In this project we were tasked of solving the murder of one Carleton Comet, through means of forensic science and our prior knowledge. We used skills including DNA fingerprinting, dusting for fingerprints, ink chromatography, and reading pedigrees (all of which will be discussed further in the content section). This project was part of our genetics unit and we used a lot of our knowledge and vocabulary from genetics to help us understand the case materials and solve the case. The evidence that we found/were provided was the crime report, family histories, the knife that was used to kill Carelton Comet, a death note, and three pens. In the beginning of our project we were given a crime report of what occured/what the situation was. The goal of this project was for us to ue the information to determine the Carelton Comet killer and their motive. Here was the crime report we were given:
Crime Report
The wind blew and the fog began to roll in on the night of February 14, 2019. A picnic was being held on Chalk Hill at the edge of the San Marin High School campus in honor of an eccentric former student, Carelton Comet and to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Carelton Comet, a mysterious person, was just released from prison and possesses a new name. He decided to have a celebration party with people he considered old friends or acquaintances.
7:00 p.m.:
Carelton Comet escorted Nancy Normal, Theresa Terra, Fred Flimmer, Sam Sophomore and Glen Glee to the picnic site. Although the guests didn’t know it, each of their lives had somehow been affected by Carelton Comet.
7:30 p.m.:
The host and guests sat down to a dinner of tomato soup, fresh garden salad, prime rib, baked potato and small talk.
7:35 p.m.:
The sky suddenly darkened. The picnic blanket rustled, a glass was dropped, people screamed and Carelton Comet groaned loudly.
7:36 p.m.:
The sun returned to show Carelton Comet slumped forward, his face in his bowl and a large steak knife in the back of his neck.
7:40 p.m.:
The police are called.
7:55 p.m.:
The police arrive.
8:00 p.m.:
Carelton Comet is officially pronounced dead at the scene. The knife is bagged and quickly sent to the crime lab. Police interview the guests. Someone attends to Nancy Normal who cut her hand on a bit of broken glass when the sky darkened.
9:30 p.m.:
The police lab determined that there were two types of blood on the knife. One belonged to Carelton Comet
The lab reports are enclosed along with important information about all of the Captain’s dinner guests.
My group and I came to the conclusion that Nancy Normal was the murderer, and Sam Sophomore was an accomplice and had something to do with the murder of Mr. Comet. We created a slideshow presentation of all of our evidence and how it pointed to these two culprits. We presented this slideshow in front of three upper-class judges who are part of San Marin's mock trial team, and asked them for arrest warrants for both Nancy and Sam. In the end, we were given the arrest warrant for Nancy Normal for first degree murder, but we were denied the warrant for Sam Sophomore due to lack of evidence. Below is the slideshow presentation that we created and presented to our class and the judges.
here is our slide show
Crime Report
The wind blew and the fog began to roll in on the night of February 14, 2019. A picnic was being held on Chalk Hill at the edge of the San Marin High School campus in honor of an eccentric former student, Carelton Comet and to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Carelton Comet, a mysterious person, was just released from prison and possesses a new name. He decided to have a celebration party with people he considered old friends or acquaintances.
7:00 p.m.:
Carelton Comet escorted Nancy Normal, Theresa Terra, Fred Flimmer, Sam Sophomore and Glen Glee to the picnic site. Although the guests didn’t know it, each of their lives had somehow been affected by Carelton Comet.
7:30 p.m.:
The host and guests sat down to a dinner of tomato soup, fresh garden salad, prime rib, baked potato and small talk.
7:35 p.m.:
The sky suddenly darkened. The picnic blanket rustled, a glass was dropped, people screamed and Carelton Comet groaned loudly.
7:36 p.m.:
The sun returned to show Carelton Comet slumped forward, his face in his bowl and a large steak knife in the back of his neck.
7:40 p.m.:
The police are called.
7:55 p.m.:
The police arrive.
8:00 p.m.:
Carelton Comet is officially pronounced dead at the scene. The knife is bagged and quickly sent to the crime lab. Police interview the guests. Someone attends to Nancy Normal who cut her hand on a bit of broken glass when the sky darkened.
9:30 p.m.:
The police lab determined that there were two types of blood on the knife. One belonged to Carelton Comet
The lab reports are enclosed along with important information about all of the Captain’s dinner guests.
