Locard, a criminologist and professor of forensic medicine at the University of Lyon, was often referred to as the “Sherlock Holmes of France,” and justly so. He is the father of forensic science and the founder of the very first forensic laboratory, the Institution of Criminalistics, in 1910. Locard argued that “every contact leaves a trace,” which has become the credo of modern forensics worldwide.
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JUST THE FACTS
Bite Marks and the Science of Forensic Odontology
Forensic odontology, the study of teeth, has been used in a variety of ways, not just in solving crimes and convicting criminals. It was used to positively identify the remains of Adolf Hitler; it helped scientists verify that victims of old mass graves found in Europe actually died of the Black Plague (through identification of the bacterium Yersenia pestis found in dental pulp), and it has been used to identify the remains of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The presence of bite marks on the body will heighten the awareness of the crime’s severity. Biting generally indicates extreme aggression and great anger. This further suggests that the assailant is (or at least was at the time of the attack) in a highly agitated state. Officers will be very much more on the alert.
Expert Witness
The presence of bite marks is suggestive of a savage attack. Bryan Chrz, D.D.S., diplomate ABFO and past president of the American Board of Forensic Odontology, had this to say about the force of a human bite: “Most agree that about 68–150 pounds per square inch in chewing and intentional clenching can be generated by the average adult. Some have reported up to 1200 pounds per square inch during subconscious nocturnal bruxism (grinding or gnashing of the teeth). The biting mechanism used during a frenzied attack or defense would most likely fall somewhat between the two values. Bite marks can come from light marking all the way to total tissue avulsion (tearing away of the flesh).”
J. Curtis Daily, chairman of the Bite Mark and Patterned Injury Committee of the American Board of Forensic Odontology adds, “Male adults bite with more force than adult females; both with more force than children.” In Warren Harvey’s excellent textbook1 there is a discussion about volunteers biting human volunteer victims. The victims were anesthetized. The ‘biters,’ even after goading, essentially could not generate a bite sufficient to leave a significant bruise. This speaks to the ‘rage’ state of mind that overcomes all reservation, ethics, morals, etc., and allows the biter to leave significant bruise patterns on their victims. We actually know almost nothing about the microscopic events that lead to the visual damage (i.e., bruising pattern). I would guess your Zombies are not burdened by ‘ethics, morals, etc,’ so this may allow their bites to be more savage.”
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Art of the Dead—Ken Meyer, Jr.
Island Zombie
“The original Night of the Living Dead is the granddaddy of all of them for me, but mainly for the poignancy of the characters, but not for the zombies. I thought the treatment in 28 Days Later was much more exciting. Let’s face it…the slow, lumbering zombies of the past are laughable, but have a certain charm and history to them. 28 Days Later have helped to add a real element of horror to the whole idea.”
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Are bite patterns as useful as fingerprints? Daily says no with a degree of frustration. “I am the primary proponent in the USA that a police bitemark database should exist, but for now the ego of many forensic odontologists will prevent them from contributing former casework.” He feels that this would result in the unnecessary scrutiny of their work by lesser-qualified colleagues.
The Zombie Factor
Unless the zombie is actually caught or if he is seen attacking another person in a way that pretty much says: “Oh yeah, that there’s a zombie,” the evidence that is collected won’t create much of a sensation until it’s brought back to the lab and analyzed.
This includes the bite marks. In zombie films there is a very common inconsistency relating to the zombie’s physical capabilities and what is shown for dramatic effect. Consider: Romero and most of his followers clearly establish that zombies are not as physically strong as human beings. Their primary threat is in their numbers and in the infectiousness of their bites. If a zombie is less strong than a human of the same age, size, and weight, then its bite would also be necessarily weaker. Dr. Chrz observes: “The act of biting through skin and actually avulsing or tearing out a piece would require forces at the high range of the human biting force. Animals tend to do a better job due to the sharp canine and incisor teeth and meat cutting shearing edges of posterior teeth (molars).”
So, zombies aren’t likely to tear out large chunks of a person as they do very easily in the movies, a point on which Daily agrees. “It is only in the rarest of bite mark cases that flesh is actually torn off. Usually this is from a weak and vulnerable piece of anatomy (e.g., a nipple). It is likely impossible to rip a chunk of muscle from the bicep area of the arm, for example.”
Another factor to consider is the age and state of decomposition. A “fresh” zombie will be physically stronger in both limb and bite capability; but the more they decay, the weaker they’ll get. Dr. Chrz agrees: “Teeth are not fused to bone but rather are attached to the bone by a ligament system. As decomposition occurs this ligament breaks down and releases the teeth. Morphology of the tooth root will sometimes cause them to be retained in skeletal remains, but the cone shaped roots of the incisors tend to make them more prone to postmortem loss.”
