The Strychnine Poisoner

The evidence

Sherlock Holmes is still the most widely known detective. It is a peculiar paradox that a fictional character who is long dead should stand in the public mind as the most able revealer of the truth. Yet it was Holmes, brought to life by his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th century, who laid down a simple, but beautifully succinct approach to solving crime:

‘It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data.’

Broadly speaking, evidence falls into two categories:

• Human: eye-witness accounts, background information about motives and opportunities and identification.

• Forensics: the scientific examination of evidence, both physical (weapons, toxins, fingerprints) and human, for the courts of law.

Methods for gathering human evidence have remained little changed throughout history, although the police may now be more careful about allowing their own prejudices to cloud witness statements. The methods for analysing that evidence, through various branches of forensics, have changed considerably.

Contrary to popular belief, the history of forensic science stretches a long way back in time. As early as the seventh century, the Chinese were using fingerprints to identify documents and clay sculptures. A Chinese book from 1248 - Hsi Duan Yu (the washing away of wrongs) - was ground-breaking in applying medical knowledge to solving a crime when it described how to tell whether a person was drowned or strangled. And forensic science was undoubtedly in use before these recorded instances.

Incriminating information

Matching evidence found at a crime scene with evidence found on the accused is now an accepted part of almost every detective programme and real-life crime, yet it was not until 1784, in Lancaster, England, that the first person was documented as being convicted using this technique. It was then that a torn newspaper piece discovered in John Toms’ pocket was found to match a scrap in a pistol. Toms was convicted of murder.

It was only in 1810 that the first detective force was established. Eugène François Vidocq struck a deal with police in France to waive his arrest for a crime if he would establish a force. The famous Paris Sûreté was born.

Match points

In 1813, Spaniard Mathieu Orfila published the first systematic study of toxicology. The Traité de toxicologie générale (Treatise of General Toxicology) led to the creation of a whole new branch of forensics with Orfila as its leading voice. Becoming professor of medical jurisprudence in 1819, he helped develop tests for the presence of blood and used a microscope to assess blood and semen stains. In 1836 Scottish chemist James Marsh used toxicology to reveal arsenic to a jury trial for the first time.

One year earlier Bow Street Runner Henry Goddard, of Scotland Yard, had compared bullets by looking at visible flaws from the mould to catch a murderer.

Identity card

Clearly one of the most important methods for catching criminals was to identify one person from another.

Fingerprints were a consistently recognised characteristic of individuality and in 1686 Marcello Malpighi, a University of Bologna anatomy professor, made further note of this, but without referring to any use in crime solution.

In the 1890s Hans Gross pioneered schemes for fingerprinting, microscopy, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, zoology, botany and anthropometry (taking scientific measurements for identification of the human body).

And by 1892 Francis Galton had produced the definitive research Finger Prints, which set up a classification system under the same name.

Other landmark developments came with the 20th century, such as hair and gun type identification systems and ways of analysing dust particles to connect suspects with the scene of a crime. In 1915 Leone Lattes, professor at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Turin Italy, developed an antibody test for ABO blood groups.

The Central Research Establishment, set up in England in 1966, was the first laboratory dedicated to forensic science research.

DNA tests are now increasingly used to link suspects with material found at the scene of a crime, in a similar way to fingerprint evidence. In 1984 Sir Alec Jeffreys developed the first DNA profiling test - which became known as DNA fingerprinting. Each individual has a unique pattern of DNA, linking suspects with samples of semen or blood found at a crime scene or on a victim. This process was first put to use in identifying the murderer of two young girls in the English Midlands. It can also be used to rule out a person as a suspect.

Body of evidence

With most crimes, the victim is the chief witness. Murder is necessarily an exception to this rule, but that does not prevent the victim from being the source of the most valuable evidence. Recognising this, coroners have been legally required to investigate the circumstances of unnatural, sudden, suspicious deaths and prison deaths since 1194.

For these inquests, the coroner's court hears evidence from witnesses, people close to the victims and, perhaps most importantly, the doctors who carried out the post mortem (now for about one in every four deaths), to determine whether there was foul play. In the case of suspicious deaths a Home Office forensic pathologist will carry out the post mortem.

Until 1926 all coroner's inquests were held before a jury. The verdict may range from accidental death (caused by some incident or person unintentionally), death by misadventure (where the incident is one in which the deceased played a part by consent, such as surgery), suicide, natural causes, unlawful killing (murder, for example), death due to lack of care (neglect) or an open verdict (no decision can be made).

Records of reported deaths are closed for 75 years and any request to see closed records should be directed to the appropriate local coroner's office. Certain records are designated for permanent preservation - indexed registers of deaths reported, all papers dated before 1875 and cases of general public, scientific, forensic, social, local, industrial or historical interest along with papers relating to treasure trove.

Inquisitions related to murder and manslaughter trials were retained among the assizes and Central Criminal Court records, and are kept with the indictments.

Write and wrong

In Crime Team the handwriting on many of the 19th century documents is analysed for tell-tale similarities. This technique, known as graphology, is in effect a scientific take on the process by which we all recognise writing on envelopes, confirm our agreement with a signature and see handwriting suffering under emotional or physical stress.

Graphology as a word was first documented in 1875, by French Abbot, Jean Hyppolyte Michon, and it comes from the Greek: 'Graph' meaning, 'To write'. The subject dates back to ancient Indian and Chinese culture and from there to Greece, 2000 BC. Aristotle wrote: 'Just as all men do not have the same speech sounds, neither do they all have the same writing.'

At its elementary level, graphology takes into consideration a number of handwriting elements, including: stroke, letters, words, baseline, paragraphs, free movements ('i' dots and 't' bars), flourishes, punctuation and paraphs (flourish after a signature), dimension, form, pressure, speed, direction, layout and continuity.

These factors were being taken into account to a greater or lesser degree by various schools of graphology during the 19th century. It was around the turn of the 20th century that German psychologist, philosopher and characterologist Dr Ludvig Klages, created the basis for modern graphology.

Looking at more psychological aspects of handwriting, studying factors such as vertical movement, horizontal movement, and depth Klages and other researchers were able to draw detailed characterology pictures of writers.

Dr Eric Singer brought the modern approach to the subject to Britain in the middle of the 20th century and 1982 saw the formation of the Graphology Society. One year later The British Institute of Graphologists was established.

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