Case report Entomological evidence: Lessons to be learnt from a cold case review Paola A. Magni a , Michelle L. Harvey b,d , Luigi Saravo c , Ian R. Dadour d, * a Department of Life Science and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy b School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Deakin University, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong 3220, Australia c R.I.S., Reparto Carabinieri Investigazioni Scientifiche, Viale Tor di Quinto 151, 00190 Rome, Italy d Centre for Forensic Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia 1. Introduction Medico-legal entomology is the use of insects and other arthropods in forensic investigations involving a dead body (corpses and/or carcasses) and has been used and accepted in many countries [1,2]. The knowledge of the ecology and biology of insects when compared with the crime scene environment may assist forensic investigations especially where medical parameters are no longer of value [3]. The two main issues confronting a Forensic Entomologist in case work following the collection of specimens from a corpse are the identification and the age of the samples [4]. Armed with this knowledge, forensic entomology is a crucial tool in providing a chronological ‘‘gold standard’’ in the estimation of time elapsed since death [5]. To achieve such a standard several publications have highlighted the importance of systematic and quality controlled approaches for the collection and preservation of entomological samples, but so often this does not happen [6]. This case study illustrates the importance of sample collection, and difficulties that may result in analysis of specimens where standard guidelines are not followed. This is also a discussion of a forensic ‘‘cold case’’ [7–9] which is defined as a case where the police investigation has been scaled down and the case is effectively no longer active and still sub judiciary [10]. After a 9 year period this case was re-examined and it was noted that entomological evidence was collected, but it was not considered for examination in the original investigation. On close examination the insect material was desiccated, however it was decided that an attempt should be made to determine firstly the identity of the material, and if successful using an experimental approach then an estimate of the age of the larvae could be calculated. This case, one of only a few cold cases involving forensic entomology [11–13], has a successful conclusion entomologically, whereby added information was able to be submitted and accepted by a court of law. Critically, this case illustrates the value of combining unorthodox morphological techniques with newer approaches such as molecular analysis to gain valuable information where entomological evidence would otherwise have been neglected. 1.1. Case history At the beginning of June 2001 an 18-year old girl disappeared from a small city in the Lazio region of central Italy. Three days following her disappearance her body was found in woodland not far from that city in an area usually used by people to discard rubbish. No insect evidence concerning this case was collected at Forensic Science International 223 (2012) e31–e34 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 4 May 2012 Received in revised form 22 August 2012 Accepted 3 September 2012 Available online 10 October 2012 Keywords: Forensic science Forensic entomology Cold case mtDNA Lucilia illustris A B S T R A C T Insects are known to be useful in estimating time since death, but this is only possible if samples are collected and preserved correctly according to best practices. This report describes a case where an 18- year old female was found dead and during the first medico-legal investigation which determined it was a homicide, entomological samples were collected but not considered. The case was then closed with no suspect. However, 9 years after the first investigation the courts decided that the case needed to be re- examined. In doing so the new review team decided that although the remaining entomological evidence was poorly preserved some extra information may be gained from its analyses. On inspection of the remaining samples of larvae no normal morphological analyses could be conducted. Molecular analyses were combined with an unorthodox morphological analysis to provide an estimate of the post-mortem interval based on insect evidence, indicating the value of multidisciplinary approaches to both cold and contemporary cases. ß 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Centre for Forensic Science (M420), Myers St Building, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 64887288/7286; fax: +61 8 64887285; mobile: +61 4 17997249. E-mail address: ian.dadour@uwa.edu.au (I.R. Dadour). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Forensic Science International jou r nal h o mep age: w ww.els evier .co m/lo c ate/fo r sc iin t 0379-0738/$ – see front matter ß 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.09.001