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Hard Science: Take a Bite out of Crime
When serial killer Ted Bundy went to trial in 1979, it was the distinctive bite marks on a victim’s buttocks, which matched Bundy’s teeth, that put Bundy in the electric chair. There are 23 known victims of this madman, but it is believed that he murdered more than 35 people between 1974 and 1978.
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Again Daily concurs, “Teeth become rapidly loose with decomposition. The periodontal ligament that holds the tooth to the bone socket decomposes just like the rest of the body.”
But to the observer at this stage of the game, a bite is a bite. So, to this point the police still don’t know what they’re up against and are following their time-honored procedures. Or is there still a clue left to find?
Daily says, “If the Zombie infection is based by a bite, wouldn’t that organism (whatever it is) be detected? There are studies—from the dental school in New Zealand I believe—that show/prove the ‘bacterial burden’ (i.e., the collection of bacteria in a biter’s mouth) can be identified from saliva deposited in the bite. However, logic tells me decomposing bodies that bite would leave a universe of organisms. You need your zombie bacteria to be a super bacteria that feeds on the other bacteria on/in the human host. That way, you could avoid this issue.”
Or, perhaps something else is involved, such as…prions.
If that word doesn’t give you chills yet…wait until you read Chapter 3.
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Gregg Winkler’s2 Decaying Zombie Quiz, Part 1
The zombies in the Resident Evil series of video games continue to mutate due to the presence of the T-Virus in their system. If a zombie is not decapitated or incinerated, what is the name of the creature it mutates into?
What is the name of the short story in which a cannibalistic mortuary worker and a congregation of undead geeks engage in a bloody holy war?
What is the name of a creature in Norse mythology that comes back from the dead, smells of decay, devours the living, and has an unusual resistance to conventional weapons?
What is responsible for the zombification of the world in Stephen King’s “Home Delivery”?
Which 2003 novel is largely credited with kick-starting the new wave of zombie fiction?
(See the Appendix for answers.)
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JUST THE FACTS
Crime Scene Photography
Before evidence is removed, the entire scene needs to be completely documented. Even though a detailed
and measured sketch is made of the crime scene, nothing is as telling as a complete set of high-resolution photographs.
Crime scene photographers come in all shapes and sizes, from freelancers hired by departments on a per-case basis, to contracted civilian photographers, to police officers, to photographic experts working in law enforcement. Many police departments still use film cameras, and there’s some good arguments in favor of this since digital photos can more easily be manipulated than can film negatives. Retouching via computer software (Photoshop, etc.) is easy; retouching a photographic negative or print is much harder and easier to detect, especially if the negatives can be produced for court purposes. However digital is making inroads, and often both are used. Digital cameras used in crime scene documentation tend to be higher-end, with large files in excess of five megapixels (often considerably larger) so that the images can be viewed in minute detail without actually intruding into the secured physical scene.
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Art of the Dead—Ryan Allan
Rot and Ruin
Photo evidence of the living dead would be crucial in establishing that zombies exist—especially in the absence of living witnesses.
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Flash photography is often used to eliminate shadows that might hide crucial details; though many photographers prefer to take flash and nonflash photos for later comparison. Just as a flash can reveal something in a shadow, it can also wash out details already clearly lit in bright sunlight or under bright artificial light.
Photographers take photos of the scene of the crime and then document the surrounding area, including roads, doorways, vehicles in nearby parking lots, nearby woods, and so on. The rule of thumb being that it’s better to have too much documentation than not enough. When possible photographers will take overview photos, either from atop a platform (car roof, leaning out of a window, etc.). Photos are taken from multiple angles as changes in perspective can bring otherwise unnoticed items to light.
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Zombies…Fast or Slow? Part 2
“I grew up with the traditional voodoo zombie in the horror comics and movies I loved, so in my mind zombies are magical creatures. There are too many problems to overcome when telling stories about science-based zombies—how do they move with rotting muscles, where do they get the energy to move if they can’t eat and digest food? They’re closed systems, and they should cease functioning in a short time, a few days at the most. You don’t have those sorts of problems with magical zombies. Plus, magic comes from the shadowy realm of the unknown, where science belongs to the world of cold hard facts. Magic—the dark kind found in supernatural horror—has a greater potential to be scary in fiction.”—Tim Waggoner, author of Darkness Wakes and Like Death.
“If I have to outrun them, then I like my zombie’s slow. But that scene in 28 Weeks Later when Bob Carlisle is being chased from the farmhouse by the Zombie International Olympic Sprint Team is at once scary and cool. As long as fast zombies chase someone else, I’m all for them.”—Weston Ochse, winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, Scarecrow Gods.
“Well…that depends on if they’ve eaten.”—Steve Alten, author of The Lock.
