Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks

Researchers in the Louisiana State University Department of Chemistry including postdoctoral researcher Fabrizio Donnarumma, former undergraduate researcher and current LSU alumus Eden E. Camp, graduate student Fan Cao and Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Chemistry Kermit K. Murray have developed an infrared laser ablation and vacuum capture system for fingermark sampling that takes the mystery out of the process of identifying the chemical compositions of fingermarks at a crime scene. They’ve described the approach and instrumentation in a new paper published in the Journal of The American Society of Mass Spectrometry.