Crime & Death Scene Reconstruction

Program purpose

The purpose of this program is to provide a basic and fundamental knowledge in the field of bloodstain pattern interpretation and to illustrate the scientific principles and practical applications of bloodstain patterninterpretation to casework. The course of instruction is designed for investigators, crime scene technicians, forensic scientists, attorneys and medico-legal investigators. There is no minimum educational standard for those who decide to attend this program.

Program objectives

Upon completion of this basic course on the geometric interpretation of human bloodstain patterns students should:

1. Understand the development, history and advancement of bloodstain patterns interpretation.
2. Understand the inherent limitations of bloodstain pattern interpretation.
3. Be able to recognize, document, collect, preserve and examine bloodstain pattern evidence.
4. Understand how bloodstain pattern interpretation interrelates to other forensic disciplines and information.
5. Have acquired a basic and /or renewed understanding of the scientific method and the laws of physics, which directly apply to bloodstain pattern interpretation.
6. Be able to recognize and interpret the mechanism by which basic bloodstain patterns are created.
7. Have acquired first-hand knowledge of how blood reacts under various known conditions.
8. Have an understanding how the mathematical relationships, which apply directly to bloodstain pattern interpretation specifically, angle of impact determination(s) and three dimensional determinations.
9. Be acquainted with the practical aspects of bloodstain pattern interpretation.
10. Be capable of conducting a "basic" bloodstain interpretation.

Conference Faculty

• Dr. Matthias I. Okoye, M.D., J.D.
• Dr. Michael Baden, M.D.
• Mr. Paul Erwin Kish, M.S.