Criminal Poisoning FORENSIC SCIENCE- AND- MEDICINE
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Criminal Poisoning FORENSIC SCIENCE- AND- MEDICINE Steven B. Karch, MD, SERIES EDITOR CRIMINAL POISONING: INVESTIGATIONAL GUIDE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, TOXICOLOGISTS, FORENSIC SCIENTISTS, AND ATTORNEYS, SECOND EDITION, by John H. Trestrail, III, 2007 MARIJUANA AND THE CANNABINOIDS, edited by Mahmoud A. ElSohly, 2007 FORENSIC PATHOLOGY OF TRAUMA: COMMON PROBLEMS FOR THE PATHOLOGIST, edited by Michael J. Shkrum and David A. Ramsay, 2007 THE FORENSIC LABORATORY HANDBOOK: PROCEDURES AND PRACTICE, edited by Ashraf Mozayani and Carla Noziglia, 2006 SUDDEN DEATHS IN CUSTODY, edited by Darrell L. Ross and Ted Chan, 2006 DRUGS OF ABUSE: BODY FLUID TESTING, edited by Raphael C. Wong and Harley Y. Tse, 2005 A PHYSICIAN’S GUIDE TO CLINICAL FORENSIC MEDICINE: SECOND EDITION, edited by Margaret M. Stark, 2005 FORENSIC MEDICINE OF THE LOWER EXTREMITY: HUMAN IDENTIFICATION AND TRAUMA ANALYSIS OF THE THIGH, LEG, AND FOOT, by Jeremy Rich, Dorothy E. Dean, and Robert H. Powers, 2005 FORENSIC AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION, by Michael J. Telepchak, Thomas F. August, and Glynn Chaney, 2004 HANDBOOK OF DRUG INTERACTIONS: A CLINICAL AND FORENSIC GUIDE, edited by Ashraf Mozayani and Lionel P. Raymon, 2004 DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS: TOXICOLOGY AND CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, edited by Melanie Johns Cupp and Timothy S. Tracy, 2003 BUPRENOPHINE THERAPY OF OPIATE ADDICTION, edited by Pascal Kintz and Pierre Marquet, 2002 BENZODIAZEPINES AND GHB: DETECTION AND PHARMACOLOGY, edited by Salvatore J. Salamone, 2002 ON-SITE DRUG TESTING, edited by Amanda J. Jenkins and Bruce A. Goldberger, 2001 BRAIN IMAGING IN SUBSTANCE ABUSE: RESEARCH, CLINICAL, AND FORENSIC APPLICATIONS, edited by Marc J. Kaufman, 2001 CRIMINAL POISONING INVESTIGATIONAL GUIDE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, TOXICOLOGISTS, FORENSIC SCIENTISTS, AND ATTORNEYS Second Edition John Harris Trestrail, III, RPh, FAACT, DABAT Center for the Study of Criminal Poisoning, Grand Rapids, MI © 2007 Humana Press Inc. 999 Riverview Drive, Suite 208 Totowa, New Jersey 07512 www.humanapress.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise without written permission from the Publisher. The content and opinions expressed in this book are the sole work of the authors and editors, who have war- ranted due diligence in the creation and issuance of their work. 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Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 e-ISBN 10: 1-59745-256-4 e-ISBN 13: 978-1-59745-256-4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Trestrail, John Harris. Criminal poisoning : investigational guide for law enforcement, toxicologists, forensic scientists, and attorneys / by John Harris Trestrail III.-- 2nd ed. p. ; cm. -- (Forensic science and medicine) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-58829-821-3 (alk. paper) 1. Forensic toxicology. 2. Poisoning. [DNLM: 1. Poisoning. 2. Forensic Medicine. 3. Poisons. QV 600 T799c 2007] I. Title. II. Series. RA1228.T74 2007 614'.1--dc22 2006007611 DEDICATION I would like to humbly dedicate this work to my parents, John Harris and Edith (McClay) Trestrail, for emigrating from the United Kingdom and Ire- land to America, which provided unlimited professional opportunites for their two children, and for their continued support and educational encouragement over the years, which allowed us to grow within and contribute to the voca- tions that we chose to follow. This work is also dedicated to my wife, Mary, my children, John and Amanda, and my grandchildren, Olivia and Owen, who have allowed me to passionately follow my love for the subject of toxicology, even though, at many times, they must have considered it somewhat eccentric and bizarre. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to formally acknowledge and thank the following individuals and groups who were of great assistance in the continued research and preparation of this work. Mr. Arthur E. Westveer, instructor at the F.B.I. National Academy, for his early-on encouragement and taking the author un- der his tutelage, to teach him the fundamentals of death investigation, gained through his many years as a Baltimore, Maryland, homicide detective. Also, to the dedicated members of the Behavioral Sciences Unit at the F.B.I. Acad- emy, in Quantico, Virginia, for their continued dialogue, excellent learning opportunities, and technical support. To my friend and colleague toxicolo- gist, Dr. Bernard H. Eisenga, PhD, MD, for reading the various drafts of this manuscript and offering his constructive comments. And to the staff of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Regional Poison Center, and its host hos- pital Spectrum Health, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, for their encourage- ment in continuing to allow the author to follow his passion, to carry out this monumental forensic project. John Harris Trestrail, III, RPh, FAACT, DABAT vi PREFACE I am very pleased with the success of the first edition of Criminal Poi- soning: Investigational Guide for Law Enforcement, Toxicologists, Forensic Scientists, and Attorneys, and would like to thank those who contributed con- structive comments with regard to typographical errors and what they would like to see expanded. Ideas have also been provided by attendees to my sym- posia on “Murder by Poison!” and “Poisoners Throughout History,” which have been presented at venues around the world. In this revised and expanded edition, the reader will find more discus- sion on what has been revealed about the poisoner and his victims since the 2000 publication of the first. In addition, I have expanded the Appendix to include more commonly used poisons, as well as the use of antifreeze as a posion, to reflect some cases that have recently come to light. The bibliography has been expanded by more than 200 additional cita- tions of texts and journal articles from the international literature related to criminal poisoning. John Harris Trestrail, III, RPh, FAACT, DABAT DISCLAIMER: This publication is intended to serve the reader with general background infor- mation representing various aspects of toxicology as it applies to modern litigation. However, this is not intended to serve as a substitute for intensive research respecting various issues, as each case must be approached on a case-by-case basis. Some cases will require intensive research independent of this work. vii CONTENTS Dedication ...................................................................................................... v Preface ........................................................................................................... vii Introduction .................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1—Poisoners Throughout History ............................................ 1 1.1. Poisonsin Ancient Times ................................................................................. 1 1.1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2. The Sumerians............................................................................................... 2 1.1.3. The Ancient Egyptians ................................................................................ 2 1.1.4. The Hebrews .................................................................................................3 1.1.5. The Asian Indians......................................................................................... 3 1.1.6. Nicander of Colophon ................................................................................. 3 1.1.7. Philon of Tarsus ............................................................................................ 4 1.1.8. Mithridates .................................................................................................... 4 1.1.9. The Greeks ..................................................................................................... 4 1.1.10. The Romans ................................................................................................... 5 1.1.11. The “Italian School of Poisoners”.............................................................