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Authors: Nigel McCrery
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guilty of murder. They were sentenced to death by hanging, and were put to death on May 23, 1905.
The history of identificationâwhich I will continue to allude to throughout this bookâis a history of uniqueness. Proven systems of identification such as
bertillonage
or fingerprinting are able to work because we are all completely individual, something that is enormously useful for the purposes of criminal investigation. The techniques we have looked at in this chapter represent the first successful attempts to integrate forensic methods into justice systems. They demonstrate that police work is made far easier when suspects can be quickly and efficiently tied to (or eliminated from) an investigation. That said, such proofs of identity, however strong, are often only one part of the puzzleâa case constructed using several different forensic techniques in conjunction will build an even more comprehensive picture of events.
2
Ballistics
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Wilfred Owen, âAnthem for Doomed Youthâ (1917)
P olice Constable George Gutteridge was born in Downham Market, Norfolk, England, in 1891. He joined Essex County Constabulary in April 1910 and served as constable 489 for eight years before resigning in April 1918 to join the army. He served in France for ten months with the Machine Gun Corps, enduring all the horrors of trench warfare. He then returned to work for Essex Constabulary. He lived with his wife, Rose, and their two children, Muriel and Alfred, in the small, pretty village of Stapleford Abbotts, working four beats for the Epping division.
On September 26, 1927, Gutteridge was working a split shift. He returned home from duty at 6 PM and spent the evening in with his family. He then left home to resume duty at 11 PM, going to meet Constable Sydney Taylor, who was stationed in the neighboring hamlet of Lambourne End. The two met as planned at a conference point on the B175road running from Romford to Chipping Ongar. Gutteridge departed at 3:05 AM to start the mile-long walk home. He never made it.
The following morning, at about 6 AM, the local postman William Alec Ward was on his rounds when he dropped some mail off at the post office in the little village of Stapleford Abbotts. He then continued along the Ongar road, over Pinchback Bridge towards the village of Stapleford Tawney. It was while he was negotiating a bend that he noticed a large object at the roadside ahead and, as he drew closer, realized that it was the body of a man. The body was slumped against the grass bank in a semi-sitting position, with legs extended out into the road. To his horror, Ward recognized the body as PC Gutteridge. Jumping back into his van, Ward raced to a nearby cottage to summon help before driving to Stapleford Tawney to telephone the Romford police.
The first officer on the scene was Police Constable Albert Blockson, who took charge until Detective Inspector John Crockford arrived from Romford at about 7:45 AM . The inspector examined the body. Gutteridge was still grasping a pencil stub, while his notebook lay in the road nearby. His billy club was still in the pocket in which it was usually kept, as was his flashlight. On the left side of his face, just in front of the ear, there were two holes that appeared consistent with the entry of two large bullets. On the right side of the neck there were two exit wounds. Two further bullets appeared to have been discharged, one into each eye. It was thought that the reason for this might have been the superstition that the last thing a person sees before he dies is photographically imprinted on theretinas of the eyesâthe shots had been fired in order to destroy any such âimage.â
The assessment that four bullets had been fired was confirmed when two .45 bullets were prized out of the road surface and two more were recovered from the body during the subsequent postmortem. The time of death was estimated to be about four or
The history of identificationâwhich I will continue to allude to throughout this bookâis a history of uniqueness. Proven systems of identification such as
bertillonage
or fingerprinting are able to work because we are all completely individual, something that is enormously useful for the purposes of criminal investigation. The techniques we have looked at in this chapter represent the first successful attempts to integrate forensic methods into justice systems. They demonstrate that police work is made far easier when suspects can be quickly and efficiently tied to (or eliminated from) an investigation. That said, such proofs of identity, however strong, are often only one part of the puzzleâa case constructed using several different forensic techniques in conjunction will build an even more comprehensive picture of events.
2
Ballistics
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Wilfred Owen, âAnthem for Doomed Youthâ (1917)
P olice Constable George Gutteridge was born in Downham Market, Norfolk, England, in 1891. He joined Essex County Constabulary in April 1910 and served as constable 489 for eight years before resigning in April 1918 to join the army. He served in France for ten months with the Machine Gun Corps, enduring all the horrors of trench warfare. He then returned to work for Essex Constabulary. He lived with his wife, Rose, and their two children, Muriel and Alfred, in the small, pretty village of Stapleford Abbotts, working four beats for the Epping division.
On September 26, 1927, Gutteridge was working a split shift. He returned home from duty at 6 PM and spent the evening in with his family. He then left home to resume duty at 11 PM, going to meet Constable Sydney Taylor, who was stationed in the neighboring hamlet of Lambourne End. The two met as planned at a conference point on the B175road running from Romford to Chipping Ongar. Gutteridge departed at 3:05 AM to start the mile-long walk home. He never made it.
The following morning, at about 6 AM, the local postman William Alec Ward was on his rounds when he dropped some mail off at the post office in the little village of Stapleford Abbotts. He then continued along the Ongar road, over Pinchback Bridge towards the village of Stapleford Tawney. It was while he was negotiating a bend that he noticed a large object at the roadside ahead and, as he drew closer, realized that it was the body of a man. The body was slumped against the grass bank in a semi-sitting position, with legs extended out into the road. To his horror, Ward recognized the body as PC Gutteridge. Jumping back into his van, Ward raced to a nearby cottage to summon help before driving to Stapleford Tawney to telephone the Romford police.
The first officer on the scene was Police Constable Albert Blockson, who took charge until Detective Inspector John Crockford arrived from Romford at about 7:45 AM . The inspector examined the body. Gutteridge was still grasping a pencil stub, while his notebook lay in the road nearby. His billy club was still in the pocket in which it was usually kept, as was his flashlight. On the left side of his face, just in front of the ear, there were two holes that appeared consistent with the entry of two large bullets. On the right side of the neck there were two exit wounds. Two further bullets appeared to have been discharged, one into each eye. It was thought that the reason for this might have been the superstition that the last thing a person sees before he dies is photographically imprinted on theretinas of the eyesâthe shots had been fired in order to destroy any such âimage.â
The assessment that four bullets had been fired was confirmed when two .45 bullets were prized out of the road surface and two more were recovered from the body during the subsequent postmortem. The time of death was estimated to be about four or
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