Zombie CSU (12 page)

So, getting back to our patient zero, finding him in the woods was not particularly difficult. There is so much technology, so much skill, and such well-practiced procedure that finding the suspect was a good bet, and apprehending him is not likely to be difficult. We’ll see why in Chapter 5 as we examine the techniques, technologies, and tactics modern police can use to arrest, detain or—at need—destroy zombies.

T
HE
F
INAL
V
ERDICT
: S
CENE OF THE
C
RIME

In just about any scenario where infection starts from a single source, there is a solid chance that the cops will keep this thing from going haywire. If we’re talking slow, shuffling Romero zombies caused by a plague, then the disease will spread with relative slowness and it will be noticed, witnessed, investigated, and dealt with appropriately.

Once the victim and the suspect were both at the hospital, the fact that this is a plague would begin to emerge. Especially if the bite victim dies and then wakes up and starts attacking people. That kind of thing is going to get noticed very, very fast. It would ring every alarm bell built into the local, state, and federal infrastructure, and in twenty-first-century America, with what has become our natural tendency to weigh sudden violence against the yardstick of potential terrorism, there would be a strong and immediate response.

If the disease involved fast zombies (or fast-infected humans) then there would be a much higher mortality rate and, very likely, a lag time in situation recognition and response—but the world isn’t going to crumble. At some point, even if we lose a city, the disaster response protocols hardwired into our police and military is going to kick in and the response will be severe, it will be overwhelming. Cities may be sacrificed to stop the spread of infection. In the 2007 film
I Am Legend
, bridges were blown up to prevent the spread of disease: That would happen.

Worst case scenario would be that the infection spread until a kind of “firebreak” could be established, which would probably be a river or a mountain range, at which point the forward press of infection would be slowed by terrain that could be defended. It’s the same basic premise as digging a moat around a castle. Maybe that moat would be the Mississippi or the Delaware or the Colorado River…but it would be a matter of “this far and no farther,” and then the counterattack would begin.

But that is worst-case scenario, and it depends on too many things occurring that are just not likely. It requires a disease that instantly spreads throughout the entire bloodstream, and continues to spread even in a murder victim in whom, presumably, blood has ceased to flow. It requires a disease of such virulence that conscious thought is instantly eradicated, which is unlikely in diseases where the body is not materially destroyed (say with a neurotoxin).

With the spread of a plague that follows some of the rules of infectious diseases, there would be a slower rate of spread than is shown in most genre films. Much slower. The police—who are seldom seen in these stories, and seldom shown to be intelligent, resourceful, or effective—would become involved; since they are intelligent, resourceful, and effective, the death rate of a zombie plague is very likely to be small. Larger if the plague happens in a densely populated urban area, much lower if in a rural area.

Bottom line: If you see a zombie, call a cop.

Laboratory Analysis
by Jonathan Maberry

“The identification, preservation, collection and analysis of crime scene evidence is an absolutely crucial step in the investigation and prosecution of major crimes.”

W
hile the manhunt starts, the victim is transported and the witness is interviewed and the crucial phase of evidence collection begins.
Forensics
means “belonging to the forum” and refers to the gathering of information that will have a legal bearing. Generally speaking many forensics fields use the phrase
medico-legal evidence
, as not all evidence will turn out to have a legal use.

This process involves identifying potential evidence, gathering it in ways that protect its integrity (for both testing and legal purposes), documenting each item (including a description of it and the exact location where it was found), transporting the evidence to the lab, tracking the movement of evidence through a paper trail called a “chain of evidence,” and properly storing each piece of evidence so that it is protected and preserved. A break in any of these steps could lead to evidence being destroyed, contaminated, or legally useless.

Evidence collection is often a shared responsibility between the crime scene unit, patrol officers, and detectives. In high-crime areas where the CSU is constantly in demand, this job may fall largely to uniformed officers, and all of them receive some degree of evidence handling training.

Greg Dagnan, former detective and assistant professor of criminal justice at Missouri Southern State University, comments on the frequency with which forensic experts are invited to a crime scene. “Not as often as they should. As a result we are trying to train officers in our part of Missouri to be mini experts. Usually a forensic specialist is only called out of desperation. At a guess, I would say a forensic specialist is called to the scene in less than a third of the cases and consulted in less that half of the cases.”

J
UST THE
F
ACTS

Bite Marks and the Science of Forensic Odontology

Forensic odontology, the study of teeth, has been used in a variety of ways, not just in solving crimes and convicting criminals. It was used to positively identify the remains of Adolf Hitler; it helped scientists verify that victims of old mass graves found in Europe actually died of the Black Plague (through identification of the bacterium
Yersenia pestis
found in dental pulp), and it has been used to identify the remains of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The presence of bite marks on the body will heighten the awareness of the crime’s severity. Biting generally indicates extreme aggression and great anger. This further suggests that the assailant is (or at least was at the time of the attack) in a highly agitated state. Officers will be very much more on the alert.

