2021 - Bluestar Forensic

Forensic science, clue hunters

Tarbes: Scientific police, the clue hunters

La nouvelle république des Pyrénées : November 4, 2021

The technical and scientific police of Tarbes opened us the doors of its service, the time of a day. Meeting with these technicians whose job feeds all the fantasies.

“They broke the door and turned everything upside down. A retired Tarbais, victim of a burglary, tells the sad state of the place to the forensic technician dispatched on the spot.

“Did you touch anything?” inquires Nicolas Levan, gloved and camera in hand. The policeman wants to know everything. “What time did you leave? Is that door still closed?” And when he spots mud still fresh on the ground, he asks to see the backyard. “They probably went through there.”

Because before getting out swabs and revealing powder, it is still necessary to understand the path of the authors to locate the surfaces on which they would have, by chance, deposited fingerprints and genetic traces. But this time, nothing happened. Jewelry boxes and a wooden box thrown carelessly on the bed do not allow the technician to find the slightest trace of a finger.

Tracked and traced

“Leather and wood are substrates on which gunpowder does not stick .” Last hope, pray that the burglars “swarmed” some of their DNA on the dresser’s wrists. “Once the sample is taken, we close the seal and send it for analysis. If there are biological traces, they will be compared in the National Automated DNA File (Fnaeg).” One of the two tools fed daily by law enforcement with the Faed, automated fingerprint file

Scanned on site, the seals then take the direction of the forensic laboratory of Toulouse, one of the five accredited to carry out the revelations in France (with Lille, Paris, Marseille and Lyon) , since the operational centralization of technical platforms in 2018.

Science and daily crimes

“There are several levels in forensics. The judicial police, which handles the big criminal cases, and the departmental public safety science services.”

In Tarbes, Nicolas Levan works with three agents under his responsibility. All women. “We mainly do misdemeanors.” Reports of people in police custody (papillary and genetic fingerprinting), robberies on wheels (in cars), burglaries… represent 90% of their activity. But sometimes, the members of the service are called for much more dramatic facts.

Bluestar on crime scene

“When a case goes unsolved after several months, it’s often because there were flaws in the initial scientific findings.” When he runs the Bluestar through Florence’s bathroom, the walls become stained with cleaned blood. “It’s a very powerful product. The morphoanalysis specialists took over to interpret the traces.” Expertise that have been confronted with the claims of the alleged author, and weakened his version of events. If he confides that being exposed to such violence can be psychologically difficult, Nicolas Levan- expresses the feeling of accomplished duty. “On this file, I was able to participate in the manifestation of the truth, for the benefit of the victim.”

American Myth

Far from the image conveyed by the American police series, the technical and scientific police of proximity are essential in the treatment of everyday cases. “I liked CSI Las Vegas. But the American judicial system and ours don’t work the same way. And to shatter a myth: “Only on TV do you systematically find DNA from a single hair.”

Lemerle case: traces of blood revealed by Bluestar

On the first day of Vanessa Lemerle's trial for the violent confinement of her brother

Le quotidien : October 26, 2021

On the first day of the trial of Vanessa Lemerle for the violent kidnapping of her brother on April 10, 2018 in Saint-Gilles, the director of investigation returned at length on the circumstances of the discovery of the facts.

“He was stoic when the police arrived. But once out of the hospital, he seemed terrorized, realizing that he could have died.” Invited to testify on the occasion of the first day of the trial of Vanessa Lemerle and her companion (our edition of yesterday), the gendarme in charge of leading the investigation tells the first contacts with Nicolas Lemerle this April 10, 2018, when the Saint-Gillois says he was a victim of a violent sequestration at his home.

On the spot, “the findings are consistent with his statements,” as noted by President Virginie Bellouard. The military first discovered “the two dogs groggy and slumped.” At the entrance of the villa, remains of pet food. And in the garbage can, a tube of sleeping pills suggesting that the dogs had been drugged. In the garden, near a tree, “a rope, a garden hose and a shower hose” that the victim described as having been used to tie him up.

And in the house, “traces of blood absolutely everywhere, that had marked me” tells the investigator of the brigade of research of Saint-Paul. On the pillow of the bed, in the living room, on sheets of the office. “And especially in the bathroom, with large projections on the walls. Everything fits with the story of Nicolas, pulled from his bed around 00:30 that night by a mysterious assailant in black tracksuit, beaten with what he first takes for “a baton”, then the forearm lacerated with a knife.

The policewoman also tells about her discoveries at Vanessa Lemerle’s home in Saline-les-Bains, since it is indeed her own sister that Nicolas suspects of being the instigator of his aggression. It is necessary to say that, during the three to four hours that lasts his sequestration, the man in black made several times reference to Vanessa and to a conflict about the inheritance of their father, late the president of the chamber of the notaries Paul Lemerle.

"Perplexed as to its good faith"

“In the garden, not far from the car with the still warm hood, we will discover two small piles of smoking ashes.” In one of them, a remnant of a gray sock matching another sock found in Vanessa Lemerle’s Peugeot 208, and which Nicolas described as having served as gloves to his assailant when he threatened him with a chainsaw. A machine of a particular brand, usually stored in the garden shed of Vanessa Lemerle’s house and that the gendarmes found not far from the car. There is also this empty package of Chesterfield, the brand of cigarette butts found in front of the gate of Nicolas Lemerle’s house.

And then, under Vanessa’s bed, there is this large Maglite flashlight, which looks like what the victim had initially taken for a baton and which was used to hit her. Passed to the Blue-star developer, the lamp turns out to be carrying traces of blood having been cleaned…

The gendarme remembers the attitude of Vanessa Lemerle, who says she did not notice anything abnormal that night, and that she lives alone. While the military saw a man suddenly pull the curtain of one of the rooms. “His version did not stick to our findings, and I was puzzled about his good faith, so I decided to place it in custody, “says the investigator.

During the auditions, she will discover the visceral hatred that the brother and sister seem to have for each other

During the auditions, she will discover the visceral hatred that the brother and sister seem to have for each other, and not only since the death of their father or for a question of inheritance. It is the elder sister, Emmanuelle, who confirms this from her home in London. “The conflict has always existed between them, even when they were children. And for Emmanuelle, there is no problem of inheritance, their father has put them all in a safe place” relates the policewoman.

It would not be the first time that their relationship drifted into violence. “In 2010, during a birthday there was a dispute that led to a complaint from Vanessa Lemerle,” recalls the director of the investigation. That time, it is Nicolas who would have struck Vanessa … with a large Maglite.

The grudge, to the point of hiring a henchman to go and terrorize his brother, even “cutting off a finger or a limb”, in the style of “gangster films” as M’Barki will say? “One cannot help but think that there is a link with the use of this lamp”, the president remarks.

Briefly questioned yesterday, Vanessa Lemerle continues to say that she is not involved in any form of complicity in the facts of the case. Resumption of the debates this morning, with the hearing of the witnesses.

A state-of-the-art portable crime lab

Costa Rica's First Female Forensic Biologist Designed a State-of-the-Art Portable Crime Lab

MENAFN : 18.09.2021

In 2010 Tatiana López had to present a University project, she was already working in the Judicial Branch and, together with her partner, Alejandro Castillo, reflected for her work one of the dreams she had for years, the design of a portable laboratory where, under adequate conditions, analyzes of the crime scenes that had been modified could be carried out. A decade later, her task evolved, the dream was fulfilled and the laboratory became a reality and has been part of the many innovations that Costa Rica has had in forensic science .

At 49, Tatiana López does not hesitate to look at the past and remember each of the obstacles that she went through to improve the techniques of analysis of crime scenes and, better yet, she looks forward to the future because she still has many dreams to fulfill. .

Her work has been developed in the Department of Forensic Sciences and the Canine Unit, right now he is working on a project to improve techniques

“At this moment I am in charge of a project called the consolidation of the multidisciplinary team and field criminology, and the idea is to make a team where we work on highly specialized scenarios, but also within my work and what I have in charge is all that are the scenes, the analysis and collection of evidence in modified scenes where it is presumed that a crime event has occurred and this has been tried to erase and that is why they are called modified scenes, where the blood is not seen through with the naked eye, what we call latent blood tests.

“We also do the search for evidence with blood in scenes, whether in closed or open sites, the search for human remains and at this moment we also have the part of the search for evidence with semen and in the relatively near future, the search for the human smell through signs, this by mixing or blending, using specialized dogs and laboratory tests and equipment” she explained.

To carry out the work, Doña Tatiana requires specialized techniques, the use of luminol and bluestar“which is what we can see the blood with when we cannot see it with the naked eye.”

“With the blood in the eye” Bioarchaeology and Biomaterials.

"With blood in the eye". Romano et al. Axis 1 - Bioarchaeology and Biomaterials.

Presentation of the paper “With blood in the eye”. Revealing and documenting traces of latent blood in archaeological materials.

This paper is presented by Andrés Romano, Sara López Campeny, Jorge Martínez and Juan Ronelli.

The first three authors belong to the Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales (ISES-CONICET) and the Instituto de Arqueología y Museo (IAM-UNT), while Juan Ronelli is Director of the Specialization in Crime Scene Analysis, Coordinator of the Natural Sciences Area of the B.Sc. in Criminalistics and professor at the Instituto Universitario de la Policía Federal Argentina (IUPFA).
Police (IUPFA).

Canine Handlers and Forensic Specialist Testify in Smart Hearing on 2021 Searches

United States

News, Press articles

September 3, 2021

Canine Handlers and Forensic Specialist Testify in Smart Hearing on 2021 Searches Neither cadaver dog made strong alerts to seized Volkswagon or Ruben Flores’s property

Paso Robles Press : Sep 3, 2021

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Two cadaver dog handlers and a forensic specialist testified in court on Thursday, Sept., 2 in the preliminary hearing for Paul (44) and Ruben (80) Flores.

The father and son are charged in connection with the 1996 disappearance and murder of 19-year-old Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. Paul has been charged with her murder, and Ruben is being charged with accessory after the fact. Both men were arrested in April. Ruben is out on bail, but Paul remains in the San Luis Obispo County jail with no bail.

Getting through this together, Paso Robles

Kristin’s remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.

Kristine Black, Karen Atkinson, and their cadaver dogs were called to search under the back porch of Ruben Flores’ home in the 700 block of White Court after warrants were executed on the residence in March and April of this year.

Both women are Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Canine Specialized Search Team handlers. Both dogs are certified in human remains detection through the California Rescue Dog Association, according to testimony.

As the assistant director for the search and rescue team, Black talked about her search of Ruben’s home on White Court in Arroyo Grande on March 15.

She said she brought her Belgian Malinois, Annie, with her and first searched a maroon 1985 Volkswagon that was later seized from Ruben’s home as part of the investigation.

Black says Annie, who is only trained in detecting human remains, went inside the vehicle but did not have a final response. They headed into Ruben’s backyard next.

Black said she intentionally stood out of sight from the house at the end of White Court in order to not influence her search.

She testified that Annie started to show changes in behavior in an area under the left side of the deck behind some lattice. While the behavior change was consistent with odor, Black says Annie did not go to a final response, instead of putting her nose down and changing her breathing and snorting hard while circling the area.

Atkinson testified that she searched the property with her dog, Amiga, on the same day and had the same results.

She noted a slight change in behavior in Amiga as she worked a long, narrow area that sloped up near the foundation. According to Atkinson, Amiga began to sniff and make “head pops,” which indicated she detected an odor. Atkinson described the change in behavior as being characteristic for when Amiga detects her target odor – human remains – but Atkinson says the dog’s alert is sitting, which she did not do.

Attorney Sarah Sanger, who represents Paul with her father Robert Sanger, questioned whether a change in behavior is not an alert. Atkinson explained Amiga will not alert until she reaches the strongest point of the odor. Harold Mesick, Ruben’s attorney, questioned whether Black searched any trailers on the property, to which she replied no. During the afternoon session, the court heard testimony from a forensic specialist with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

Shelby Liddell talked about two different searches at Ruben’s home on Mar. 15 and 16, 2021. She was assigned to process the scene at 710 White Court, including taking photos and collecting soil samples. Liddell testified that at three feet deep, while detectives were digging up under the deck in the backyard, they started noticing staining in the soil. According to Liddell, dark staining was noticed down to four feet. She told the court she collected samples along with control samples around the property.

She said she returned on Apr. 13 and 14 to collect more samples from under the deck again.

Liddell also testified to spraying the inside of the trailer seized from the Flores’ residence with Bluestar, a forensic chemical used to detect blood and other bodily fluids.

According to the sheriff’s Detective, Clint Cole, the trailer belonged to the boyfriend of Susan Flores, Paul Flores’ mother, and was seized on the belief that it was used to transport the remains of Smart from Ruben Flores’ residence in February 2020.

Liddell said that 30 minutes after spraying Bluestar, a blue luminescent stain approximately a foot-and-a-half wide appeared on the inside of one of the trailer’s doors, which was documented with a camera.
Bluestar, which reacts to the hemoglobin in human blood and is a proprietary formula, can also show false positives for cleaning materials and some types of vegetables. However, according to Liddell, the reaction is typically a “white flash” that goes away after a while.

The preliminary hearing resumes at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 3, at the San Luis Obispo County Superior Courthouse.

Troadec case: traces of blood, burning of the bodies, the word of the experts.

The trial of Hubert Caouissin and Lydie Troadec continued with the testimony of experts who worked on the case.

France info : 29.06.2021

The trial of Hubert Caouissin and Lydie Troadec is taking place in Nantes at the assizes of Loire Atlantique until July 9, 2021.

This Tuesday, June 29, the day was devoted to the account of the experts who worked on the quadruple murder of the Troadec family in Orvault, near Nantes, in February 2017.

The hearing resumed at 9:15 a.m. The president of the assize court, Karine Laborde, calls Pascal Olivier, a DNA expert.

Pascal Olivier quickly explains the principle of DNA. How it can exclude an individual with affirmative when the general characteristics are different. But two individuals can have a close genetic profile. That it is then necessary to refine.

“We used a reagent specific to the Y chromosome to bring out particularities of the DNA. We used Bluestar as a reagent for human blood. It reacts particularly to red blood cells.

Three locations, the crime scene, the 308 car, and the farm.

“We didn’t have a body. From accessories, clothing, we were able to find four DNAs, and verify that they belonged to the missing persons. With washcloths or toothbrushes found at the homes of children we could easily validate these DNA.

“For the crime scene, we found Brigitte’s blood in the garage, the master bedroom, Sebastian’s bedroom, the bathroom, mixed with two others, Pascal and Sebastian.

“Pascal was found in the garage, the entrance, the bedroom, the staircase”.
(Pascal Olivier, genetic fingerprint expert)

“Sebastien, the bed in his room, on a smartphone, in the garage, on a switch in the bathroom. The media reported his guilt, we were able to forget this hypothesis,” he says, continuing, “under Charlotte’s wardrobe we found the genetic fingerprint of Brigitte and Pascal.

"There is a probability of error of 1 in 29 million billion"

“In the kitchen, we have bowls of mugs, we have on a glass two prints in mixture. One of Sebastian, the other unknown. Which turned out to be that of Hubert Caouissin. There is a probability of error of 1 in 29 million billion. We also found Hubert Caouissin’s DNA on the blue chair in the garden.

“There are few places where we find Charlotte’s DNA. On Charlotte’s stethoscope in particular (it’s not the one Hubert Caouissin is talking about), on the parts that are put in the ears”.

“In the vehicle 308, we had 76 samples, there we find the genetic fingerprints of the victims out of blood traces, we find the DNA of Hubert Caouissin on the ventilation control and on the interior mirror “.

With the Bluestar, we find the genetic prints of Pascal, Brigitte, and Sébastien
(Pascal Olivier, genetic fingerprint expert)

Alleged serial killer: new excavations and Bluestar in the orchard

Could the crime scene at Mare-d'Albert be hiding other sordid secrets?

In any case, this case, which has been in the news since Friday 28 May, is far from over. New searches in the letchi orchard that the alleged serial killer Umyad Ebrahim was guarding are planned for Tuesday 1 June. A Bluestar exercise will also be carried out in the room in the orchard to search for traces of blood.

During a raid on the orchard yesterday, Monday 31 May, officers of the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) found a pair of sandals and a mobile phone. At present, they do not know who the owner is. The recent discovery of the bodies of two women in their forties buried in a letchia orchard has shocked their relatives. The recent discovery of the bodies of two women in their forties buried in a lettuce orchard shocked their relatives, and they wondered if the alleged murderer, who is in a psychiatric hospital, was hunting for prey on his Facebook page. Would he have made other victims?

Umyad Ebrahim’s mobile phone has been sent to the IT Unit to be checked. His messages will be decrypted to trace witnesses, who will be called to shed light on the case. Investigators suspect that he confided in “friends”.

Flashback. Last October, Zahira Ramputh, 40, met Umyad Ebrahim, 38, a great romantic on social networks. After a few weeks, she moved in with him and believed that the 30-year-old was genuinely in love with her, but the mother of a 17-year-old daughter was sadly mistaken. In January, an argument broke out between the couple. The 40-year-old had learned of the existence of another young woman in the life of the alleged murderer. The two women were bickering over who was the one chosen by Umyad Ebrahim.

But shortly afterwards, the young woman, a woman named Shenaz, had to back out. The investigators suspect that it was the existence of this other young woman that started it all.

Under psychiatric treatment

On the other hand, investigators also met with Umyad Ebrahim’s treating doctors at the psychiatric hospital, who say that he is still undergoing treatment and that they cannot comment immediately on whether the alleged murderer will be able to face an interrogation.

The story came to light a week earlier. Umyad Ebrahim, a 38-year-old psychiatric patient admitted to the High Security Ward of Brown-Sequard Hospital (BSH) was visited by a relative. He asks him to sign his discharge from BSH. He explains that since the death of Zahira Ramputh he has been suffering from depression. A song posted on his Facebook page about a young man killing a young woman he was madly in love with clicked in the head of this relative. He then contacted Zahira Ramputh’s relatives in Vallée-Pitot, who were not aware of the news of her death. One of the victim’s sisters went to the registry office to consult the death certificate and then to the police to report her disappearance.

Pressed with questions by MCIT investigators, Umyad Ebrahim said Zahira Ramputh committed suicide and that he buried her in a place near his home in Mare d’Albert when the body started to decompose. He led investigators there on Friday. After several hours of digging, the remains of the 40-year-old from Vallée-Pitot wrapped in a sheet were unearthed in the lettuce orchard.

In the same evening, the relatives of Hema Coonjoobeharry, a resident of Bambous who had been missing since 10 May, learned of the news through the media. They were aware of the affair between the 40-year-old and Umyad Ebrahim and had reported her disappearance on 22 May. They immediately alerted the MCIT and the investigators again arrived at the BSH. The alleged murderer then confessed to killing her by suffocating her because she did not want to go home. She had joined him in the shack in the orchard on 10 May, her 40th birthday. After three days, he asked the Bambous resident to go home but she refused, he said. The police found his body buried a few metres from the first one in the same letch orchard.

The suspect was examined by a psychiatrist and a police doctor. A report on his condition is expected.

Alleged serial killer: new excavations and Bluestar in the orchard (Audio)

Year

Police brought Agostina’s alleged femicide to Neuquén

A commission of the local police force transferred Juan Carlos Monsalve from Viedma, accused of being the perpetrator of the femicide.

Agustín Martínez

LMCipolletti : 30.05.2021

This Sunday the second person arrested for the femicide of Agostina Gisfman was transferred from the town of Viedma to the capital of Neuquén. This is Juan Carlos Monsalve, accused of being the perpetrator of the femicide of the 22 year old girl from Cipole, who was murdered and then burnt in a rubbish dump in Centenario.

