This weekend at Rancho Cucamonga's Forensic Science Academy Club between 11:00-14:30 I finally completed and presented on the skull which I performed a cranial reconstruction. A job well done! Here are the three main points I have covered when I completed the reconstruction:
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| Frontal view of the finished skull that can actually be placed together with an abundance of glue! |
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| Adolescent Caucasian female within the age of 12-14 year of age based on the dental structure the cranium shows. Cause of death was the frontal lobe blunt-force trauma caused by the steel wrench, which is extremely sensitive and caused an immediate death due to the brain damage and trauma. The individual was not reported missing so I was unable to create an accurate estimate of who the identity belongs to. |
- Determining if the skeletal remains are in fact of forensic significance based on the presence of trauma.
Yes, the skeletal remains, of the little portion that we have, are in fact of forensic importance! First off it is rather clear the this individual was a victim of a crime specifically because the posterior ossipetal bone area of the skull appears to be shattered. I initially thought that it was a gunshot entrance wound, but the evidence suggests that it was something much more effective in terms of the entire back being absent. Then I came into another conclusion, the individual may have fallen face backwards in the way that they were given a slight push. This can be derived as evidence since part of the mandible is still stuck to the skull in the way that a strong force of pressure actually made it stay. Usually the mandible is the first thing that falls out of the skull since it is connected with tendons and flesh, but in this case, part of the mandible stayed which suggests that the fall did occur. That's not the end of the story. Post-mortem, which means after death, the criminal wanted to confirm that this individual was dead so they beat them in the most sensitive part of the skull region, known as the anterior fontanelle, with a tool-like blunt force weapon. How was I able to tell that? Near the regions of what I call "the three rivers meet" that appear in the top center of the cranium, this particular individual had continued to have more striations in the bone and cracks to continue in the frontal lobe of the skull. It is extremely certain that this skull was of forensic importance! If I were barely identifying the skull, I would ensure a full investigation would take place.
- Determining the horizontal excavation layer in which the remains were found in order to determine the possible time of death
I was unfortunate enough to not be presented with soil samples or a basic archaeological principle of the forensic anthropology aspect, so I am to assume ( aww :( ) that the individual was left exposed on top of the Earth, rather than buried. There was no evidence of any soil or dirt to be present so this factor cannot be determined further.
- Matching a weapon or natural component that was left as a striation of the remains because of the fact that DNA or lethal vectors need to match to an object used to succeed in the cause of death and match trauma-mortem.
The weapon of death appeared to be a steel tool, a particular tool that had two open ridges and a narrow handle which allowed for a maximum range of blunt-force trauma. After long hours of trying to uncover the pattern and possible goemetric factors, I have finally came to the conclusion that it was a a wrench! It took me what I thought was forever to unravel this particular mystery! When I placed a wrench near the skull it was a perfect match; so happy! ...Not for the result of the victim, of course! The blunt force trauma that showed large cracks and opening within the skull pin-pointed the exact locomotion of a wrench! There was no DNA found, since it was professional cleaned from the basic decomposition oils and dirt, so no match can be made from something.
The murderer is not yet found.
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