who called the police to notify them about
Annas suspicious behavior. Anna and Doug had recently been involved romantically in a short
relationship. Anna ended it a week before her death for unknown reasons. This abrupt break up
gives Doug the motive to kill Anna. He says he last saw her at 6:30 AM while she was walking
her dog on the morning of her death. (PBS 2014)
Erica Piedmont
Erica is the new wife of Alex Garcia. We dont know much about her, only the fact that she is
pregnant with Alexs baby. It was reported that Erica sitting in her car in front of Annas house
the day before her death. She also had a recent fight with Alex in a local diner for unknown
reasons. (PBS 2014)
Lucy Leffingwell
Lucy Leffingwell is one of Annas closest friends and shares ownership of a bakery with her.
Lucy says business is going well, but they did just have a fight over their current business plan
due to Lucy wanting full ownership of the bakery. Lucy also mentioned that Anna had been in
the hospital recently, but assumed she was feeling better because Anna told her that she was no
longer taking the antibiotics that were prescribed to her. Lucy last saw Anna at work the day
before her death. She says Anna left early to take care of something. (PBS 2014)
FINGERPRINT ANALYSIS
After studying the fingerprint found at the crime scene and comparing it to the fingerprints
provided by the suspects we determined that the unknown fingerprint belongs to Alex Garcia.
Due to the fact that no two fingerprints are the same, we were able to accurately match the
unknown fingerprint to Alexs. The fingerprint at the scene had multiple similarities with Alexs;
i.e. a radial loop in the same spot, along with other identifying characteristics like three triple
forks, and identical short ridges.
SHOEPRINT
Because the shoeprint found at the scene was unidentified, we had to determine who it belonged
to. The shoeprint belongs to Anna Garcia. After looking at the picture of the shoeprint from the
crime scene and the pictures of Annas and our suspects shoeprints, we concluded it was
Annas. Annas shoeprint has the same overall shape, length, and triangular ridges as the one
found at the scene.
HAIR
The strand of loose hair found at the crime scene belongs to Anna Garcia. After putting the
unknown hair under the microscope, along with the hair from Anna and our suspects, we
matched the hair patterns of the unknown strand with Annas hair. The strand from the scene had
a dark stripe in the middle surrounded with two lighter stripes, this dark/light pattern matches the
one found in Annas hair.
PILL IDENTIFICATION
Due to the unknown state of the pills found at the scene, we had to run a series of tests to
determine what these pills consisted of. We tested a varying range of substances like cocaine,
acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), methamphetamine, and ecstasy so that we could
compare the reactions of the unknown substance to the known substances. Each substance was
tested with three indicators labeled Ind 1, Ind 2, and Ind 3. Each known substance had different
reactions to each indicator, however, one known substances reaction can be matched to the
unknowns. The unknown substances appearance, texture, and reactions to each indicator
happened to be identical to the acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). Therefore, the unidentified pills at
the scene can be furthermore identified as generic aspirin.
BLOOD EVIDENCE
Blood Type
The blood found at the crime scene was found to be Annas after a blood type test was
conducted. To determine the blood type of the blood found at the scene, we first collected blood
sample from Anna and each of our suspects. Then, we used serums labeled Anti-A, Anti-B, and
Anti-RH. Adding these serums to each of the blood samples will either cause the serum and the
blood to mix smoothly or clump. If the blood clumps it means that the antigen in the serum is not
present in the blood sample. The blood sample from the scene clumped when the Anti- B serum
was added, and mixed when the Anti-A and Anti-Rh were added. This means that the blood type
of the blood found at the scene is A. Anna Garcia and Erica Piedmont are the only two with the
blood type of A from our collected samples, which narrows the possibilities down to only two
people. Now that we know the blood is either Ericas or Annas, we can narrow the possibilities
down even further by look at how each sample reacted to the Anti-Rh serum. Ericas blood
clumped when the Anti-Rh was added and Annas blooded mixed smoothly, just like the blood
found at the scene. This means that all the blood found at the crime scene belonged to Anna
Garcia.
Blood Spatter
When the police arrived at the scene they found a pool of blood around Annas head and some
blood on the over turned table. After we determined who the blood belonged to, we had to
determine how the blood got there. After running a series of tests we determined that the blood
around and on Annas head got there because Anna fell and hit the ground. Our tests involved
dropping one milliliter of blood from heights starting at fifty centimeters and ending at 250
centimeters in intervals of fifty centimeters. According to Figure 1* the blood spatters diameter
had a direct variation with the height from which it fell. As the height increased, the diameter of
the spatter increased. The blood around Annas head had very little individual spatters and was
more of a pool around her head. This means that the blood didnt fall from on the ground from
Annas full height, but rather spilled onto the ground from roughly 1-5 cm above the floor.
DNA ANALYSIS
To be completely sure on our conclusion and who was involved with Annas death, we ran a
series of DNA tests on samples from Anna, the crime scene, and each of our suspects. We used
gel electrophoresis to determine whose DNA matched up with the DNA found at the crime
scene. To perform gel electrophoresis the DNA must first be separated into small sections using
a restriction enzyme. The DNA is cut at different places depending on the specific enzyme. Once
the DNA has been cut, it can then be placed into a gel. An electric current gets sent throughout
the gel and series of bands of DNA appear at different places throughout the gel. The shorter the
DNA strands are, the faster they travel. No two humans DNA is the same, therefore, when the
electric current is stopped different individuals DNA will be in different places. After testing
and comparing each DNA sample, we found that the DNA found at the scene belongs to Anna
Garcia.
COCLUSION
All of the evidence found at the crime scene seems to suggest that Anna Garcias manner of
death was natural causes. After hearing about Annas medical history, it seems as if no foul play
occurred and that Anna fell over onto the table and died due to health conditions. All evidence
supports my claim, except the fingerprint found at the scene which belongs to Alex Garcia. I
believe the print was from the night prior to Annas death, when Alex was at her house.
*FIGURE 1