A Preliminary Study on Vacuum Metal Deposition as a Standalone Method for Enhancement of Fingermarks on Ballistic Brass Materials

• Christofidis, George ; Morrissey, Joanne ; Birkett, Jason W. ^[1]
  1. [1] Liverpool John Moores University

     Liverpool John Moores University

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 64, Nº. 5, 2019, págs. 1500-1505
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In order to assess the efficacy of vacuum metal deposition (VMD) as a technique to develop fingermarks on ballistic metallicsurfaces, a preliminary study using six donors (three male & three female) was conducted. Using a sequential metal deposition process, twometal combinations were studied—gold/zinc and silver/zinc. Results indicate the potential of this technique, by developing identifiable finger-marks on brass metal disks aged from a few days up to more than a month old. As the development of fingermarks on fired (brass) cartridgecases is an area of interest, a further study was conducted where a total of 20 fingermarks were deposited on cases. After firing, second levelfingermark characteristics were successfully observed on cartridge cases highlighting its potential as a fingermark enhancement method forballistic brass materials. Further work is required to fully evaluate the VMD process and its reliability as a fingermark enhancing method onballistic surfaces.