Newsletter

March 2018

In this Issue…..

Society News

Previous Meetings

Wastewater Analysis

Murder 101: Paulo Miranda Murder Investigation

Gala Dinner

Furr-ensic Family Fun Day

Upcoming Meeting

Highlights

Next Meeting!

AGM Gala Dinner

Furr-ensic Family Fun Day

Society News

IAN RIEBELING MEMORIAL AWARD

Those who qualify must notify that they are New Practitioners

upon registration

JOIN US

IN PERTH!The upcoming symposium will bring

together experts from a range of science

disciplines and jurisdictions to provide

an invaluable opportunity to share knowledge, develop ideas and network with colleagues from

around the globe.

Plenary speakers have now been announced! Check out the website and social media page

for more details

Website: www.anzfss2018.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ANZFSS2018

Twitter: @anzfss2018

Instagram: anzfss2018

Awards and Scholarships

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

Congratulations to our SA Branch members* who won Best

Paper categories in the ANZPAA/NIFS Awards for 2017!

Best Paper in a refereed Journal: Duncan Taylor* & David Powers. Teaching artificial intelligence to read

electropherograms.

Best Technical Article or Note: Duncan Taylor*, Damien Abarno*, Emily Rowe* & Lauren Rask-Nielsen.

Observations of DNA transfer within an operational Forensic Biology Laboratory.

Best Chapter in a Book: Jared Castle*, Danielle Butzbach*,

Stewart Walker*, Claire Lenehan, Frank Reith & Paul Kirkbride*.

Microbial impacts in post-mortem toxicology.

Best Literature Review: Roger Byard, Ian Musgrave, Garth Maker

and Michael Bunce. What risks do herbal products pose to the

Australian community?

Best Case Study: Jackie Wright, Michaela Kenneally*, John Edwards & Stewart Walker*. Adverse health

effects associated with living in a former methamphetamine drug laboratory - Victoria Australia 2015

http://www.anzfss2018.com/

Waste Not Want NOT!

August 2017

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

This year we celebrated Science Week with an intriguing presentation from Dr

Cobus Gerber who shared his powerful wastewater analysis technique that can

give us new insight into drug use in Adelaide and the current Ice epidemic in our

city!

Dr Gerber is a researcher from the School of Pharmacy and Medicine, University

of South Australia. His key area of expertise is the development of new methods

to detect compounds in wastewater.

Source: UniSA School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences

The techniques developed by Dr Gerber and his team enable population

substance abuse to be mapped over time. Dr Gerber described how

wastewater samples collected from the major treatment plants in

Adelaide (Bolivar, Glenelg and Christies Beach) can be sampled and

screened for the presence, and concentration, of metabolites from a

variety of recreational illicit drugs.

Although analysis of wastewater cannot link a specific individual to

drug use, all drugs (or their metabolites) enter the sewage system on a

daily basis via the toilet. So without knowing it, drug users are

unintentionally, and unavoidably, supplying Dr Gerber with a urine

sample which he can analyze to establish drug use on a larger scale, and

ultimately inform police of the largest drug threats to our community.

Wastewater samples collected on a daily basis allow Dr Gerber to

examine weekly trends in recreational drug use and compare variations

across different demographics. For example, cocaine usage was

prevalent in high-income suburbs, whereas cheaper drugs dominated

samples collected from areas of low economic status. Long-term

sampling (every two months since 2011) has enabled Dr Gerber to

detect the rapid increase in methamphetamine use, and provide valuable

real-time evidence to support the policing efforts towards combating the

‘Ice Epidemic’ that Adelaide is currently facing.

Dr Gerber stated that the level of

methamphetamine usage in Adelaide

has significantly increased since

2011 and have surpassed the usage of

other recreational drugs, such as

heroin and cannabis. While the latter,

are clear ‘party’ drugs with increased

usage on weekends,

methamphetamine showed a more

consistent weekly trend suggesting

that ’Ice’ users are addicted to the

drug and require a regular dosage.

Further increasing the risk of this

drug to our society.

Previous Meetings

Video link: http//anzfss.org/videos/

http://anzfss.org/videos/

Mistake #3: They ‘assumed’ that police had undoubtedly bugged the house and were listening to their

every word. To avoid giving away crucial evidence, they made a pact not to discuss the events inside the

house and communicate solely via handwritten notes whilst inside the property. Seems smart. But their

ultimate mistake…. they did not destroy the notes. When the police (who had not bugged the house) were

granted a search warrant, they recovered hand written details of the murder from the culprits themselves.

