Forensic Services

Forensic mineralogy and palynology are the sciences involved in the study of minerals, and spores and pollen respectively, to help solve legal problems with the aim of coming as close as possible to finding the truth. The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences is New Zealand's largest geoscience organisation and has been involved in forensic work for over 35 years with experience working individually and in team situations with police and scientists from other Crown Research Institutes. Forensic geology, combining palynology and mineralogy, has been used as a tool in criminology since at least the 1950's.

Pollen and spores are the fertile dispersed bodies of all plants. They are small, averaging about 25-60 microns (thousandths of a millimetre), produced in large numbers, widely disseminated, resistant to degradation, and are found in most environments. There adhere to most surfaces. The spores and pollen of different plants are distinctive to varying degrees and can be identified by the palynologist to varying levels of accuracy.

Petrology and mineralogy, involve the study of the chemical composition, structure, and origin of rocks and minerals, and in forensic science is often undertaken in association with palynology. Different rocks, soils and dust contain different minerals so that identification of minerals may constrain the areas they are originally derived from. The shape of dispersed rock and mineral fragments identifies the type of environment into which they are deposited.

The GNS Science Limited is a government-owned crown research institute (CRI). It was established in 1992 as an independent corporate entity to carry out commissioned work. The Institute has a 130-year history of scientific excellence through its predecessor organisations and acts as an impartial and independent advisor with all activities conducted in the strictest confidence.

WHAT CAN FORENSIC PALYNOLOGY AND GEOLOGY DO FOR YOU?
Every criminal either takes something from the scene or leaves something behind. If that something involves grit, sand, soil, dust, spores or pollen we can help. What we look for is something that is unexpected, unusual, and of rare occurrence that can help us solve the problem presented to us. Otherwise we can confirm or disprove that the evidential material is consistent with control samples from the scene. Some of the ways these techniques can be used include

• relating a suspect to the scene of the crime
• relating an item left at the scene to a suspect
• relating an item found at the discovery scene to the scene of the crime
• supporting or disproving alibis
• tracing materials - fruit, drugs, bee pollen, plants, and almost any other item - to its original source in New Zealand or overseas
• supplying investigators with more promising lines of inquiry or eliminating currently active lines of inquiry
• confirming the age and/or identity of various organic and inorganic materials

COLLECTION OF SAMPLES
If possible forensic palynological samples should be collected by palynologists. This will ensure that the samples remain contamination free and that the control samples can potentially relate to the evidential samples and can conceivably provide the answers required by the investigation. If this is not possible then the investigating officers should take great care in collecting or organising the collection and protection of both evidential and control samples.

All containers and collection tools need to be contamination-free. Control samples should be collected to a depth no greater than the evidential material could have come from otherwise the control will bear little or no relation to the evidential samples. All material should be placed and stored in clean plastic bags. Only about 15-30 grams (2-3 tablespoons) of material need to be collected but smaller amounts are still very useful. Evidential samples are, by their nature, often very small and the control samples need not be any greater in size. Evidential and control samples can be collected by using sticky cellophane tape if the amount of material to be examined is very small. Whatever method is used all samples need to be carefully labelled and the collection time and method described.

Almost any material can be used to provide forensic palynological and some mineralogical evidence. These include

• mud, dust, soil, dirt, grit, sand
• hair, feathers, skin
• clothing, footwear, ropes, bags, carpets
• packing materials
• drugs
• stomach, intestines, colon, faeces
• food stuffs - honey, coffee, sugar, tea, bread, food supplements
• fruit, vegetables, plants
• bee pollen
• antique furniture, paintings
• enamel painted planks of wood
• coins and paper money
• cars, especially air filters, wheels, wheel arches and mud flaps,
• aeroplanes
• safes (spaces are sometimes filled with diatomaceous earth which spreads rapidly when the safe is blown)

A full description of the methods to be used in collecting evidential and control samples is available on request from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. Note also that destructive techniques are often used to extract spores, pollen, and minerals, so if the samples are also likely to provide other lines of evidence, for example, DNA, hairs or gun powder, then these tests should be done first. This means that in New Zealand many evidential samples should first be submitted and examined by forensic scientists from the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Research before being passed on to us. However, samples can be sent directly to us if no other lines of inquiry are needed.

The collection of other forensic geological materials needs an equal degree of care to ensure that the samples are relevant to the case under investigation.

Costs
Please contact the Institute for an up-to-date estimate of the costs or a quotation on any services required in investigating criminal or suspected criminal activity. A contact name and address is given at the end of this site.

Training
The Institute provides workshops and training for scene of crime police and other forensic scientists in the collection of forensic palynological and geological samples. Training is also given in the understanding of the potential significance of palynological and geological evidence and the processing techniques involved. Courses are customised to meet the needs of the clients and can be held either in the Institute or any venue selected by the client.

Databases
The Institute holds a large New Zealand collection of geological and palynological forensic case histories. Its database of New Zealand and overseas minerals, rocks, spores, and pollen assemblages are prime sources of information enabling us to trace the origin of samples. Our reference collection of fossil and modern spores and pollen enables us to identify both native and exotic plants found in all forensic samples. We also have access to a large library of published illustrative material and catalogues on the spores and pollen plants of all continents.

