1. The Case
Situation: Spiderman Potato Head was found dead with one arm missing by Jaclyn Schmitz at 7:30 am.
Description of Crime Scene:
Interview recorded:
“I arrived at work at 7:30 this morning. The lights were off and everything appeared normal as I walked into room 7. When I went over to my desk to say my usual good morning to my spiderman collectables I noticed my beloved spiderman potato head missing. Surprised, I walked over to turn on the lights and to my dismay found spiderman potato head lying in a pool of blood with one of his arms missing. There were footprints and fingerprints left around his body, as well as a piece of fabric and some dirt. Beside his body was a note that read, “An arm for an arm – next time I won’t be so nice.” I ran to get some help and now I have you here. The only other people in the building were Emily Curnew, Kenny Apperley, Carla Samuelson, Marg Connors, Gord Hamby, Kristi Jardine and Karen Davis.”
Suspects:

2. Arden Turnbull
Bio/background:
- 33 years old
- grade 5/6 teacher
- teaches in classroom right beside Rm 7
- sometimes stays late after school in order to finish work
- has always disliked Ms. Schmitz’s spiderman collection

3. Emily Curnew
Bio/background:
- 30 years old
- grade 5/6 teacher
- loves to come to work early, often arrives before 7 am
- known to be a prankster
- gave Ms. Schmitz the potato head spiderman as a gift

4. Marg Connors
Bio/background:
- 40 years old
- educational assistant of Rm 7, 8, and 9
- lives one block away from the school
- knows the ins and outs of Nellie better than anyone else after working there for over 20 years

5. Carla Samuelson
Bio/background:
- 40 years old
- grade 4 teacher
- often arrives at work before 7 am
- normally stays to herself in her own classroom
- a trained actor

6. Kenny Apperley
Bio/background:
- 30 years old
- grade 4 teacher
- often arrives at work before 7am
- loves comic books, especially likes Batman
- often seen wandering around to different classrooms

7. Karen Davis
Bio/background:
- 35 years old
- administrator at Nellie McClung
- mother of two students at school
- arrives and leaves school at different times everyday
- helped Ms. Schmitz with her class last year
- especially interested in Science

8. Kristi Jardine
Bio/background:
- 35 years old
- vice principal of Nellie McClung
- has young daughter
- often seems overly happy and full of laughter

9. Gord Hamby
Bio/background:
- 40 years old
- principal of Nellie McClung
- arrives at work at different times everyday
- facing tough decision of who to hire again as teachers for next year

10. Step 1 Examine the crime scene What evidence is there?
How do we record it to further investigate?
How can we make some inferences based on these observations/evidence?
What should we do with these suspects?

11. Step 1 - Tasks Alibis/Interviews Possible motives of suspects
Photograph scene
Write criminal report
Draw a diagram of crime scene
Collect Evidence

12. Two types of Evidence
Direct Evidence: leads directly to the crime and who committed it. Should prove the exact circumstances of the crime
Circumstantial Evidence: usually a series of events or characterization that implies guilt.
Most cases are solved by a combination of the two.

13. Footprints What can footprints tell us about a crime scene?
How are footprints different from each other?
What can you learn about a suspect by looking at their footprints?
What does it mean if the prints are: deeper in the front or back, farther apart, smudged etc.?
Characteristics of shoeprints
Sneaker print with 10 distinctive characteristics creates a fingerprint of the shoe.
Accidental, or identifying, characteristics are defined as “characteristics that result when something is randomly added to or taken away from a shoe outsole that either causes or contributes to making that show outsole unique.” Contact with various walking surfaces or sharp objects will leave distinctive features on the surface of the outer sole. These can include cuts, scratches, patching materials, or rocks wedged in the outsole, for example.
Photography and castings capture the characteristics. The accidental characteristics are revealed through image analysis and comparison of the shoe print impression and the tread of the shoe. They serve as a “fingerprint” of the shoe, making it unique. The more identifying characteristics present on the impression of a shoe outsole that can be matched to a suspect’s shoe, the stronger the weight of the evidence.

14. Handwriting How do you tell a forgery from an original?
What characteristics do we analyze in a person's handwriting?

15. Fabric What are some different natural fibers?
     What are some synthetic fibers?
     What makes a fiber natural or synthetic?
     What things can we test fabrics for?    

16. Dirt

17. Fingerprints
How can you tell if a print is an arch, loop, whorl or composite?
     What are lakes, deltas, bifurcations, ridge endings and islands?

18. Chromatography What is it?
     What procedure did we use in our chromatography tests?
     What did we learn about the different colours of ink? (black)