A crossroad between Criminalistics and Forensic Toxicology

Abstract

Biological stains found at crime scene, are basically intended for DNA identification. Toxicology, however, can usually supply additional information. For example, the possible use of toxic materials to force the victim of some crime to yield. Some of the difficulties of analysing stains from a crime scene, involve differentiating between older or more recent stains, varying environmental conditions, and support material. This article presents the preliminary results of using Quick Kits for detecting toxic materials in urine stains. The results show that it is feasible to use analysis kits, to detect both old and more recent urine stains, made on porous surfaces. Ongoing studies should be carried out, with the same procedure being applied to stains from distinct biological fluids, both old and new, on different supports. This would help to create a crossroads between toxicology and criminalistics, and provide new tools to help forensic investigators solve criminal cases.