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The poisoned pen. A case report
Forensic Science Internationd, 17 (1981) 153 - 156 0 Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - Printed in the Netherlands
THE POISONED
153
PEN. A CASE REPORT
WALLACE VANSTRATT Office of Inspector (U.S.A.)
General,
Michigan
Department
of Social
Service,
Lansing,
Michigan
(Received September 23,198O)
Summary In a case of suicide by overdose of a sedative and hypnotic and a tranquilizer the author analyses the deterioration in writing ability in the time frame recorded by the victim.
One form of experimentation for the document examiner is to control the writing conditions. Such is the case when one wishes to observe the graduated effects of alcohol on the writing process. Finding volunteers to participate in such experiments are usually as near as the next office. On the other hand, if one were to devise an experiment to study the effects of poison on the writing process, participants would have to be first cousins to kamikaze pilots. An unsuspecting participant came to my attention some years ago when the commanding officer of Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan, asked me to examine an alleged suicide note. Tests condu&d by the Michigan Department of Health Crime Laboratory, the investigation conducted by air force personnel, and a note identified with handwriting of the victim, all supported the following conclusion. A serviceman committed suicide by taking poison. He ingested a combination of Doriden, which is a sedative and hypnotic, and meprobamate, which is a nerve sedative and tranquilizing drug. According to toxicologists, the sedative and hypnotic in lethal dosage would render the recipient lethargic in fifteen minutes and comatose in thirty minutes. Rarely does the poisoned victim leave evidence of experimental value to the document examiner. However, in this case the victim left a note that provides some insight into the way poisoning affects handwriting. The written evidence is so self-supporting that I am presenting my interpretation as a statement. In my opinion the note was written in the following manner: Five-minute time intervals were written across the top of the page in the military manner (0130, 0135, 0140, 0145, 0150) (see Fig. 1). Five names were then written beneath the first three listed times at five-minute intervals. The body of the note was then written (Fig. 2). It took longer than expected to write the note, so the time 0145 was crossed out and the time 0200 written underneath. An attempt was made to write the five names again. The time 0150 was partially crossed out and an attempt was made to write the
Fig. 1. Reproduction
of the top portion of the note.
Fig. 2.
c
4q.
^
Reproduction
.
\
,
of the bottom
3’
f
portion
**
I
of the note.
A:,,
.A-.\
-
1
I
I
156
time 0203. A diagonal line traces the final lapse into comatose. The airman died the next day. This interpretation is consistent with the gradual deterioration of the writing and the time frame suggested by the toxicologist. Some observations: (1) For the first ten minutes the writer maintained his writing skills, the only change being a slight reduction in vertical dimensions. In the twenty minutes or less that it took to write the body of the note, this reduction became more obvious. (2) Finally, the writer could not follow the lines on the paper, and the line of writing became unbalanced, as if each word was written by itself and at a separate time. The word “foooled” is misspelled. (3) At time 0200, there seems to be a superhuman effort to continue. The name “Gloria” shows some revival over the latter words in the note, although at this point the writer had trouble forming the capital “G”, and later, in writing the name “Len”, the capital “L” is written backwards. However, the name “Tom” has retained some of the identifying characteristics of the writer. (4) The latter stages of the written note are characteristic of sentences written by myself when very sleepy.
THE POISONED
153
PEN. A CASE REPORT
WALLACE VANSTRATT Office of Inspector (U.S.A.)
General,
Michigan
Department
of Social
Service,
Lansing,
Michigan
(Received September 23,198O)
Summary In a case of suicide by overdose of a sedative and hypnotic and a tranquilizer the author analyses the deterioration in writing ability in the time frame recorded by the victim.
One form of experimentation for the document examiner is to control the writing conditions. Such is the case when one wishes to observe the graduated effects of alcohol on the writing process. Finding volunteers to participate in such experiments are usually as near as the next office. On the other hand, if one were to devise an experiment to study the effects of poison on the writing process, participants would have to be first cousins to kamikaze pilots. An unsuspecting participant came to my attention some years ago when the commanding officer of Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan, asked me to examine an alleged suicide note. Tests condu&d by the Michigan Department of Health Crime Laboratory, the investigation conducted by air force personnel, and a note identified with handwriting of the victim, all supported the following conclusion. A serviceman committed suicide by taking poison. He ingested a combination of Doriden, which is a sedative and hypnotic, and meprobamate, which is a nerve sedative and tranquilizing drug. According to toxicologists, the sedative and hypnotic in lethal dosage would render the recipient lethargic in fifteen minutes and comatose in thirty minutes. Rarely does the poisoned victim leave evidence of experimental value to the document examiner. However, in this case the victim left a note that provides some insight into the way poisoning affects handwriting. The written evidence is so self-supporting that I am presenting my interpretation as a statement. In my opinion the note was written in the following manner: Five-minute time intervals were written across the top of the page in the military manner (0130, 0135, 0140, 0145, 0150) (see Fig. 1). Five names were then written beneath the first three listed times at five-minute intervals. The body of the note was then written (Fig. 2). It took longer than expected to write the note, so the time 0145 was crossed out and the time 0200 written underneath. An attempt was made to write the five names again. The time 0150 was partially crossed out and an attempt was made to write the
Fig. 1. Reproduction
of the top portion of the note.
Fig. 2.
c
4q.
^
Reproduction
.
\
,
of the bottom
3’
f
portion
**
I
of the note.
A:,,
.A-.\
-
1
I
I
156
time 0203. A diagonal line traces the final lapse into comatose. The airman died the next day. This interpretation is consistent with the gradual deterioration of the writing and the time frame suggested by the toxicologist. Some observations: (1) For the first ten minutes the writer maintained his writing skills, the only change being a slight reduction in vertical dimensions. In the twenty minutes or less that it took to write the body of the note, this reduction became more obvious. (2) Finally, the writer could not follow the lines on the paper, and the line of writing became unbalanced, as if each word was written by itself and at a separate time. The word “foooled” is misspelled. (3) At time 0200, there seems to be a superhuman effort to continue. The name “Gloria” shows some revival over the latter words in the note, although at this point the writer had trouble forming the capital “G”, and later, in writing the name “Len”, the capital “L” is written backwards. However, the name “Tom” has retained some of the identifying characteristics of the writer. (4) The latter stages of the written note are characteristic of sentences written by myself when very sleepy.