Local Murder Solved
Forensic CSI was one of the most popular J-Terms this year with no freshmen in it, meaning the class was completely filled with upperclassmen. In this course, the students are faced with a number of tasks through the two weeks they have. They are given multiple cases to solve, were able to make their own blood, and watched the Netflix series, Making a Murderer. Other than solving the murder mystery, they also were given thirty different water samples with a map showing where they were all from. The students had to determine, using chemical indicators, the original source of contamination. The day after the water examinations, they traveled down to the Philadelphia Water Works museum. There, they learned that this was the source of Philadelphia's drinking water for nine decades.
Led by ninth grade biology teacher Ms. Strange, the forensic Crime Scene Investigation agents, who ranged from 10th to 12th grade, uncovered and solved a murder mystery. The case they were faced with was an assumed hit and run involving the town’s mayor. The mayor's body was found on the side of the road; the body had a dent in the back of the head, and the tires on the car had blood on them. They were given four different pieces of evidence and multiple prime suspects. With this evidence, they had to choose which person would be convicted of the murder. The four different pieces of evidence were blood type, types of hair, tire tracks, and fingerprints. They were also given some help and guidance from former FBI agent and current head of school, Dr. Locke’s, father, Mr. Locke. Locke taught them how to read and comprehend the importance of their evidence and how to study blood samples. When examining the crime scenes, the students were able to inspect blood splatter sample and match it to the real blood. They also had to measure the diameter of the blood spot. From this measurement they were able to tell what the person was doing at the time and how far away the blood drop was from where the blood dropped from. The agents traveled to the museum of anthropology at the University of Penn to help advance their investigating skills. At the end of the trial, the prime suspect, Matthew Maloy, was found innocent for killing the mayor.
With the skills from this course, the forensic agents are now able to investigate and possibly solve the crimes they are faced with.