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Considered the “father of toxicology,” Orfila studied asphyxiation, body decomposition, and exhumation. He also is known for being one of the first people to use a microscope to assess blood and semen. In 1840, he was involved in the case of Marie LaFarge, where he found Orfila guilty of killing her husband through toxicology testing. His work with arsenic also continued on to him arguing for a test of soil, since the human body can absorb it and be mistaken for poisoning. -
Bertillon created the Bertillon system, which is measured the head length, head breadth, length of the middle finger and left foot, and length of the cubit. He used photography with this as well, which is now known as a mug shot. -
Wundt started his first lab in forensic psychology in Germany, making him a pioneer in the field. Wundt starting this was what started the science of forensic psychology. -
Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes, which showed detailed processes of crime investigation using techniques like fingerprinting, trace evidence, footprints, and ciphers before it was commonly used by police. Because of this, he had a great influence on forensic science. -
Galton Pioneered fingerprint research (there are no fingerprints that are the same and that the print stays the same throughout an individual's life.) In 1892, he published a book about fingerprints, listing the most common fingerprint types, which is still used today in forensic science -
The Bertillon system is replaced by fingerprinting due to some technical issues; however, aspects like photography that Bertillon had used are still used today, which is observable through mugshots. -
Lattes created a method for restoring dried blood samples and making them available for deciding the blood type. -
Osborn begins his business in questioning documents, which essentially was proving whether or not documents were forged. He was one of the pioneers of questioned document examination in the US. -
In 1921, John Larson created the polygraph, which measured changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration to detect deception. Despite being useful for law enforcement, they are admissible in court. -
Goddard is considered one of the first people involved in the development of scientific methods of criminal investigation.
He was involved in the 1929 investigation of the St. Valentine's Day massacre, where he was able to help investigators by identifying the different bullet casings and weapons used. -
Osborn creates the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE), which consists of an annual meeting where members of the Society share information about questioning documents. -
Tommie Lee Andrews was convicted of rape and sentenced to 22 years in prison, which made him the first person in the US to be convicted with DNA evidence, specifically fingerprints -
In 1993, Kary. B Mullis won a Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR creates copies of a DNA segment. -
The Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, is caught using DNA evidence. DNA from a rape kit done in the 1970s matches with the DNA from DeAngelo. DeAngelo is charged with 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping and is sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole