NCJ Number
145918
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 38 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1993) Pages: 1516-1522
Date Published
1993
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article presents a case study of an abrasive safe cutting in which the suspects were linked to the offense by the characteristics of two abrasive discs in their possession and debris collected from their clothes; experiments of abrasive and oxygen cutting of steel are also reported.
Abstract
The usual method of safe breaking in Israel is to cut through the safe with abrasive disc or oxygen cutting. A previous study of the identification of debris from both processes found that in both processes, spherical particles were formed due to the burning of steel particles. The current experiments assessed the influence of the rotating speed of abrasive discs on the percentage of spherical and irregular particles that are formed. The populations of formed particles were compared with the population of formed particles in oxygen cutting. A higher percentage of spherical particles were formed in oxygen cutting compared to abrasive cutting. The rotating speed of a disc affected the percentage of spherical particles. A significant percentage of irregular particles formed in the abrasive cutting were in the form of filings. None of the irregular particles formed in oxygen cutting had the form of filings. In the case study, the abrasive discs possessed by one suspect were linked with high probability to the cutting attempt of a safe. A match was also found between the debris collected from the shirts of the suspects and the debris found at the crime scene. 7 figures and 2 references