ipl-logo

How Did Sherlock Holmes Revolutionize Forensic Science

692 Words3 Pages

Sherlock Holmes played a major role when it came to revolutionizing forensic sciences. Millions of detectives now a days benefited from his work from the 19th century. Sherlock Holmes played within finding the serial killer dubbed as the “Jack the Ripper” killer. Crimes scenes weren’t what they used to be, either. Detectives typically looked for eye witnesses where as Sherlock used evidence in crime scenes to find the killer who committed the crimes. However, the Jack the Ripper crimes were unsolved. The techniques Sherlock Holmes used would forever change the way of how forensics would be conducted. Throughout the 19th century, a author by the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the stories of Sherlock Holmes and his forensic science endeavors. …show more content…

Use of blood evidence to determine suspects within the crime scene were essential, and this helped detectives think about what makes sense. One case that involved Sherlockian techniques was when Doctor Sam Shepherd was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife even when he testified that it was an intruder. Detectives looked at the evidence and the story itself to realize that he murdered her. Concentrating on minor details, such as blood spatter patterns, lead to the realization that he had murdered her. Another case that used Sherlockian techniques was when a man named Robert Curly began to get sick over a span of 11 months, slowly got sicker and sicker and was poisoned. Results from the hospital after doing an autopsy detailed that pest control poison was found within his body, a deadly and poisonous substance. The pallium was found in his Iced Tea, and therefore he was poisoned by somebody close to him that attempted to kill or even joke that ended badly. Investigators found no evidence that any coworkers were involved in the murder. Doctor Frederick Rieders helped solved this case, a world renowned forensics scientist. The sherlockian approach led him back to Robert Curly himself. It was later found that his wife, Joane Curly, poisoned him over time and that her motive was his life insurance. (Source

Open Document