I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
On the victim’s body? Most likely not because after that much time the victim would most likely be skeletal remains only, if buried and certainly if on the surface. If the body was in some kind of container, sealed, it might be completely decomposed, mummified or preserved, depending on circumstances. If the killer’s blood or semen got on some object that was with the body, it could conceivably survive if protected, but it would be very unlikely to yield a usable DNA profile.
Hope that helps!!
That is a great question that I can’t answer! So sorry, but I never worked with a GC or Mass Spec. That was the toxicology department.
Arson investigations, bitemarks...though those might be difficult to do experiments on. Best practices for visualizing superglued fingerprints depending on the surface? Genealogical tracing?
Best of luck!
Probably everyone gets interested in the field because it looked interesting in a TV show. But by the time you’re sufficiently trained to actually get a job, you’d know that it’s not like TV.
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Why do you post questions that need to be deleted? Most people have better things to do.
Because that's not our job. That's the detective's job. They're in charge of and responsible for the investigation.
Sure--any good quality black powder should have the same effect.
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