Comparison microscope identification of a cheese bitemark: a case report.
Police investigating the murder of a farmer recovered a piece of cheese containing bite- marks. The local dental practitioner used white plaster to make casts of the bitemarks in the cheese and also of the teeth of three suspects. The cheese specimen was retained by the police and seven months later the case was referred to the Forensic Odontology Unit at the University of Pretoria where a silicone rubber cast of the bitemarks in the cheese was made. A lack of concordant features present in a conventional pattern-associated comparison was overcome with the aid of a Leica DMC comparison microscope. Individual features observed under 6.3x magnification aided in the positive identification of the suspect, who when confronted with the evidence, admitted guilt at his first court appearance.
Bernitz
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Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Pretoria, P.O. Box 1266, Pretoria 0001, Gauteng, South Africa.
Kloppers
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BA
D001734:Bites, Human; D002611:Cheese; D003761:Dental Impression Technique; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000379:methods*; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D013019:South Africa