Expert Witness

The presence of bite marks is suggestive of a savage attack. Bryan Chrz, D.D.S., diplomate ABFO and past president of the American Board of Forensic Odontology, had this to say about the force of a human bite: “Most agree that about 68–150 pounds per square inch in chewing and intentional clenching can be generated by the average adult. Some have reported up to 1200 pounds per square inch during subconscious nocturnal
bruxism
(grinding or gnashing of the teeth). The biting mechanism used during a frenzied attack or defense would most likely fall somewhat between the two values. Bite marks can come from light marking all the way to total tissue avulsion (tearing away of the flesh).”

J. Curtis Daily, chairman of the Bite Mark and Patterned Injury Committee of the American Board of Forensic Odontology adds, “Male adults bite with more force than adult females; both with more force than children.” In Warren Harvey’s excellent textbook
¹
there is a discussion about volunteers biting human volunteer victims. The victims were anesthetized. The ‘biters,’ even after goading, essentially could not generate a bite sufficient to leave a significant bruise. This speaks to the ‘rage’ state of mind that overcomes all reservation, ethics, morals, etc., and allows the biter to leave significant bruise patterns on their victims. We actually know almost nothing about the microscopic events that lead to the visual damage (i.e., bruising pattern). I would guess your Zombies are not burdened by ‘ethics, morals, etc,’ so this may allow their bites to be more savage.”

Are bite patterns as useful as fingerprints? Daily says no with a degree of frustration. “I am the primary proponent in the USA that a police bitemark database should exist, but for now the ego of many forensic odontologists will prevent them from contributing former casework.” He feels that this would result in the unnecessary scrutiny of their work by lesser-qualified colleagues.

The Zombie Factor

Unless the zombie is actually caught or if he is seen attacking another person in a way that pretty much says: “Oh yeah, that there’s a zombie,” the evidence that is collected won’t create much of a sensation until it’s brought back to the lab and analyzed.

This includes the bite marks. In zombie films there is a very common inconsistency relating to the zombie’s physical capabilities and what is shown for dramatic effect. Consider: Romero and most of his followers clearly establish that zombies are not as physically strong as human beings. Their primary threat is in their numbers and in the infectiousness of their bites. If a zombie is less strong than a human of the same age, size, and weight, then its bite would also be necessarily weaker. Dr. Chrz observes: “The act of biting through skin and actually avulsing or tearing out a piece would require forces at the high range of the human biting force. Animals tend to do a better job due to the sharp canine and incisor teeth and meat cutting shearing edges of posterior teeth (molars).”

So, zombies aren’t likely to tear out large chunks of a person as they do very easily in the movies, a point on which Daily agrees. “It is only in the rarest of bite mark cases that flesh is actually torn off. Usually this is from a weak and vulnerable piece of anatomy (e.g., a nipple). It is likely impossible to rip a chunk of muscle from the bicep area of the arm, for example.”

Another factor to consider is the age and state of decomposition. A “fresh” zombie will be physically stronger in both limb and bite capability; but the more they decay, the weaker they’ll get. Dr. Chrz agrees: “Teeth are not fused to bone but rather are attached to the bone by a ligament system. As decomposition occurs this ligament breaks down and releases the teeth. Morphology of the tooth root will sometimes cause them to be retained in skeletal remains, but the cone shaped roots of the incisors tend to make them more prone to postmortem loss.”

Again Daily concurs, “Teeth become rapidly loose with decomposition. The periodontal ligament that holds the tooth to the bone socket decomposes just like the rest of the body.”

But to the observer at this stage of the game, a bite is a bite. So, to this point the police still don’t know what they’re up against and are following their time-honored procedures. Or is there still a clue left to find?

Daily says, “If the Zombie infection is based by a bite, wouldn’t that organism (whatever it is) be detected? There are studies—from the dental school in New Zealand I believe—that show/prove the ‘bacterial burden’ (i.e., the collection of bacteria in a biter’s mouth) can be identified from saliva deposited in the bite. However, logic tells me decomposing bodies that bite would leave a universe of organisms. You need your zombie bacteria to be a
super bacteria
that feeds on the other bacteria on/in the human host. That way, you could avoid this issue.”

Or, perhaps something else is involved, such as…
prions
.

If that word doesn’t give you chills yet…wait until you read Chapter 3.