Striation patterns in serrated blade stabs to cartilage

Characteristics and time-dependence of cut marks and blunt force fractures on costal cartilages: an experimental study

“…Costal cartilage can be very important in real case scenarios as it is injured in many cases of stab wounds to the chest. Previous studies demonstrated that characteristic cut marks may also be detected on cartilage, especially when serrated-edged blades are used, thereby providing crucial aid in the identification of the wounding weapon [12][13][14][15][16]. At the moment, however, the microscopic differences between cut marks and blunt force fractures on cartilage, along with the modifications they undergo when decomposition occurs, have never been thoroughly investigated.…”

“…Rao and Hart [12] reported a case in which grossly visible striations were observed on cut costal cartilages. In the study of cartilage stab injuries, Pounder et al [13][14][15] also made an important contribution, demonstrating that striation marks left by serrated knives might enable the identification of a class characteristic of serrated blades. Love et al [16] confirmed the results provided by the study of Pounder et al but also demonstrated that a blade type classification may lead to high misclassification rates.…”

An investigation of the use of discriminant analysis for the classification of blade edge type from cut marks made by metal and bamboo blades

“…Methods vary from macroscopic observation and description (Humphrey and Hutchinson, 2001;Pounder and Reeder, 2011), microscopic observation and measurement (Shaw et al, 2011) and statistical classification (Bailey et al, 2011). Methods vary from macroscopic observation and description (Humphrey and Hutchinson, 2001;Pounder and Reeder, 2011), microscopic observation and measurement (Shaw et al, 2011) and statistical classification (Bailey et al, 2011).…”

“…Forensic studies of the morphology of tool marks in bone and cartilage tend to focus on trying to identify class characteristics of the more unusual weapons, e.g., screwdrivers (Croft and Ferllini, 2007) and the individual characteristics of blades (i.e., matching to a specific suspect knife) (Freas, 2010), but also on the reinforcement of previous work on the class characteristics of knives such as serrated vs. nonserrated (Thompson and Inglis, 2009;Pounder and Reeder, 2011) or larger weapons in hacking trauma and dismemberment (Humphrey and Hutchinson, 2001;Tucker et al, 2001;Saville et al, 2007;Bailey et al, 2011). Tool marks on bone are not only useful for weapon identification and interpretation of offender behavior in medico-legal cases, but also in the determination of medico-legal status itself (i.e., suggestion of foul play) when extensively decomposed/ skeletonized human remains are discovered (Vesterby and Poulsen, 1997;Kanetake et al, 2008).…”

“…The analysis of cut marks in bone has largely been limited to two dimensional qualitative analysis of surface features, with limited quantitative information included in some studies. Methods vary from macroscopic observation and description (Humphrey and Hutchinson, 2001;Pounder and Reeder, 2011), microscopic observation and measurement (Shaw et al, 2011) and statistical classification (Bailey et al, 2011). The latest techniques take advantage of the advances in threedimensional microscopy and morphometric analysis (Boschin and Crezzini, 2011).…”