D.P. Lyle, MD – Forensics for Dummies

I’m a little short for time, so here are some notes that I took from a session on forensics at the 2006 San Francisco Writer’s Conference. D.P. Lyle, MD gave a great presentation and I highly recommend his website and books. http://www.dplylemd.com/ I have an outline of his presentation below.

Dr. D.P. Lyle – Forensics for Dummies

1. When knocked out
a. it is usually a couple of minutes down
i. a concussion
b. usually come back woozy for a second
i. then in pain
ii. angry
c. rarely incapacitates
2. Guns
a. Impossible to kill somebody
i. Even with multiple wounds
ii. Unless heart, spine or head hit
b. Usually makes victim angrier, more violent
3. No untraceable poison known
a. Toxicology test will find it
i. But usually not administered
ii. Autopsies are rare, but if something amiss
1. Then a quick test
2. more complex if results turn up
4. Most common forms of death
a. Natural
b. Suicide
c. Accidental
d. Other
i. Murder here, but rare
ii. All might look the same to a coroner
iii. Must a have a reason to look further
5. If coroner can’t explain why person died
a. Then routine drug screen
i. Alcohol, narcotics, sedatives, aspirin, cocaine, marijuana
b. If drug shows then tweak for specific chemicals
c. If poison outside of drug screen
i. Family, insurance or police must open investigation
6. Recommends to kill go to plant store instead of drug store
a. Book – Deadly Poisons for Deadly…. (Jesse…)
7. CSI Affect – not true in real life
a. True scientists
i. Old equipment, no guns
ii. Work with samples
iii. That’s all
b. Police cannot touch a body except to confirm death
i. body owned by coroner
ii. Police own the crime scene
iii. Several people with specific job at crime scene
1. Up to 30
8. Don’t trust mother nature
a. The bodies will come up
9. Blood Simple is a great movie to watch
a. Dead people don’t bleed!!!
10. Novel types
a. Thrillers have increased tension as reader knows something the protagonist doesn’t
b. Mysteries unveils everything with the protagonist

Questions
1. Shock: competence and coherence with blood loss
a. Depends if blood clots
i. Will unless organ (liver, others) hit
b. If blood pressure drops (like flat tire)
i. Will get confused, disoriented, sleepy
ii. Rate of blood loss
1. too much and brain shuts down
2. Can you leave bruises on a corpse?
a. Only with a heavy instrument and force
b. Bruises occur by broken capillaries
i. Flowing blood is bunched up
c. Thumb used to strangle
i. Very deep impression
d. Can tell strategies of murder
i. Rope vs. chain vs. hands
3. How quick to get DNA samples
a. Can get it in 24 hrs with sample kit
i. But must be sent to another lab for verification
b. What a coroner writes affects everything in a trial
c. Some states have 5 yr. back ups
4. Decay rates depends on environments
a. Swamps (quickly) vs. cold mountains (years)
5. Men use guns, women use poisons
a. Direct anger vs. distance from crime
6. Covering up crime
a. Gloves, booties, hats
i. Prints and DNA
b. bleach to clean up blood
i. but blood is a liquid that will seep into cracks and crevasse
7. Crime scene
a. Scene of crime
b. Points of Entry
c. Points of Exit