Other forensic services available

• Isotopic comparisons of soils
• Radiocarbon dating of wood
• Determination of contaminants in assay samples
• Determination of natural versus commercial earth materials
• X-ray diffraction analyses
  
  

TWO CASE STUDIES
A woman disappeared from an evening social event. Her de facto husband was the prime suspect and was kept under surveillance while an extensive search for her was undertaken. He was followed into an area where her clothing was found. A pollen analysis of the mud on the clothes did not bear any relation to the control samples taken from around the scene. However, pollen analysis of mud on a T-shirt that was completely enclosed in the other clothing did relate to the scene. A bullet hole and copious amounts of blood were found on the clothing. The mud from the clothing was also examined for its mineral content, confirming that the mud on the exposed clothing did not come from the scene. The Police had been concentrating their search for the body in the area that the clothing was found in. A combination of pollen and mineral analysis indicated that they should have been looking along the banks of just one specific river and in an area containing a specific grade of river sand, close to native beech forest. In the little time that remained the search was diverted to this river area which was quickly scanned but the body was not found. In spite of this the suspect was arrested and convicted to life imprisonment for her abduction and murder.

A man was arrested for rape and identified by the victim. However, the defence maintained that the victim in her trauma had identified as the rapist the first man she saw after the assault. The suspect denied ever having been at the scene which consisted of a driveway along which a garden full of horticultural shrubs grew. The victim and suspect had rolled onto several of these shrubs during their struggle. Of interest to the palynologist was a rare type of daisy with distinctive pollen which was flowering at the time of the assault. The control samples collected from the ground near these trees, had abundant pollen of this plant and a number of characteristic fungal spores. Also dirt on the suspect's jeans and T-shirt contained these pollen and spore types in unusually large quantities - quantities that could not have got onto the clothes by random contact with these plants. The chances of selecting someone at random with an equivalent amount of this daisy pollen was small; the chances of selecting someone at random with both the daisy pollen and fungal spores was very small; the chances selecting someone at random with both types of pollen and spores and the other pollen types found at the scene was infinitesimally small. The suspect was found guilty of rape and abduction.

Further New Zealand cases
Terri King was found shot on Mt Holdsworth in the Tararuas north of Wellington. A suspect was quickly found who denied having been in the mountains. He had in his possession a jacket that he maintained had been purchased overseas and had never left Wellington city. A pollen analysis of the jacket (and other items) showed a large percentage of silver beech and celery pine pollen. Apart from an occasional tree on the outskirts of Wellington city silver beech and celery pine only grow in the mountains. The defence during the course of the trial had to admit that the jacket and therefore the person wearing it had been in the mountains north of Wellington.

A live tuatara (a large native New Zealand lizard) was stolen from the Southland Museum. Within the enclosure a number of different ferns were growing. A suspect was found and in his garage he had enamelled planks from the tuatara's protective box within the enclosure. That wood contained many spores identified as identical to the species within the enclosure. The suspect was convicted of theft and trading in endangered native species.

A man was found murdered and buried in scrub. Pollen analysis determined which of a number of possible shovels was used to bury the body.

A pollen analysis of a small amount of debris on the buttocks of a murdered woman was similar to pollen from the passenger side of her own car. This suggested that the murderer used her car to dispose of the body.

A rapist attacked his victim under bushes. A pollen analysis of his jeans showed huge percentages of pollen from those bushes similar to the percentages from control samples from the scene.

A multidisciplinary approach
The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences has provide services for the Police and Defence either directly or through the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Research (ESR) for over 35 years. We have provided evidence in court that has been instrumental in reaching decisions in a number of cases and have been involved in a number of high profile cases. Some recently completed assignments include:

• the Kirsa Jensen homicide inquiry (Napier)
• the Maureen McKinnel homicide inquiry (Arrowtown) involving mineral and pollen analyses
• the Rainbow Warrior Inquiry
• the determination of the Afghanistan and SE Asian origins of two separate high grade hashish importations into New Zealand using a combination of mineral and pollen analyses
• the sourcing of stolen deer velvet (Gisborne)
• the proving of a connection between two separate but similar gloves, one found at the scene of the crime and the other connected to a suspect (Auckland)
• the Mary Urquart homicide inquiry (Nelson) involving a combination of mineral and pollen analysis
• the Terri King homicide inquiry (Mt Holdsworth)
• the Gavin Dash homicide inquiry (Wellington)
• the sourcing of rapists to the scene by pollen analysis (e.g. Auckland, Kaikohe)
• the sourcing of cannabis resin and leaf from several distributors to original individual sources by pollen analysis (e.g. New Plymouth)
• the isotopic differentiation of cannabis plants
• the sourcing of imported bee pollen to its country of origin
• the sourcing of assailants to the scene of the crime by using a combination of mineral and pollen analyses (Auckland, Raglan, Wairoa, Whakatane)
• the sourcing of several separate pieces of rope used in a holdup back to an original source (Auckland)
• the sourcing of material taken from a tuatara's cage back to the cage (Southland)
• dating of bones for supposed homicides (eg. Nelson, Rotorua)
• the sourcing of rustled sheep back to the original owner (Canterbury)
• the supporting of an alibi supplied by a suspect thought to have been involved in a criminal activity (Auckland)
• the differentiation of real and imitation ivory
• the typing and quality assurance of honey

The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences provides a range of services that can assist in the detection and solution of criminal activity and these are but a few of the types of cases we have been involved with. Its research capability makes us always able to keep up with or stay ahead of the international trends in these fields. Our experience is second to none in the world for using these types of geological techniques to provide information useful in the solution of crime. Indeed, our usefulness is only limited by the imagination of those entrusted with the task of solving crime.

If you would like more information about our services, or would like to discuss a particular inquiry or situation, please get in touch with us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please contact
Dallas Mildenhall here

GNS Science Limited
P O Box 30 368
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Telephone: + 64 4 570 1444
+ 64 4 570 4696
Fax: + 64 4 570 4600