Date of Award
5-1-2024
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School/Department
Department of Chemistry
Dissertation/Thesis Chair
Alexander Shekhtman
Committee Members
Rabi Musah, Ray Wickenheiser
Subject Categories
Analytical Chemistry
Abstract
At the scene of violent crimes, bloodstain evidence is one of the most frequently found and valuable types of evidence. Blood traces discovered at crime scenes can provide crucial information to an investigation. By obtaining a DNA profile from the bloodstain, the profile can be used to link someone to a crime scene, which can corroborate or dispute a witness's statement. However, the current analysis of bloodstains is still not able to answer a key question for investigators: how much time has passed since the criminal event occurred? In addition, an equally important aspect of crime reconstruction is the ability to determine which bloodstains are relevant to the crime based on the time since deposition. This research primarily focuses on answering that question, using vibrational spectroscopy methods to determine the time since deposition of peripheral and menstrual bloodstains. Raman spectroscopy paired with chemometrics was utilized for the prediction of TSD (time since deposition) for bloodstains aged under an extreme thermal environment (35°C to 55°C) up to one-week post-deposition. It was found that peripheral bloodstains degraded faster when exposed to an extreme thermal environment. TSD quantitative predictions were accomplished through the creation of classification and regression models.
Recommended Citation
Weber, Alexis Renee, "Determining The Time Since Deposition Of Bloodstains Based On Vibrational Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes" (2024). Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024). 3376.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/legacy-etd/3376