Agostina went to a meeting, which Gustavo Chianesse had arranged for her, at the roundabout at Rutas 151 and 22 in Cipolletti on Friday 14 May at 7pm.

To do so, she asked an acquaintance to take her to the agreed place and once there, she got into a dark vehicle. That was the last time Agostina Gisfman was seen alive.

Investigators believe that the young woman was killed with a stabbing weapon on board the vehicle, which evidence suggests was the Chevrolet Tracker van seized last week where human blood was found after a bluestar test.

The femicides then went to a rubbish dump in the town of Centenario, where they dumped the young woman’s body and burned it. It was found there the following day by a person passing through the area.

To date, two people have been arrested for Agostina’s femicide: Gustavo Chianese, already accused as a necessary participant, for being the one who handed over the girl when they agreed to meet; and Juan Carglos Monsalve, suspected of being the perpetrator, taking into account how the telephone antennas located him at the meeting place and the place where he was found.

These were reached as a result of key wiretaps that link them both to the planning of the young woman’s femicide, after Monsalve had a conflict with his wife as a result of the encounter he had had with Agostina in April. When he was unable to locate her in order to “kill her”, as the prosecutor’s office stated in its theory of the case, he asked Chianese to look for her.

It is even known that Monsalve had rented the Tracker on the same day of the femicide, hours before, that is, on Friday 14 May. The same dark vehicle was captured together with another lighter-coloured one by a camera in a house, near the area where the young woman’s body was dumped.

Monsalve had been arrested on 18 May in the town of San Javier, in Río Negro. Finally, this Sunday, his extradition was finalised and therefore, a commission of the Neuquén police travelled to the capital of the neighbouring province to bring Agostina’s alleged femicide to Neuquén. Now, the prosecutor’s office is expected to request a hearing for the formulation of charges in the framework of the case.

Detecting Blood in an Outdoor Environment with the Bluestar Reagent and DNA Analysis

United States

Scientific articles

May 13, 2021

Author(s): McCall, Keenan; Woods, Grace; Richards, Elizabeth

Type: Article

Published: 2021, Volume 71, Issue 4, Page 309

Abstract: Blood is an important physical material that may be encountered in violent crimes such as murder, assault, and rape.

The examination of bloodstains is of immense value in the reconstruction of crime scenes and the potential identification of subjects and victims and their linkage to a scene.

When crime scenes occur outdoors, the identification of blood evidence can become difficult with the naked eye.

The objective of this research was to conduct examinations of the Bluestar reagent to determine whether it could successfully detect blood in outdoor sites after prolonged exposure to the elements and whether the identified blood could produce a DNA profile.

Bluestar advertises the ability to reveal bloodstains that have been washed out, wiped off, or which are invisible to the naked eye.

For this research, approximately 0.5 oz of human blood was deposited onto the soil surface of 30 plots to be tested over 10 time intervals up to 45 days. At each interval, a soil sample and a cotton swab of the plot‘s surface were collected for later DNA testing. Results showed a positive Bluestar reaction throughout all intervals of the experiment. DNA profiles were developed from cotton swabs while the blood was visible to the naked eye.

Some of the soil samples returned weak profiles that could not be correlated to the donor. The results of this study demonstrate that even if there is a delay in locating an outdoor crime scene, the application of Bluestar is a reliable tool in the effort of locating blood evidence.

Thomas Lesire trial: These clothes are examined with Bluestar reagent

Assizes: trial of Thomas Lesire, accused of the murder of an octogenarian in Châtelet, begins

RTBF 03.05.2021

The neighbourhood investigation led the police to a suspect, Thomas Lesire, the son of a neighbour. The latter’s home was searched on 1 June 2019 at 05:00. The suspect was not present at the scene but the investigators found a T-shirt, shorts, a pair of shoes and various other items of clothing in the drum of a washing machine, which they seized.

These clothes are examined by the criminal investigation laboratory using the reagent “Bluestar”. The result is that they have been in contact with blood.

Assizes: trial of Thomas Lesire, accused of the murder of an octogenarian in Châtelet, begins
(Audio)