Brendan Chapman

Unsolved, or “cold” cases, are those when the opportunities for apprehending and convicting an offender are exhausted. Often, these case files and evidence sit in a state of hibernation, waiting for new technologies or a fresh set of eyes to reinvestigate them. Cold cases are unique in that most often, all forensic opportunities have been exhausted (the 99%), however as investigators and victims’ families will attest, they deserve to be subjected to every possible analysis technique available, no matter how cutting edge or unconventional it may be (the 1%, or one percenter).

Academically, cold case forensic research is scant, with the exception of case studies and professional publications focussing on procedural improvements to increase case solvability. Herein lies the purpose of this research, as a compilation of methods and tools that are the one percenters– new advances unlikely to be adopted as routine tools for routine crimes, but those that may help advance cases with some additional intelligence or a result that was thought unlikely. Using forensic archaeology, facial biometrics and forensic DNA techniques, a series of crimino-forensic research applications are detailed within this thesis, with the overarching aim to advance the investigation of unsolved crime and bring justice to the victims and families of homicide and sexual crimes.