“Slow is better. I don’t mind fast, really…as long as they’re not superhumanly strong…which I think really defeats the purpose.”—Robert Kirkman, author of Marvel Zombies and The Walking Dead.
“Slow…then you can get away even if you are not a good runner or are ambushed!”—Patricia Tallman, actress and star of Night of the Living Dead (1990) and Dead Air.
“In my book, Deadlands, I put forth the thought that it depends on the age and rate of decay of the zombie. A new, fresh zombie would be able to move much faster than one that was being held together by rotting tissue and strings of flesh. As they begin to rot, their speed decreases. As their brains turn further and further into mush, they lose all but the basest of animal instincts.”—Scott A. Johnson, author of Deadlands.
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Photos are taken of the victim, ideally before transportation to the hospital. Photos of the wounds prior to their being treated and dressed are very useful in court; and sometimes follow-up pictures are taken during surgery and, if the situation turns even nastier, during an autopsy. Photo evidence of all marks such as bruises, bumps, lacerations, bullet wounds3, and in our case bite marks, help detectives form a clearer picture of what happened during the altercation. Some criminals have known patterns of attack, and this can be used as another piece of evidence to either help build a profile or match the attack to a known modus operandi.
Many crime scenes are videotaped these days as well, and guard stations and entranceways of warehouses and facilities are often fitted with digital recorders. The age of videotape is fading. A photographic evidence expert can easily remove the disk or drive from the recorder and download it, or sometimes use cables to download directly from the recorder to a police laptop.
Expert Witness
According to Daily, “photographing bite marks with the digital camera and the ability to have what amounts to a darkroom in your computer have allowed us to view images in different ways in real time. The patterns typically continue to change for up to a few days. That is why we suggest our Forensic Photographers take serial photographs (i.e., new pictures each day until the marks stop changing). Think of the body as the crime scene with new evidence appearing each day. Decomp often short circuits the process described.”
According to best-selling author and forensic expert Andrea Campbell,4 view differs somewhat: “Photography is hand-in-glove with forensic art, all aspects of it. For example, you cannot haul a completed clay bust around from location to location so you take photographs of the recreation and those are put into the newspaper (or at the post office) when seeking identification. Photography is also what 2-dimensional or superimposition is all about. Imposing a graphic against a real skull and matching: proportions, features, dimensions.”
The Zombie Factor
Though still photography of the crime scene will not, at this stage of the game, do much in our zombie hunt, the files from the research center’s digital surveillance camera will. Once the management of the research center is notified and permissions secured, the digital files can be downloaded onto laptops so the detectives can examine them to see if any of the crime was taped.
That’s where the first big break comes in. Though the slow pan of the camera, which is mounted on a pole over the guard shack, does not record anyone entering through the gates, the audio track does capture the sound of the guard noticing someone already inside the compound. We hear the guard call out for the intruder to identify himself. The only reply we hear is a low moan and then the sounds of the guard shouting and a scuffle. There is the sound of three gunshots and then more moaning—this time of a different pitch, which is determined by the detectives to be the injured guard moaning in pain.
The real payoff comes when the suspected attacker comes lumbering into frame as he staggers out through the gates and crosses the road. Footage of that kind would later help with identifying the suspect and backtracking him to his connection with the research facility.
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Art of the Dead—Steve Hester
Death in Focus
“Artists see the world a little differently…some of them have the courage to look at the darker things—pain, madness, death…capturing the essence of each on canvas or in print, illuminating the mysteries for all the world to ponder.”
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JUST THE FACTS
Forensic Podiatry and Footwear Evidence
Forensic podiatry is the science of applying clinical podiatric knowledge to the task of identifying evidence associated with crime. Forensic podiatry was developed in the early 1970s, mostly in the United Kingdom and Canada, before filtering down to the United States. Because of the vast number of shoe manufacturers—from hand-sewn Italian loafers to cheap Dollar Store flip-flops—it is virtually impossible to maintain a complete and accurate
database of all styles and brands. Therefore the experts in footwear evidence are more concerned with matching specific impressions or castings taken at a crime scene with shoes found in the possession of a suspect.
Forensic podiatry also extends to include identifying walking patterns, or “gait forms.” These patterns are determined from analysis of the shoe impressions and also from video evidence. The science also examines the foot impressions inside the shoe and matches it against the foot of a suspect to make an I.D.
Expert Witness
According to Dwane S. Hilderbrand,5 CLPE, CFWE, CSCSA, “Footwear evidence and forensic podiatry are two completely different and separate disciplines. Footwear deals with the shoe, the outsole and podiatry deals with the human foot. Footwear deals with the impression left by a shoe in examining and comparing a shoe to determine if that shoe made the impression. Podiatry deals with bare feet.”
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