MANSFIELD, PA— Mansfield University science students created a mock crime scene in Spruce Hall recently and invited fellow students to participate in evaluating the crime scene, examining evidence and solving the crime.
Allyson Cornwell (Levittown, PA), Catherine Emerick (Tyrone, PA), Marty Holdren (Troy, PA), Meagan McCarthy (Bellefonte, PA), Bryan McCullough (Upper Darby, PA) and Hang Nguyen (Lewisburg, PA), supervised by Assistant Professor of Chemistry Michele Conrad, created the crime scene and assisted the student investigators Several also served as suspects.
Student investigators sketched the crime scene and then proceeded to the Forensics Crime Lab where hair was compared under microscopes and recorded and fingerprints were collected and studied under a magnifying glass. Characteristic patterns from the fingerprints, such as loops, whorls, and arches, were used to narrow down the suspects. Red stains were chemically tested for the presence of blood. Lastly, shoe prints were collected and compared.
“All these factors culminated together to reveal the perpetrator of 
the crime, yet some evidence were unexpectedly misleading,” Conrad said. “This sample scenario gave students the opportunity to have fun solving a puzzle, to debunk common misconceptions from television shows and to gain a better appreciation for different forensic science techniques used in the field.”
To learn more about studying Forensic Science at MU, go to mansfield.edu/chemistry-physics