Soilwater Conductivity Analysis to Date and Locate Clandestine Graves of Homicide Victims

Pringle, Jamie, CASSELLA, John, Jervis, John, Wililams, Anna, Cross, Peter and Cassidy, Nigel, J (2015) Soilwater Conductivity Analysis to Date and Locate Clandestine Graves of Homicide Victims. J Forensic Sci, 60 (4). pp. 1052-1060. ISSN 1556-4029

Text pringle_etal_jsr_2015.pdf - Publisher's typeset copy Restricted to Repository staff only Download (870kB) | Request a copy

Abstract or description

In homicide investigations, it is critically important that postmortem interval and postburial interval (PBI) of buried victims are determined accurately. However, clandestine graves can be difficult to locate; and the detection rates for a variety of search methods (ranging from simple ground probing through to remote imaging and near-surface geophysics) can be very low. In this study, simulated graves of homicide victims were emplaced in three sites with contrasting soil types, bedrock, and depositional environments. The long-term monthly in situ monitoring of grave soil water revealed rapid increases in conductivity up to 2 years after burial, with the longest study evidencing declining values to background levels after 4.25 years. Results were corrected for site temperatures and rainfall to produce generic models of fluid conductivity as a function of time. The research suggests soilwater conductivity can give reliable PBI estimates for clandestine burials and therefore be used as a grave detection method.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	forensic science, forensic geophysics, conductivity, clandestine burials, postmortem interval
Faculty:	Previous Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences > Sciences
Depositing User:	John CASSELLA
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2016 08:41
Last Modified:	24 Feb 2023 03:48
URI:	https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/id/eprint/2467

Actions (login required)

View Item