My group and I came to the conclusion that Nancy Normal was the murderer, and Sam Sophomore was an accomplice and had something to do with the murder of Mr. Comet. We created a slideshow presentation of all of our evidence and how it pointed to these two culprits. We presented this slideshow in front of three upper-class judges who are part of San Marin's mock trial team, and asked them for arrest warrants for both Nancy and Sam. In the end, we were given the arrest warrant for Nancy Normal for first degree murder, but we were denied the warrant for Sam Sophomore due to lack of evidence. Below is the slideshow presentation that we created and presented to our class and the judges.
here is our slide show
murder_on_the_pony_express.gslides | |
File Size: | 0 kb |
File Type: | gslides |
Techniques Used In Our Investigation
One of the forensic science methods that we used to come to our conclusion, and compile evidence was fingerprinting. Fingerprinting is when there is a set or singular fingerprint found on a surface at a crime scene or piece of evidence, and it is dusted with loose powder to reveal the print(s). The print is then lifted onto a piece of tape or evidence holder of some kind for preservation. There was a fingerprint found near the body on a glass table, and we were tasked to find out who the print most likely belonged to. We were given photos of all the suspect's fingerprints and compared on a glass table, and we were tasked to find out who the print most likely belonged to. We were given photos of all the suspect's fingerprints and compared the fingerprint that we dusted for with the photos given to us. We studied the different characteristics of fingerprints and the different patterns they can be including whorls, arcs, and loops. We came to the conclusion that the fingerprint most likely belonged to Nancy Normal.
Pic of finger prints
One of the forensic science methods that we used to come to our conclusion, and compile evidence was fingerprinting. Fingerprinting is when there is a set or singular fingerprint found on a surface at a crime scene or piece of evidence, and it is dusted with loose powder to reveal the print(s). The print is then lifted onto a piece of tape or evidence holder of some kind for preservation. There was a fingerprint found near the body on a glass table, and we were tasked to find out who the print most likely belonged to. We were given photos of all the suspect's fingerprints and compared on a glass table, and we were tasked to find out who the print most likely belonged to. We were given photos of all the suspect's fingerprints and compared the fingerprint that we dusted for with the photos given to us. We studied the different characteristics of fingerprints and the different patterns they can be including whorls, arcs, and loops. We came to the conclusion that the fingerprint most likely belonged to Nancy Normal.
Pic of finger prints
Above is an accurate image of the fingerprint that my group and I dusted for; that was found near the body. It matched with the suspect Nancy Normal
Another forensic science method that we used in this investigation was Ink chromatography. Chromatography is the physical separation of a mixture into its individual components, specifically ink in this case. When ink is exposed to certain solvents the colors dissolve and can be separated out. When we expose a piece of paper with ink on it to a solvent, the ink spreads across the paper when the ink dissolves. It can lead to to a specific pen in this case, because of the specific ink that the pen would have is being tested. There was a note found at the crime scene and with this method, since different ink pens hold different ink types, we could tell what pen was used to write the note. The note read " you are a dead man" in black ink. We tested three different pens that were found on the suspects, and found that pen #2 was the one used to write the threatening note. This pen was also owned by Nancy Normal and Sam Sophomore, which means that one of them had to have written the note.
Another forensic science method that we used in this investigation was Ink chromatography. Chromatography is the physical separation of a mixture into its individual components, specifically ink in this case. When ink is exposed to certain solvents the colors dissolve and can be separated out. When we expose a piece of paper with ink on it to a solvent, the ink spreads across the paper when the ink dissolves. It can lead to to a specific pen in this case, because of the specific ink that the pen would have is being tested. There was a note found at the crime scene and with this method, since different ink pens hold different ink types, we could tell what pen was used to write the note. The note read " you are a dead man" in black ink. We tested three different pens that were found on the suspects, and found that pen #2 was the one used to write the threatening note. This pen was also owned by Nancy Normal and Sam Sophomore, which means that one of them had to have written the note.
An image of the note that was found with Mr. Comet's body and also pens that were found at the crime scene.
Another piece of information that assisted us in convicting Nancy Normal with first degree murder was family histories and pedigrees. Pedigrees are a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next. From the information given to us of family histories of the victim and suspects, my group and I created a pedigree for each person in the case. To our surprise, all of the people involved with the crime seemed to have been related and were affected by a man named Thomas Sandstone. With further investigating, we came to the conclusion that Carelton Comet is actually Thomas Sandstone. Both claim to have had many affairs with different women, multiple illegitimate children, and an unclear past and mystery to them.
