Our Project
For this project, we were tasked with solving the case of who killed Carleton Comet. We used various ways to find out who committed the act of murder, including ink testing, DNA fingerprinting, matching fingerprints, and using pedigrees to find out family history, which created a motive for our murderer, and gave us some background on diseases that run in the family of the suspects.
Case Background
On October 26th, 2016, Carleton Comet invided Nancy Normal, Sam Sophmore, Theresa Terra, Glen Glee, and Fred Flimmer to a picnic dinner near San Marin's campus, Chalk Hill. The dinner consisted of prime rib, salad, and soup. When the sky darkened, a glass was dropped and a scream was heard, and when the sky lightened again, Carleton Comet was found dead, with a steak knife lodged in the back of his neck. A note reading "You are a dead man" was found near the scene of the crime. One of the people who attended, Nancy Normal, claimed to have cut her hand on a shard of glass that emerged from the broken glass.
After looking into the evidence, we have reason to believe that Nancy Normal was the one who murdered Carleton Comet. We are charging her with first degree murder, which if convicted, would result in life in prison.
After looking into the evidence, we have reason to believe that Nancy Normal was the one who murdered Carleton Comet. We are charging her with first degree murder, which if convicted, would result in life in prison.
Presentation (Evidence)
Content
DNA Fingerprinting-The process of inserting DNA into an agrose gel which is examined through gel electrophoresis. Running the gel at high voltage causes the bands to separate where it can be examined and compared to other DNA strands.
Ink Chromatography- The process of determining what writing utensil was used. Ink is placed at the bottom of an ink chromatography strip and then is placed in rubbing alcohol or isopropal. The alcohol eventually carries the ink through the paper and makes a multicolored streak where it can be compared to other strands of ink
Karyotyping- A karyotype is a picture of all the chromosomes within a cell. 23 pairs of chromosomes are typically found in a cell, along with an X and a Y, or XX. However mutations can happen, which is why karyotyping is useful for finding diseases.
Blood Typing- A person will either have A, B, AB, or O type blood. Blood typing is done by placing a small sample of blood in a dish and mixing it with anti-A and anti-B antigens, which determines the blood type. If a blood type is O, neither samples will clump.
Pedigree- A chart including family members often showing the travel of genetic diseases and includes dead family members.
1st Degree Murder- Any unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated (planned)
Marfan Syndrome- A rare genetic disease; symptoms include: low IQ, flat feet, unusually tall and slender, emotional unsteadiness, etc.
Huntington's Disease- A genetic disease; symptoms include: behavioral issues include compulsive behavior, irritability, or lack of restraint. Psychological effects include delirium, depression, or paranoia. Mood-related effects include anxiety, apathy, or mood swings.
XXX Syndrome- A chromosomal disease that results only in females due to an extra X chromosome. Symptoms include developmental delays, learning disabilities, wide set eyes, and many behavioral and emotional problems
Ink Chromatography- The process of determining what writing utensil was used. Ink is placed at the bottom of an ink chromatography strip and then is placed in rubbing alcohol or isopropal. The alcohol eventually carries the ink through the paper and makes a multicolored streak where it can be compared to other strands of ink
Karyotyping- A karyotype is a picture of all the chromosomes within a cell. 23 pairs of chromosomes are typically found in a cell, along with an X and a Y, or XX. However mutations can happen, which is why karyotyping is useful for finding diseases.
Blood Typing- A person will either have A, B, AB, or O type blood. Blood typing is done by placing a small sample of blood in a dish and mixing it with anti-A and anti-B antigens, which determines the blood type. If a blood type is O, neither samples will clump.
Pedigree- A chart including family members often showing the travel of genetic diseases and includes dead family members.
1st Degree Murder- Any unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated (planned)
Marfan Syndrome- A rare genetic disease; symptoms include: low IQ, flat feet, unusually tall and slender, emotional unsteadiness, etc.
Huntington's Disease- A genetic disease; symptoms include: behavioral issues include compulsive behavior, irritability, or lack of restraint. Psychological effects include delirium, depression, or paranoia. Mood-related effects include anxiety, apathy, or mood swings.
XXX Syndrome- A chromosomal disease that results only in females due to an extra X chromosome. Symptoms include developmental delays, learning disabilities, wide set eyes, and many behavioral and emotional problems
Reflection
I ended up finding this project far more interesting than other projects. Not only did I learn a lot about forensic science, I found it very interesting and definitely something I'd like to learn more about. I struggled with time management in this project. I found finishing the presentation felt rough and I would have liked to spend more time on it, which brings me to my second thing I would like to improve upon, being more thorough. I don't think that my project lacked in quality or content, but I would have liked to spend more time on certain elements to it, like reading everything through before moving on. However, I think that I grasped a pretty good understanding on what I was doing throughout the course of the project, unlike some other ones where I was prioritizing just getting it done rather than really trying to understand the information. I also think that I did a good job staying on task, I didn't move around to other groups, I stayed within my group most of the time. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and I hope there are more projects like this in the future.