Soils and Soil Analysis
What Is Soil?
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Mixture of organic and inorganic material
May range from 100% inorganic (sand) to
nearly 100% organic (peat)
Inorganic part is minerals
Organic part is decayed plant and animal
material and is sometimes called humas
Forensic Significance of Soil
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Soil is class evidence - cannot be
individualized to a particular location
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There is no classification system for soils
Soils can be easily transported
Soils within a few meters horizontally or vertically
differ
Forensic Analysis of Soils
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Bulk analysis
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Density gradient
Particle size distribution (sieving)
Inorganic components
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Color (dissolve in water)
Petrography - mineral analysis; Requires a good
deal of skill and practice
Forensic Analysis of Soils
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Organic components
 Liquid chromatography
 Oxygen availability
 Bacterial DNA? - Future possibility
Some Interesting? Cases Where
Geological Evidence Has Been
Important
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Florida v. William Kennedy Smith
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South Dakota v. Donald Eugene Moeller
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Colorado v. Walter Osborne
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The Death of a DEA agent – Enrico Camarena
Florida v. William Kennedy
Smith
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WKS accused of rape of Patricia Bowman
Alleged attack on grass lawn behind Kennedy estate
in W. Palm Beach, Fl
WKS alleged consensual sex on the beach near estate
Jay Siegel used PLM to compare samples from
clothing of victim to lawn and beach areas
Samples consistent with beach, not lawn
WKS acquitted of rape
South Dakota v. Donald Eugene
Moeller
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Capital murder case of 9-year old Becky O’Connell
on May 8, 1990.
Testimony by soil expert refutes defendant alibi
Victim snatched off street, raped, killed, body
dumped in woods.
Suspicion fell on Defendant because of prior sex
crime involvement.
Found guilty and sentenced to death. Appeal resulted
in reversal owing to admission of evidence of prior
bad acts.
South Dakota v. Donald Eugene
Moeller (cont.)
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SD Supreme Court reversed and reinstated conviction
State geologist analyzed soil found in wheel wells of
defendant pickup truck. Issue was whether soil came
from crime scene South of Sioux Falls or from a road
North of Sioux Falls where defendant claimed he was at
time of crime
Geologist testified that soil could have come from crime
scene.
Opinion based on:
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Colors and general characteristics
Soil was much lighter or could not have come from other roads
in area
“Sharp, clean” hornblende crystals much more likely to have
come from crime scene area
South Dakota v. Donald Eugene
Moeller (cont)
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Part of appeal called for striking geologist’s
testimony as being too speculative as to
conclusions
At 2nd trial, geologist came into more evidence
from scene and wheel well: dark green to black
gahnite found at scene and in evidence from
truck. This mineral extremely rare.
South Dakota v. Donald Eugene
Moeller (cont)
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Defense argued that geologist erred in identifying
gahnite only by visual inspection. Claimed that PLM
should have been used (to confirm that gahnite is
isotropic) and that x-ray diffraction should have been
used to confirm. Appeals court rejected appeal
There was no discussion at trial whether the finding
of both hornblende and gahnite near Sioux Falls was
a rarity or could be due to processing after mining
elsewhere. Bedrock of Sioux Falls contains neither
hornblende nor gahnite.
Colorado v. Walter Osborne
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Osborne botches kidnapping of Adolph Coors
from his ranch near Morrison and kills Coors
Ranch is near “Dakota Hogback” which is
made of Dakota sandstone underlain by gray,
green and maroon clay stones, shales, more
sandstone and limestone. Dirt road near ranch
was essentially eroded, pulverized components
of hogback.
Colorado v. Walter Osborne
(cont)
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During kidnapping, a fight broke out and
Osborne shot Coors. Fled in Osborne’s yellow
Mercury with body. Fled south onto an
unpaved road in next county. Then went west
and climbed. Road made of muddled dust;
pink-feldspar. Dust was granite, but compared
to bedrock was deficient in iron and
magnesium.
As he climbed further, came into Pike’s Peak
granite – very distinctive.
Colorado v. Walter Osborne
(cont)
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At 7200 ft, Osborne dumped body in dump
used by an Ashram. Body would not be found
for 7 months.
Osborne went east and went on an unpaved
road of black slags and drifted sands on a New
Jersey barrier island. He hid car and torched it
with gasoline.
Colorado v. Walter Osborne
(cont)
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FBI investigation turned up Osborne in New Jersey
Although Osborne (discovered to be Joseph Corbett, Jr)
covered his tracks well but was writing his itinerary on
the bottom of his car.
4 depositional strata found:
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4th contained material from around New Jersey dump where he
burned car
3rd contained pink feldspars of Pike’s Peak granite – near where
body was found
2nd had materials from Morrison hogback formation – around
Coor’s rangch
1st had pink feldspars of other Front Range granites – generally
related to Rocky Mountain Front Range
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena
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Story of how FBI geologist, Ron Rawalt was
able to determine, with certainty, where
Camarena body was buried, thus showing that
Mexican govt. lied about how he was killed.
He noticed a TV report of the killings. The
body was shown with soil clinging to it. The
soil was obviously of a different color than the
soil from the alleged burial site.
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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He told the govt. that he could prove, with soil
analysis alone, that Mexican govt. was lying
about the murder.
He went to Mexico and collected a spoonful of
soil from Camarena body. He compared that
to the soil from the alleged burial site and
found them to be entirely different.
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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Soil from body
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Spoke of mountains
98% rhyolite ash (clean, high in silica, angular, vesicular) –
could be described as “airfall pumice”
Bixbyite – blacker than coal
Pink glass of exceptional depth and richness of color, he
had never seen anything like it, except in candy
2 kinds of cristobalite: opalized and clear, elongate and
faceted, clear polygonal columns (octehedrons).
Resembled branch coral. Very rare to find both types
together.
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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Pinpointing location
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Research with Geological Survey and Smithsonian
minerologists located specific location – A Jalisco
state park called Bosques de la Primvera.
Cristabolite was the result of a third-event calderea
formation.
Location is on upslope of mountain in park or park
itself
Rawalt flew to Mexico as “DEA agent” (FBI
agents were not allowed in to investigate
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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While Rawalt was in Mexico searching for the
area of burial, FBI was approached about a
French consultant, Loic Le Ribault. He was
the head petrologist for the French national oil
company and was said to be able to do things
geologically speaking, that other people
couldn’t do. Show him a few grains of sand
and he could tell you where they came from
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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Le Ribault
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FBI tested him by giving him 3 samples:
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Ash from Mt. St. Helens
Alluvium from river delta in S. Carolina related to recent murder
Dirt from girders taken from bomb site in Beirut, Lebanon
Ribault’s results:
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Got location of ash from Mt. St. Helens within a few miles of
source
River basin in American Southest
Bekaa valley in Lebanon – soil had been subjected to explosion
Death of a DEA Agent: Enrico
Camarena (cont)
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Le Ribault’s contribution to Camarena case
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Was showed samples from park and body. He said
“you are there, but not there”. Right elevation, but
these are samples (from park) from an area
washing north. The site is an area washing south.
Sand deposited by water 4-5 ft. deep in a draw.
Slope of draw <10 degrees. Shade predominates.
Rawalt found exact location from this data.