Forensic Science Case study

1. Navaira Arif (18)
Yumna Saeed (08)
Haris Munir (28)
Rabia Ikram (19)

2. Cold Case Murder of Krystal
Beslanowitch, 1995

3. What
Happened?
On December 6, 1995,
the body of a 17 year
old girl was found in
the Provo River in
Utah. She was found
naked and beaten to
death with a rock and
the granite crushed
her skull. River where body was found
Crime Scene

4. The Victim

5. The Investigation
The police had the alleged murder
weapon, a rock from the Provo river,
but without a blood, hair or saliva
sample, DNA could not be collected
that did not belong to Beslanowitch.
The investigation took place for two
years and eventually ran dry.

6. Evidences
Circumstantial, Biological
and Individual
Circumstantial, Class and
Biological
Circumstantial, Physical and
Class

7. Even though her
choices in living
weren't the best, the
cops still thought this
18 year old needed
justice for such a
terrible crime. One
cop would not give
up and spent a lot of
his time trying to
figure out who it was.

8. Principal Investigator
Todd Bonner

10. M-Vac
• Because of technological advancements
between 1995 and 2013, a new discovery led
to Bonner solving this crime
• The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum based forensic
DNA collection device that sucks up any DNA
left on an object after a person has touched it

11. “It could glean 40 percent more DNA from a saliva
stain on polyester than a cotton swab, and 88
percent more from a blood stain on nylon fabric”
–The Salt Lake Tribune

12. • Using M-Vac, finger Prints were found at
the crime scene on the granite rock that
was used to kill Crystal
• The forensic analysts used the DNA
extracted from the finger prints to create a
profile to find the person responsible for
the murder

13. The Suspect
Joseph Michael Simpson

14. Police travelled to Florida,
where Simpson was living at
the time, and after following
him for days they were able to
collect a sample of his DNA off
of a cigarette that he had
tossed on the ground
This evidence allowed police
to convict him of first degree
murder

15. Motive
There is no definite motive
but the most probable is that
Simpson had to kill Crystal
was somehow connected to
drugs or prostitution. He had
also been on parole for a
previous convicted murder
case which could’ve triggered
him further to go about his
heinous crime.

16.  He was on parole for a 1987 second-
degree felony murder conviction
when he killed Beslanowitch
 The 4th District Court jurors debated
for less than an hour on Friday and
sentenced him to life without parole