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Jessiqua D.
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 07, 2005 - 7:32 pm: | 
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I am doing horribly in my current Biology class and, in a desperate attempt to raise my grade, I asked my teacher if there was anything I could do for extra credit of some sort.
He said that I could pick any Bilogical topic of choice and get back to him the next day.
Well, we had just gotten over with our reveiw session on DNA and so the immediate thought that came to my "greatly disturbed mind" (My Bilogy teacher's words) was that I would do a report on how had Jack The Ripper committed these murders nowadays, they probably would've caught him.
To shorten this story up, I'm now doing a report on what DNA related evidence Jack the Ripper left behind and how, had they had the technology and knowledge, that could've helped the forensic scientists find him.
Any help whatsoever would be greatly appretiated. |
Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 888
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 8:22 am: |
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There is very little if anything around now. But take heart. What you can do is explain what would have been recoverable at the murder sites if the people in 1888 had had DNA technology and how it would have helped them.
For instance, Whitechapel was full of slaughterhouses at the time so the sight of somebody in bloodstained clothes was not unusual. Since the Victorians didn't even have the science to be able to tell the difference between human and animal blood, it would have been useless for them to intercept men in the area with bloodstains on their clothes and test them.
But for a modern scientist it would be a different story. He could run a PSA (quick and dirty) comparision between the victim's blood collected at the crime scene and the blood on the suspect. If there was a match he could run a more definitive RPG to confirm it. Then the suspect would be left to explain why he was running around 15 minutes after the murder with the victim's blood all over his clothes. |
Caroline Anne Morris
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Caz
Post Number: 2400
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 4:03 am: |
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Hi Jessiqua,
Regarding what DNA related evidence the ripper left behind, I'd think very little if any. There was no evidence of ejaculation at the scene, although it's possible this was missed and wouldn't be missed today.
There's no evidence that he bit any of his victims, for example, but it's just possible he spat on one or more of them.
There's also no evidence that any of the victims grabbed at his hair, although it's just possible that Mary Kelly's fingernails could have revealed traces of Jack if she managed to claw at the hand that held the knife.
If any of the above yielded traces they could work with, forensic scientists today would then have to try and match them with someone on a data base. But if Jack had no previous, it could be a case of a tiny needle in a giant haystack.
If none of the above applies, and if Jack wore gloves, I'm not sure what other DNA related evidence could have been left behind, and we are left with Diana's scenario, whereby a suspect would have to be found with a victim's DNA on him - a kidney in the pocket would do it, or the bloody knife.
So it's still down to detective work in the end, whether it's looking for the man whose DNA is found at the scene, or rounding up possible suspects within hours of a murder, and hoping something will connect one of them beyond doubt to the scene.
Love,
Caz
X
(Message edited by caz on December 09, 2005) |
Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 889
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 8:13 am: |
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Dont give up on your paper though. The reason a lot of this trace evidence doesnt exist is because it was never collected. The Victorians had no way to use it and therefore didn't look for it so we don't know if it was there and we sure dont have it. But you could create scenarios where a DNA scientist goes back in a time machine to 1888, collects evidence the local police weren't even interested in and didnt look for, and finds the killer. What your teacher is interested in is your understanding of DNA, not whether it was available or collected in 1888. That part could come from your imagination. Read the descriptions of the crime scenes posted on this site. Try to imagine what DNA traces might have been overlooked and what a modern CSI might find there. Then explain the DNA analysis in detail. That's the part your biology teacher is interested in anyway.
You're going to want to try to create a scenario where a match is made between the victim's DNA and something found on the perpetrator's body or in his posession. Since they didnt have criminal databases in 1888 working with the perpetrator's DNA would be impossible. |
Caroline Anne Morris
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Caz
Post Number: 2405
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 7:49 am: |
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Hi Diana,
Since they didnt have criminal databases in 1888 working with the perpetrator's DNA would be impossible.
But if they had had DNA technology in 1888, which is after all the scenario Jessiqua is exploring, she could make a decent argument for them having had criminal databases too. 
Love,
Caz
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Leanne Perry
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Leanne
Post Number: 1953
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 3:42 pm: |
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G'day,
Consider the half a kidney that was delivered to Mr. George Lusk! They would have been able to determine whether or not it belonged to victim Catherine Eddowes.
LEANNE |
Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 891
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 10:53 pm: |
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Caz, I hadnt thought of that. By all means she can imagine up an 1888 database. Abberline would have been ecstatic. |
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