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Testing the utility of porcine and synthetic femora as nonhuman analogs in skeletal trauma...

Porcine and synthetic femora were subjected to concentrated 4‐point bending, modified 4‐point bending, and 3‐point bending to generate diaphyseal fractures. Biomechanical data and fracture patterns were systematically evaluated and compared across different femur types and loadin...

Forensic challenges in a case of suspected filicide, matricide, and post‐mortem...

Familicide represents one of the most complex forms of domestic violence in forensic practice. Among intrafamilial homicides, filicide and matricide pose major medico‐legal and criminological challenges, particularly when autopsy findings are nonspecific or severely altered by po...

Exploring feature variability in digitally captured signatures—Part I: Variability in...

Digitally captured signatures (DCSs) pose new challenges for forensic handwriting examination compared with paper‐based signatures. While DCSs provide spatial coordinates, time and force values for forensic examination, the variability of the features derived from these data rema...

Family mass murder in the United States, 1970–2019: Perpetrator mental health...

Examining perpetrator characteristics of, and risk factors for, different types of mass murder, such as family mass murder — the most common type — could have important ramifications for preventive efforts. Histories of domestic violence and mental illness are of particular i...

Effects of bleach on carcass postmortem microbiomes and necrophagous beetle carcass...

Forensic entomology, and potentially microbiology in the future, can be used during death investigations to corroborate an estimated time since death. Instances where products are introduced to a cadaver, either in attempt to conceal or by accident, can affect decomposition and s...

Forensic analysis of gasoline residues in urban soil samples: Consequences for vehicle...

A substantial proportion of forensic fire investigations involve vehicle arson, where severe thermal damage often limits direct evidence recovery. Consequently, soil samples from the vicinity are frequently analyzed for ignitable liquid residues (ILRs). This study evaluates the f...

Rapid identification of blood using RT‐RPA: A pilot study

This study details the detection of blood remote from a laboratory using a direct recombinase polymerase amplification reaction integrated with a lateral flow assay. The assay targets the ALAS 2 gene; a marker used in mRNA assays for the identification of blood in body fluid assi...

Issue Information

A PCP overdose death in Northern Virginia

Phencyclidine (PCP), a Schedule II dissociative anesthetic, is no longer prescribed. Recreational use of PCP still exists, often localized to certain metropolitan areas in the United States, including the Baltimore–Washington, D.C. corridor. PCP was detected in 3.07% of the Drivi...

Fatal pediatric neck entrapment in a lift‐up storage bed: A preventable domestic asphyxial...

Bed‐related deaths are rare in forensic practice and are usually associated with falls, restraint‐related entrapment, or unsafe infant sleeping environments. Fatal mechanical asphyxia involving lift‐up storage beds is an exceptional occurrence, and the few published cases involve...

Correction to “The grip of crime: Analyzing strangulation and asphyxiation typologies in...

Indirect fractures in long bones resulting from gunshot trauma: Occurrence,...

Indirect fractures from gunshot wounds can occur when a projectile impacts soft tissue without making direct contact with the bone. Existing biomechanical and clinical research suggests that indirect fractures result in lower levels of comminution, and that resultant fracture pat...

Proposition for the analysis of background toner distribution to sequence ink lines and...

Determining the sequence of handwriting and laser‐printed text on documents that do not intersect is a recurring challenge in forensic document examination. This study proposes using background toner particle distribution analysis combined with kernel density estimation and likel...

Bearing the weight: A phenomenological study of burnout and stress among medicolegal death...

Medicolegal death investigators sit at the nexus of forensic science, the criminal justice system, and family‐facing trauma response, often engaging all three in a single case. They are a critical part of the criminal justice system, yet one of the least studied groups of practit...

Optimized mixed attention‐based bidirectional gradient model for intra‐frame video forgery...

Video forgery has become increasingly prevalent with advanced editing tools, posing serious threats to digital media authenticity. However, existing approaches used for detecting manipulations often faced challenges in handling intra‐frame forgeries, decreased generalization, sen...

Human variation and its influence on fracture outcomes in experimental tibial blunt trauma

Interpreting skeletal trauma requires understanding how fracture outcomes reflect both extrinsic loading conditions and intrinsic biological variation. However, the contribution of biological variability to fracture behavior remains poorly defined, even under controlled loading c...

Forensic analysis of dominant versus non‐dominant handwriting: Statistical and machine...

Systematic, paired quantitative evidence on how handwriting changes when the non‐dominant hand is used remains limited in forensic document examination, despite its frequent relevance in cases involving disguise and authorship concealment. This study presents the first large‐scal...

Comparison of delusional disorder and schizophrenia in cases lacking criminal...

Criminal responsibility can be significantly impaired by psychotic disorders. Although delusional disorder (DD) is classified within the schizophrenia spectrum, it clinically differs from schizophrenia (SCH) in age at onset, functional level, and symptom profile. This retrospecti...

Ballistic gelatin as a soft tissue simulant: A systematic review of applications,...

Ballistic gelatin is widely recognized as the primary soft‐tissue simulant in forensic and biomedical ballistics. However, variability in preparation, calibration, and reporting methods, along with growing interest in synthetic alternatives, has raised concerns about methodologic...

Distribution of amphetamine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene, cocaine, fentanyl, and...

Brain tissue is a potentially valuable postmortem specimen because of its relative anatomical isolation, reduced susceptibility to postmortem degradation, and relevance as the primary site of action for many drugs. Despite the frequent detection of stimulants and synthetic opioid...