Summary of the case
Victim: Father Patrick Heslin
Murderer: William Hightower
Investigator: Edward Heinrich, U.C. Berkley Chemistry Professor
Where and When: August 2, 1921 Colma, California
What Happened: On the night of August 2, 1921 the parish priest, Father Patrick Heslin, was kidnapped. A ransom note was received, but no further contact was made and the priest was assumed to have been murdered. William Hightower reported the location of the body. The grains of sand on the body was examined and was discovered to be from a tent in Hightower’s room. Heinrich examined the place on the California beach where Hightower indicated the body of Father Heslin would be found. Heinrich studied grains of sand recovered from Hightower’s knife and pronounced…show more content… Sand is unconsolidated sedimentary mineral material with a particle size between 1/16 mm and 2 mm. Sands on beaches and shorelines can be divided according to their compositions into two major groups. One is the carbonate sands, sands made of particles of CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). The other is commonly called the "siliciclastic sands", where "silici-" refers to a chemical composition rich in silicate material and "-clastic" refers to the origin of the grains as clasts or fragments of silicate rocks. (Railsback, 1999) Forensic geologists consider soil as earth material that has been collected and is related to the matter they are investigating. When a forensic geologist is investigating a crime, all natural and artificial objects that are on or near the surface of the earth are considered part of the soil. The presence of these objects in that area helps to make that area of soil unique from other…show more content… It is possible to distinguish type of grain sand by examine the surface texture with electron microscope. Some type of grain sand is biogenic sand, mineral sand, mixed sand and special sand. The figure scanning electron micrograph of sand grains (largely quartz),recovered from the suspect’s knife found to have the similar distribution, shape, surface texture, and chemical characteristic to sand samples collected from the body was found. The case investigator Heinrich have compared the properties, characteristics and similarities between the sand found in the room of the suspect and the sand found in the place The similarities between the sands samples from both places made the investigator come to a conclusion that the murderer of Father Heslin is Hightower. (Bartlett, 2013) (Ann, 1921)
References
Ann, S. (1921, October 13). The Bakersfield Californian. Life Prison Term for Priest