I'm writing a mystery novel, and I got the goofy idea of having the criminal coat
their fingertips with Super Glue as a way of not leaving fingerprints at the crime
scene. Would this work? What might trip them up? (CSI-type stuff, microscopic
particles on murder weapon?) |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
10 Jan 2006 00:36 PST
omegaprobe...
Interestingly enough, Super Glue is a widely accepted tool
in fixing and lifting fingerprints from crime scenes, as a
search shows:
"super glue" fingerprints
://www.google.com/search?q=%22super+glue%22+fingerprints
Other searches, designed to eliminate these common results,
including, "mask fingerprints", "hide fingerprints", and
"eliminate fingerprints", don't turn up any results which
confirm the plausibility of your suggested method.
I will say that, as a guitar player, who needs reliably
tough callouses to play for long sessions, even after a
long period of not playing, I have used Super Glue to
create virtual callouses, and it seems to me that doing
so erased my fingerprints, as such, however, I can't say
beyond a doubt that this would have held up in court.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
tutuzdad-ga
on
11 Jan 2006 12:32 PST
I am actually in law enforcement and happen to be a forensic evidence
technician. The method you are suggesting would not work because
police also lift latent palm prints as well as DNA (both of which are
very incriminating evidence that glue on the fingertips would not
obscure). The trouble a criminal would have to go to in order to
carefully apply glue (even latex glue or wax) to his figertips in
order to hide or obscure fingerprints is not a plausible scenario
simply because over-the-counter rubber gloves work so much better and
leave no trace evidence on the hands after the fact.
tutuzdad-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
tutuzdad-ga
on
11 Jan 2006 12:40 PST
Even finger cots would not prohibit the transfer of DNA or palm prints.
FINGER COTS
http://www.terrauniversal.com/products/cleanrooms/fingercots.php
tutuzdad-ga
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Clarification of Question by
omegaprobe-ga
on
11 Jan 2006 20:11 PST
Thanks to everyone who has answered so far. Yes, I was aware that Super Glue is
very widely used for fixing and lifting fingerprints, I was also aware that with
modern foresnsic techniques, rubber gloves probably would not work anymore, and I
really wasn't too sure that, even though we are in the Age of
Forensics now (though admittedly in the horse-and-buggy, still very
primitive stages of it) the
existing science wouldn't already be sensitive enough to still pick up
ridge detail. It seemed to me that the Super Glue might fill in or
cover ridge detail
that could be seen by the naked eye, but would still be detected by
microphotography or UV or infrared lighting, etc.
ratty_-ga, I see where you're coming from, and will check out the Web
page. I think what you're doing is trying to remind me that the
absence of fingerprints
on the murder weapon or whatever is going to be a glaring red flag to the police
and that it's not enough for the criminal to simply not leave his or
her own fingerprints, they have to have the frame ready (fingerprints
from designated
fall guy, timeline that fall guy can't account for, etc.) to divert
police suspicion onto the person of their choice, even if it would
only hold up for a
few hours given the state of the art today. I sometimes wonder if all
this DNA science is going to make the
mystery novel obsolete...at least to those without an advanced science degree.
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