The pedigrees and family history established a clear motive for Nancy Normal, which was her uncontrollable love for Fred Flimmer. Thomas Sandstone (Carleton Comet) was Fred's father and he killed Fred's mother and sister in a complicated love triangle. Nancy would have wanted to kill Carleton Comet out of love, and thought maybe she could get Fred's attention or impress him through the murder. As for Sam Sophomore, Thomas Sandstone (Carelton Comet) murdered Peebles Sandstone who was Fred's sister and Sam's fiance. He would have wanted revenge for the murder of his fiance and to avenge Peebles' untimely death. From the pedigrees we were also able to uncover some information on family diseases that had been passed down to the suspects. It turns out that Nancy and Sam had Huntington's Disease which affects the brain and causes compulsive behavior, fidgeting, irritability, or lack of restraint, mental confusion, and delusion. This would make Nancy and Sam at risk to commit a crime such as murder, and make it seem valid or reasonable in their minds. Although they both had this disease that coulded their judgment, there was still premeditation with the note found at the scene which shows rational thinking so the actions cannot be dismissed for this mental disability. It was very complicated.
Another way that we used forensic science in this case was examining blood types. Blood type is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells. The blood types that we looked at for this case included type A,B,O, and AB. Here on the right is the chart that we complied with the suspects and their matching blood type. We found the suspect's blood types through testing and in the lab.
Evidence wise, and why this is relevant, is because at the crime scene there were two different blood types found on the murder weapon. There was type O and type A. Logically the type O must belong to Carelton Comet, since he was the one who was murdered and had the knife in his neck. Whereas Nancy Normal has type A blood, and the blood on the knife was also type A which ties he to the murder weapon. While there are also other people with type A blood, I will show you why the blood on the knife must be hers in the next technique that we used.
We then looked further into whose blood was really on the knife through examining karyotypes. Karyotype is the number and visual appearance of the chromosomes in an organism's cell. Chromosomes are threadlike structures that are made of nucleic acid and they carry/protect genetic information. Examining the karyotypes allowed us to determine of the suspects had any sort of chromosomal disease, which is a disease caused by chromosomes that are partially or completely missing, altered, or duplicated. We found that Carelton Comet had Jacob's Syndrome, which is only found in males and can lead to learning disabilities, and was the only person to have this chromosomal disorder. One of the blood samples found on the knife showed to have Jacob's Syndrome; so we know that one of the blood samples was Carlton's. Nancy Normal also had a chromosomal disease which is called Triple X Syndrome, it is a random mutation found in women that can affect the brain. She is the only person to have Triple X Syndrome out of the suspects, and the second blood sample from the knife showed that the person had Triple X Syndrome; in short Nancy also had her blood on the knife.
Another way that we used forensic science in this case was examining blood types. Blood type is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells. The blood types that we looked at for this case included type A,B,O, and AB. Here on the right is the chart that we complied with the suspects and their matching blood type. We found the suspect's blood types through testing and in the lab.
Evidence wise, and why this is relevant, is because at the crime scene there were two different blood types found on the murder weapon. There was type O and type A. Logically the type O must belong to Carelton Comet, since he was the one who was murdered and had the knife in his neck. Whereas Nancy Normal has type A blood, and the blood on the knife was also type A which ties he to the murder weapon. While there are also other people with type A blood, I will show you why the blood on the knife must be hers in the next technique that we used.
We then looked further into whose blood was really on the knife through examining karyotypes. Karyotype is the number and visual appearance of the chromosomes in an organism's cell. Chromosomes are threadlike structures that are made of nucleic acid and they carry/protect genetic information. Examining the karyotypes allowed us to determine of the suspects had any sort of chromosomal disease, which is a disease caused by chromosomes that are partially or completely missing, altered, or duplicated. We found that Carelton Comet had Jacob's Syndrome, which is only found in males and can lead to learning disabilities, and was the only person to have this chromosomal disorder. One of the blood samples found on the knife showed to have Jacob's Syndrome; so we know that one of the blood samples was Carlton's. Nancy Normal also had a chromosomal disease which is called Triple X Syndrome, it is a random mutation found in women that can affect the brain. She is the only person to have Triple X Syndrome out of the suspects, and the second blood sample from the knife showed that the person had Triple X Syndrome; in short Nancy also had her blood on the knife.
We also used a technique called DNA fingerprinting which is when you look at and compare DNA. It shows individual's DNA traits, matches unknown DNA to a suspect, and can be used to identify diseases and relatives. This helped in our case, because we were able to match an unknown piece of DNA to one of our suspects. Crime scene number one ended up matching with Carelton Comet's DNA (the colors matched), while crime scene number two matched with none other than Nancy Normal. In other words, her blood was found on the knife along with her DNA. It's not surprising that Mr. Comet's blood and DNA were on the knife seeing as he was the one killed with it. And when your stabbed usually blood comes out.
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The following is some helpful basics genetics vocabulary that we learned during this project that was useful in understanding how to interpret or describe the evidence we found.
