Fatal stabbings are the leading cause of homicide in countries with restricted access to firearms, such as Australia. The analysis of damage on clothing imparted by a sharp object can assist in the characterization of the weapon. However, decomposition and carrion insects can modify the features of the damage, impeding textile damage analysis and crime reconstruction. This study aimed to identify and characterize the modifications of textile damage over 47 days of decomposition during the summer season in Western Australia. Fabric modifications were analyzed on cotton, synthetic, and blended fabrics with standardized cuts and tears, wrapped on 99 stillborn piglets. Six unclothed piglets acted as controls, with three being stabbed. All piglets were placed simultaneously in the field alongside swatches of fabric. Analyses considered taphonomy, insect interactions, and any textile damage using optical microscopy and SEM. The results showed that carrion insects can modify existing cuts and tears and introduce new artifacts on textiles. The 100% cotton fabric was the most affected by mechanical and chemical degradation, especially cuts and areas stained with blood or decomposition fluids. The study highlights the combined effect of multiple factors on textile damage, including the type of fabric, initial damage, bloating, insect activity, and biodegradation.

A multimodal analytical sequence in combination with chemometrics was applied to a blinded case simulation to showcase its suitability for use within the context of forensic casework involving arid, sandy soils low in clay and organic matter. Using microspectrophotometry, attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, in combination with principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis, an unknown “recovered” sample was able to be associated with a single reference soil and discriminated from the other soils. The spectroscopic techniques employed produced varying results, however, these results offered complementary information that was able to be interpreted collectively to discriminate between the reference soils and identify the source of the “recovered” soil with greater confidence. The use of chemometric methods to interpret the data provided an objective, statistical measure of the similarities and/or variation between samples that could be presented as weighting for evidence in court. Hence, this approach was deemed suitable for incorporation into forensic casework to provide discrimination between similar sandy soil samples in an objective manner.

Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of Raman spectroscopy for forensic discrimination of soils after appropriate sample preparation to negate the effects of fluorescence. In this study, the application of Raman spectroscopy for the examination of the quartz-recovered fine fraction of arid, sandy soils is presented for the first time. The initial recovery of the quartz fine fraction is detailed, as well as its analysis using a Raman spectrometer. The aim was to explore whether the technique would allow for the initial screening of samples, with the goal to further extend the technique to allow for in-situ analysis of the coatings on the quartz grains. Despite investigation of a variety of experimental conditions and different approaches to data correction, Raman analysis of the quartz-recovered fine fraction of sandy soils showed high levels of fluorescence, which masked all potential characterisation data captured within the spectra.