Soils and Soil Analysis

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Soils and Soil Analysis
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What Is Soil?

• Mixture of organic and inorganic material
• May range from 100 inorganic (sand) to nearly
  100 organic (peat)
• Inorganic part is minerals
• Organic part is decayed plant and animal material
  and is sometimes called humas

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Forensic Significance of Soil

• Soil is class evidence - cannot be individualized
  to a particular location
• There is no classification system for soils
• Soils can be easily transported
• Soils within a few meters horizontally or
  vertically differ

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Forensic Analysis of Soils

• Bulk analysis
• Density gradient
• Particle size distribution (sieving)
• Inorganic components
• Color (dissolve in water)
• Petrography - mineral analysis Requires a good
  deal of skill and practice

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Forensic Analysis of Soils

• Organic components
• Liquid chromatography
• Oxygen availability
• Bacterial DNA? - Future possibility

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Some Interesting? Cases Where Geological Evidence
Has Been Important

• Florida v. William Kennedy Smith
• South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller
• Colorado v. Walter Osborne
• The Death of a DEA agent Enrico Camarena

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Florida v. William Kennedy Smith

• WKS accused of rape of Patricia Bowman
• Alleged attack on grass lawn behind Kennedy
  estate in W. Palm Beach, Fl
• WKS alleged consensual sex on the beach near
  estate
• Jay Siegel used PLM to compare samples from
  clothing of victim to lawn and beach areas
• Samples consistent with beach, not lawn
• WKS acquitted of rape

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South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller

• Capital murder case of 9-year old Becky OConnell
  on May 8, 1990.
• Testimony by soil expert refutes defendant alibi
• Victim snatched off street, raped, killed, body
  dumped in woods.
• Suspicion fell on Defendant because of prior sex
  crime involvement.
• Found guilty and sentenced to death. Appeal
  resulted in reversal owing to admission of
  evidence of prior bad acts.

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South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller (cont.)

• SD Supreme Court reversed and reinstated
  conviction
• State geologist analyzed soil found in wheel
  wells of defendant pickup truck. Issue was
  whether soil came from crime scene South of Sioux
  Falls or from a road North of Sioux Falls where
  defendant claimed he was at time of crime
• Geologist testified that soil could have come
  from crime scene.
• Opinion based on
• Colors and general characteristics
• Soil was much lighter or could not have come from
  other roads in area
• Sharp, clean hornblende crystals much more
  likely to have come from crime scene area

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South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller (cont)

• Part of appeal called for striking geologists
  testimony as being too speculative as to
  conclusions
• At 2nd trial, geologist came into more evidence
  from scene and wheel well dark green to black
  gahnite found at scene and in evidence from
  truck. This mineral extremely rare.

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South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller (cont)

• Defense argued that geologist erred in
  identifying gahnite only by visual inspection.
  Claimed that PLM should have been used (to
  confirm that gahnite is isotropic) and that x-ray
  diffraction should have been used to confirm.
  Appeals court rejected appeal
• There was no discussion at trial whether the
  finding of both hornblende and gahnite near Sioux
  Falls was a rarity or could be due to processing
  after mining elsewhere. Bedrock of Sioux Falls
  contains neither hornblende nor gahnite.

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Colorado v. Walter Osborne

• Osborne botches kidnapping of Adolph Coors from
  his ranch near Morrison and kills Coors
• Ranch is near Dakota Hogback which is made of
  Dakota sandstone underlain by gray, green and
  maroon clay stones, shales, more sandstone and
  limestone. Dirt road near ranch was essentially
  eroded, pulverized components of hogback.

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Colorado v. Walter Osborne (cont)

• During kidnapping, a fight broke out and Osborne
  shot Coors. Fled in Osbornes yellow Mercury
  with body. Fled south onto an unpaved road in
  next county. Then went west and climbed. Road
  made of muddled dust pink-feldspar. Dust was
  granite, but compared to bedrock was deficient in
  iron and magnesium.
• As he climbed further, came into Pikes Peak
  granite very distinctive.

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Colorado v. Walter Osborne (cont)

• At 7200 ft, Osborne dumped body in dump used by
  an Ashram. Body would not be found for 7 months.
  
• Osborne went east and went on an unpaved road of
  black slags and drifted sands on a New Jersey
  barrier island. He hid car and torched it with
  gasoline.

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Colorado v. Walter Osborne (cont)

• FBI investigation turned up Osborne in New Jersey
• Although Osborne (discovered to be Joseph
  Corbett, Jr) covered his tracks well but was
  writing his itinerary on the bottom of his car.
• 4 depositional strata found
• 4th contained material from around New Jersey
  dump where he burned car
• 3rd contained pink feldspars of Pikes Peak
  granite near where body was found
• 2nd had materials from Morrison hogback formation
  around Coors rangch
• 1st had pink feldspars of other Front Range
  granites generally related to Rocky Mountain
  Front Range

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena

• Story of how FBI geologist, Ron Rawalt was able
  to determine, with certainty, where Camarena body
  was buried, thus showing that Mexican govt. lied
  about how he was killed.
• He noticed a TV report of the killings. The body
  was shown with soil clinging to it. The soil was
  obviously of a different color than the soil from
  the alleged burial site.

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• He told the govt. that he could prove, with soil
  analysis alone, that Mexican govt. was lying
  about the murder.
• He went to Mexico and collected a spoonful of
  soil from Camarena body. He compared that to the
  soil from the alleged burial site and found them
  to be entirely different.

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• Soil from body
• Spoke of mountains
• 98 rhyolite ash (clean, high in silica, angular,
  vesicular) could be described as airfall
  pumice
• Bixbyite blacker than coal
• Pink glass of exceptional depth and richness of
  color, he had never seen anything like it, except
  in candy
• 2 kinds of cristobalite opalized and clear,
  elongate and faceted, clear polygonal columns
  (octehedrons). Resembled branch coral. Very
  rare to find both types together.

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• Pinpointing location
• Research with Geological Survey and Smithsonian
  minerologists located specific location A
  Jalisco state park called Bosques de la Primvera.
  Cristabolite was the result of a third-event
  calderea formation.
• Location is on upslope of mountain in park or
  park itself
• Rawalt flew to Mexico as DEA agent (FBI agents
  were not allowed in to investigate

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• While Rawalt was in Mexico searching for the area
  of burial, FBI was approached about a French
  consultant, Loic Le Ribault. He was the head
  petrologist for the French national oil company
  and was said to be able to do things geologically
  speaking, that other people couldnt do. Show
  him a few grains of sand and he could tell you
  where they came from

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• Le Ribault
• FBI tested him by giving him 3 samples
• Ash from Mt. St. Helens
• Alluvium from river delta in S. Carolina related
  to recent murder
• Dirt from girders taken from bomb site in Beirut,
  Lebanon
• Ribaults results
• Got location of ash from Mt. St. Helens within a
  few miles of source
• River basin in American Southest
• Bekaa valley in Lebanon soil had been subjected
  to explosion

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Death of a DEA Agent Enrico Camarena (cont)

• Le Ribaults contribution to Camarena case
• Was showed samples from park and body. He said
  you are there, but not there. Right elevation,
  but these are samples (from park) from an area
  washing north. The site is an area washing
  south.
• Sand deposited by water 4-5 ft. deep in a draw.
  Slope of draw lt10 degrees. Shade predominates.
• Rawalt found exact location from this data.