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First Use of Ballistics in Forensics

In 1923, Charles Waite and Philip Garavell established the first Bureau of Forensic Ballistics, formally introducing the use of ballistics in crime scene investigations. Ballistics examines projectiles and fragments to reconstruct crime scenes and identify weapons. One of the earliest documented uses of forensic ballistics was in 1835, when Henry Goddard matched a bullet defect to the shooter's bullet mold. This helped establish the ability to match bullets to specific guns through their markings.

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1K views2 pages

First Use of Ballistics in Forensics

In 1923, Charles Waite and Philip Garavell established the first Bureau of Forensic Ballistics, formally introducing the use of ballistics in crime scene investigations. Ballistics examines projectiles and fragments to reconstruct crime scenes and identify weapons. One of the earliest documented uses of forensic ballistics was in 1835, when Henry Goddard matched a bullet defect to the shooter's bullet mold. This helped establish the ability to match bullets to specific guns through their markings.

Uploaded by

Maria Janina
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© © All Rights Reserved
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History

*Ballistics used in a crime scene investigation was officially established in 1923


*Ballistics isn’t JUST about bullets, it includes any projectiles and fragments of the projectiles
Ex- bombs

In 1923, ballistics use in crime scene investigation was first formally established.  Charles Waite


and Philip Garavell set up the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics in 1923.  They, with Calvin
Goddard, started to develop their own very special equipment. They are the pioneers of Forensic
Ballistics and they are where Forensic Ballistics got it's start.
https://ballisticsproject.weebly.com/history.html

Ballistics is the study of the flight path of projectiles. And when used in
criminal investigations, forensic ballistics or ballistic fingerprinting (also called
forensic firearm examination) helps in the reconstruction of a crime scene
involving a firearm. It also enables the tracing of the weapon used and thus
provides significant leads to identify the suspect(s). Forensic ballistic relies
heavily on evidence such as bullets, gunpowder residues, shell casings,
firearms, etc. recovered from the crime scene.

First Use of Ballistics in Forensics

Before the mass manufacturing of guns began, barrels and bullet molds were handmade by
gunsmiths. Thus, the exclusivity of each firearm was unavoidable. This meant that the bullets
fired always bore some exclusive impressions which were unique to a specific firearm. Thus
began the first instances of the careful examination of a bullet in order to trace it back to the gun
used to fire it. And this laid the foundation of what is now called as forensic fingerprinting – the
forensic examination of firearms and other evidence (bullets, cartridges etc.) recovered from the
crime scene to link them to suspects or the specific weapons used in a crime.

The first case of forensic firearm examination to be documented was in 1835. That was when
Henry Goddard applied ballistic fingerprinting to link a bullet recovered from the victim to the
actual culprit. On careful inspection, he found that the bullet had a defect on its surface which
did not seem to be from the barrel or the result of an impact. It seemed more like a defect
acquired during its manufacturing. Anticipating that the shooter would have made the bullet
himself, he realized that recovering the bullet mold would easily help him confirm the shooter.
He was thus able to exactly zero in on the shooter when the mold found at the suspect’s home
matched the marks on the bullet. This proved as a crucial evidence in convicting the shooter
though he did also confess to the crime eventually.

Back in 1860, the case of Regina v Richardson showcases another example of the early
application of firearm identification. The major evidence, in this case, was a newspaper wadding.
Back in the era before cartridges came into existence, such wadding was used to create a seal
between the bullet and the gunpowder. The wadding that was found in the two-barreled muzzle-
loading pistol recovered from the murder site matched the wadding found in the victim’s wound.
Additionally, a wadding that was discovered at the suspect’s home was found to be made up of
the same material (London Time’s newspaper) as the waddings recovered before. This helped to
confirm that he was the shooter and led to his conviction.

The Birth of Magnification

Over time, as the mass production of guns and ammunition gained pace, the process of rifling
became standardized. Thus, whereas a forensic examiner could specifically match the rifling
marks on a bullet recovered from the crime scene to those on the firearm’s barrel, it became
increasingly difficult to match a bullet to a specific firearm made by a specific manufacturer
through simple observation. And as they say, necessity is the mother of invention! So eventually,
this paved the way for the magnified observation of bullets.

In 1902, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who later became the justice of the US Supreme Court, is said
to have used a magnifying glass to examine a test bullet that he fired into cotton wool to compare
its striations with those found on the bullet recovered from the victim during an autopsy.

Later in Paris (1912), Professor Balthazard took numerous photographs of the circumferences of
the bullet found at the crime scene. He then enlarged these photographs to compare the markings
with those obtained on the bullet that he had test-fired from the suspect’s weapon.

https://ifflab.org/the-history-of-forensic-ballistics-ballistic-fingerprinting/

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