Questioned Documents: Handwriting Analysis and Paper Chromatography

The Mad Bomber

Graham Backhouse

Graphology The “science” of discerning personality traits from handwriting.

These analysis examples are from: If Your Writing Slants… To the right: You are open to the world around you and like to socialize with other people. To the left: You generally like to work alone or behind the scenes. If you are right-handed and your handwriting slants to the left, you may be expressing rebellion. Not at all: You tend to be logical and practical. You are guarded with your emotions.

If the Size of Your Letters Is… Large: You have a big personality. Many celebrities have large handwriting. It may suggest that you are outgoing and like the limelight. Small: You are focused and can concentrate easily. You tend to be introspective and shy. Average: You are well-adjusted and adaptable.

If Your Loops Are... Closed for L (meaning the upstroke overlaps the downstroke): Feeling tense? This implies you are restricting yourself in some way. Full for L: You are spontaneous and relaxed and find it easy to express yourself. Closed for E: You tend to be skeptical and are unswayed by emotional arguments. Full for E: You have an open mind and enjoy trying new things.

If Your S’s Are… Round: You are a people-pleaser and seek compromise. You avoid confrontation. Pointy: You are intellectually probing and like to study new things. The higher and pointier the peaks, the more ambitious you are. Open at the bottom: You might not be following your heart. For example, you always wanted to be an artist, but you have a career in finance. Printed: You are versatile.

Did you know…. No two people have exactly the same handwriting although it is hard to tell the writing of children apart. As people age, their writing is exclusive to them because they incorporate letter forms they find pleasing. Because of this, it is possible to detect a forgery – the illegal act of reproducing someone’s signature without their permission.

Children write alike…Adults don’t.

Jon Benet Ramsey She was reported missing and found 8 hours later in the basement of her home, strangled. Her mother found a ransom note in the kitchen asking for $118,000.

The ransom note

John and Patsy Ramsey

Comparison Patsy’s handwritingThe ransom note

John Karr and handwriting samples from a yearbook

Characteristics analyzed by a document examiner include: Class – such as the connections of letters to each other, the capitalization, and the punctuation. Individual – such as the unique features of the letters (is the O open? How do the diacritics look – the way the i’s and t’s are dotted and crossed).

When a document is in question, scientists may ask for A collected sample – a sample taken from before the investigation began (signatures on old checks, writing on old job applications). A requested sample – a sample taken after the investigation began (the person is asked to write a dictated text).

A comparison is made between the questioned document and the known sample and a decision is made as to the document’s authenticity.

But what if you think the document is authentic but has been altered? Use Paper Chromatography – a way of separating components in a sample of ink. Look at samples III and IV. They look similar but after doing paper chromatography, you can see they are different inks. Liston50megs.com

How does chromatography work? Sciencebuddies.org Solvent – Substance that does the dissolving (water or alcohol) Solute – Substance that gets dissolved (the ink components)

How do the components in an ink sample separate? The solute (ink components) moves based on two factors: –How well does the solute dissolve in the solvent? –How much does the solute “like” the paper? (affinity) –The better it dissolves and the less it likes the paper (the lower the affinity), the farther the component will move.

Put a number on it…. Retention Factor refers to how far along the paper an ink component (d c ) has moved in relation to the distance the solvent moved (d s ). R f = d c /d s

You Try It…. Calculate the R f for the yellow component in sample #2 if the solvent front moved 5 cm from the origin and the leading edge of the yellow front moved 2.5 cm from the origin. R f = 2.5cm/5cm R f = 0.5

Ways I will NOT mess this up…. I will NOT submerge my solute into the solvent. I will suspend it above with just the tip of the paper in the solvent. I will NOT leave my paper in the solvent too long. I will remove my paper from the solvent as soon as the solvent front is close to the top and I will draw a line showing how far the solvent moved. I will NOT tip my set-up to get a better look. I will leave it sitting on the lab table.

B Can you answer these questions? What is A? What is B? What determines how far the components of B will move? A B Solvent Solute How much the component likes the paper and how well the component dissolves in the solvent

Now You Are Ready…Can You Determine “Did Pete Cheat”?