[PCA] NEWS: Solving Crimes With Pollen, One Grain Of Evidence At A Time

[Adolf Ceska]

Some time ago, the Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria, BC, Canada) palynologist Richard Hebda was asked to examine the shallow grave where the crime victim was buried. He found a lot of pollen of Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), both under the body and above it. At that time, the Royal BC Museum still kept phenological records at the site close to the crime site and Richard was able to narrow down the time of the crime within a week or so. I don’t know if it helped to solve the crime.

Adolf Ceska, Victoria, BC, Canada

 

From: native-plants [mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Kwong, Olivia
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 7:20 AM
To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [PCA] NEWS: Solving Crimes With Pollen, One Grain Of Evidence At A Time

 

This isn't about North American plants, but it's an example of the interesting paths that botany can take.

 

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/25/402031990/solving-crimes-with-pollen-one-grain-of-evidence-at-a-time

 

Solving Crimes With Pollen, One Grain Of Evidence At A Time

April 25, 2015 5:19 PM ET

NPR Staff

 

Some murder cases are harder to solve than others. The investigation into the killing of Mellory Manning -- a 27-year-old woman who was assaulted and murdered in 2008 while working as a prostitute in Christchurch, New Zealand -- confounded police.

 

See the link above for the audio and full article text.

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