Heterozygous- when genotype is different alleles
Dominant- trait will always be expressed if present
Recessive- trait needs to be homozygous to be expressed
Codominant- one trait is not dominant over the other so the phenotype is both (ex AB blood)
Incomplete Dominance- when neither trait is dominant so phenotype is a mixture of both (ex pink flowers)
Inheritance- traits that are passed down from parents to offspring
Variation- differences within the same trait
Haploid- a cell that has one set of genetic material
Gene- DNA code for a specific trait
Allele- variation of a gene (genetic code)
Chromosome- all genetic information stored in a safe way
Phenotype- how traits are expressed physically
Genotype- genetic makeup/alleles
Central Dogma- protein synthesis (DNA to mRNA to Protein)
Homologous- when genotype is same alleles
Diploid- a cell that has two sets of the same genetic material
Punnett Square- diagram showing possible offspring genetic genotype and phenotype.
DNA Replication- the process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. This process occurs in all living organisms and is vital for life and maintaining functions.
DNA Mutations- an irreversible change in a living organism's DNA that can affect it physically or genetically, and mutations allow for genetic variation (differences within the same trait or gene). Mutations can lead to diseases such as Huntington's disease, which was a disease that both Nancy Normal and Sam Sophomore had in this case.
Heterozygous- when genotype is different alleles
Dominant- trait will always be expressed if present
Recessive- trait needs to be homozygous to be expressed
Codominant- one trait is not dominant over the other so the phenotype is both (ex AB blood)
Incomplete Dominance- when neither trait is dominant so phenotype is a mixture of both (ex pink flowers)
Inheritance- traits that are passed down from parents to offspring
Variation- differences within the same trait
Haploid- a cell that has one set of genetic material
Gene- DNA code for a specific trait
Allele- variation of a gene (genetic code)
Chromosome- all genetic information stored in a safe way
Phenotype- how traits are expressed physically
Genotype- genetic makeup/alleles
Central Dogma- protein synthesis (DNA to mRNA to Protein)
Homologous- when genotype is same alleles
Diploid- a cell that has two sets of the same genetic material
Punnett Square- diagram showing possible offspring genetic genotype and phenotype.
DNA Replication- the process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. This process occurs in all living organisms and is vital for life and maintaining functions.
DNA Mutations- an irreversible change in a living organism's DNA that can affect it physically or genetically, and mutations allow for genetic variation (differences within the same trait or gene). Mutations can lead to diseases such as Huntington's disease, which was a disease that both Nancy Normal and Sam Sophomore had in this case.
Finally we have DNA itself. DNA Structure- DNA is composed of a molecules known as nucleotides, has a sugar phosphate backbone, nitrogen base, and is in a double helix form. The nitrogen base pairs are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). These base pairs and their order determine the DNA's function and instructions. The image to the left is an example of a DNA's structure and what it looks like.
All of these terms were important to our project and applied to it, because they related to genetics which was the focal point of all our science in this unit. With this vocabulary we were able to describe and analyze information that we found about the case to construct our presentation or synthesize a conclusion as to who was capable of the murder.
Reflection-Personally, I think I did poorly on this project. I didn’t help on a lot of the lab stuff and I was very lucky to have a skilled member that completed the project. we did follow all of the instructions and finished the labs before the allotted time. Which allowed our slide show the main thing I worked on to be 100% Material. Our group had solid evidence and samples throughout the whole project. Some things that could have been done better were the fact that my participation wasn't the best. However one of my other groupies was worst at this than I was. He did not contribute to the project at all, was always distracted, and consistently tried to distract us and others from doing our work. The rest of my group was insainly smart and talented. All in all, I think our group did a good job, with a pretty good presentation and slideshow, obtaining the arrest warrant, however myself and unnamed member didn't contribute as much as we could and should have.
All of these terms were important to our project and applied to it, because they related to genetics which was the focal point of all our science in this unit. With this vocabulary we were able to describe and analyze information that we found about the case to construct our presentation or synthesize a conclusion as to who was capable of the murder.
Reflection-Personally, I think I did poorly on this project. I didn’t help on a lot of the lab stuff and I was very lucky to have a skilled member that completed the project. we did follow all of the instructions and finished the labs before the allotted time. Which allowed our slide show the main thing I worked on to be 100% Material. Our group had solid evidence and samples throughout the whole project. Some things that could have been done better were the fact that my participation wasn't the best. However one of my other groupies was worst at this than I was. He did not contribute to the project at all, was always distracted, and consistently tried to distract us and others from doing our work. The rest of my group was insainly smart and talented. All in all, I think our group did a good job, with a pretty good presentation and slideshow, obtaining the arrest warrant, however myself and unnamed member didn't contribute as much as we could and should have.