Centuries of Ballistics
1493-1508
Although the discovery of identifying firing projectile was not known until the 19th century, Harold Peterson writes a book and discusses the rifling of firearms of Emperor Maximilian of Germany. This is one of the first references of concerning firearms. |
1835-1899
(1835) In London, England a homeowner was shot. He had a servant, who was a suspect. A man named Henry Goddard noticed the mold mark on the ball, and the paper patch that matched a newspaper in the servant's room. This was the earliest event involving identifying firearms. (1852) In Oregon, a detective conducted experiments to prove the suspect's firearm to match the victims shirt to see if it was a bullet or a tear. (1863) In The Civil War firearms identification occurred when the famous Confederate General Stonewall Jackson was shot. It proved that he was shot by his own. The examination of the bullet was identified as an 67-caliber which is what Confederate forces used, the Union troops used 58 caliber minnie balls. (1876) Also fire identification was used as testimony. Georgia, Minnesota, and Texas State Courts allowed expert testimonies as witnesses. Such as examining the elapsed time since the gun was fired from examining the paper patch, percussion cap, and barrel. |
1900-1930
(1907) In Brownsville, Texas, a US Army Regiment was involved in a riot. This was the first time the study of attempting and identifying cartridge cases to specific rifles. The evidence was sent to arsenal staff, and found 33 cartridge casings to being fired to the four rifles. This was the first recorded of firing casings as evidence. Firearms identification had reached a milestone in history. (1912) In Paris, France a Professor V. Balthazard discovered a new way to identify bullets with their firearms. He took elaborate photographs of the rifled areas of each land and groove. With the casings he did the same with using the firing pin, breech face, ejector, and extractor marks. This discovery was also a significant milestone. (1915) In New York State a farmer was accused of shooting and killing his employee and employee's housekeeper. The housekeeper had run away shot, and was found dead near the farmer's house. Since most evidence was contaminated, they had hired a firearms examiner, which examined the farmer's revolver. The firearms examiner stated that the farmer's firearm had fired the fatal bullets, but based his opinion on the abnormal scratches. (April 1925) In New York City, Major Calvin H. Goddard who established the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics adapted the comparison microscope for the use of identification of fired bullets, and cartridge cases. This allowed significant increase in an ability to identify matching striae. |
1930-1970
(1930) The foreman of the grand jury requested that Calvin Goddard establish a crime detection laboratory in Chicago, Illinois for his work in a Massacre case. (1932) The Federal Bureau of Investigation established and organized their laboratory. Now today it is the largest forensic laboratory in the United States. (April 1968) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated during a visit to Memphis, Tennessee. FBI Latent Print Unit searched for print card file that matched partial prints on the high power rifle, and identified a suspect named James Earl Ray. Robert Frazier, a senior member of the FBI Laboratory's Firearms Unit report recovered evidence cartridge casing matched the rifle, but it could not tell if the bullet was a match to the rifle. Ray eventually confessed. |