Murder 101:

Paulo Miranda Murder Investigation

September 2017

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

Cameron Georg (Major Crime Investigation Branch) and Andy Bartlett (Forensic Response Section)

delivered a very interesting account of the investigation as they searched for the whereabouts of Paulo

Miranda, a small time drug dealer, who disappeared in May 2008.

Paulo Miranda was lured to a property in Pooraka,

where he was blindfolded, tortured and beaten to death

by vengeful drug dealers. We heard the complex

investigation that led to the conviction of 5 offenders

over Paulo’s death in the absence of a body. One thing

is clear…the men involved made a number of ‘rooky’

mistakes in their efforts to trick investigators and avoid

arrest. Ultimately, these mistakes were used against

them to form the circumstantial evidence that secured

their conviction.

Mistake #1: TV crime shows have taught the public that bleach is a

good chemical for destroying evidence at the scene. In this case, the

culprits did just that, yet did not think that discarding the empty bleach

bottles in the wheelie bin at the front of the house where the murder

took place, may appear suspicious?.

Mistake #2: Despite the supposed clean up efforts, blood-stained

gloves, clothes and beanbags, some soaking in bleach, were found

scattered throughout the house and a pool of blood approximately

300mm by 400mm resided on the garage floor.

Mistake #5: A photograph of Mr Miranda "blindfolded and bleeding from the head“ was recovered from

the laptop of Tran, and the prosecution could prove that photo was taken in the bedroom of the Pooraka

house. Tran claimed that the picture was taken after Paulo had been killed and that he had ‘propped’ him

up to take the picture.

Tran received a minimum 22-year term, while Ngo and Ly were each given 21-year non-parole periods.

Nguyen and a youth were each jailed for five years, with non-parole periods of four years and two and a

half years respectively.

Mistake #4: The ringleader, Tran, used Mr Miranda's phone to send text

messages to the dead man's brother, claiming that Miranda was in trouble

with bikies and needed money urgently. However, a "draft version" of those

messages was also found written, in Tran's handwriting, in the bedroom of

the Pooraka house.

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

Gala Dinner

October 2017

As a number of the Society Executive now stem from South Australia, the Executive AGM was held in

Adelaide for the first time. The Gala dinner was held in the beautiful Adelaide Pavilion in the South

Parklands and was very well attended by members and their partners.

The evening kicked off with the President’s Report.

Adrian Linacre ratified new life members Keith Bedford,

Eric Davies (ACT), Peter Thomas (WA) and Bryan

Found, who sadly passed away earlier in the year. We

also heard from Kate Grimwood (Treasurer) and

Carolyne Bird (Secretary), before Chris May provided an

update on the 2018 ANZFSS Symposium in Perth, and

Claude Roux highlighted the exciting union of IAFS and

ANZFSS in Sydney in 2020.

Following the AGM, Professor Roger Byard, took to the stage to deliver an entertaining presentation.

Professor Byard is a forensic pathologist at the University of Adelaide and Senior Specialist Forensic

Pathologist at Forensic Science SA in Adelaide, Australia. He was awarded the Humanitarian Overseas

Service Medal (HOSM), the RCPA medal and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Operations Medal for

disaster victim identification work in Bali after the bombings in 2002 and in Thailand after the tsunami in

2004.

After the presentations, dinner was served and the drinks were flowing!

A spectacular three course meal was served by the friendly staff who

were very vigilant of any empty glass sitting in front of us. To set the

mood for the evening, the venue was superbly decorated by Lenara

Scandrett, and live music was provided by Grace Mezak and twin

brother Arthur Mezak (Mother Janet Mezak, Forensic Science South

Australia). The lucky door prize winner was Eliza Moule who received a

special hamper from the ANZFSS committee.

When the Gala concluded at midnight, the party moved to the King’s

Head on King William Street where members continued the celebrations

into the early hours. The ANZFSS SA Branch committee would like to

thank everyone for their efforts in making this event such a success and

we look forward to having the opportunity to host another AGM in the

future.

To book Grace Mezak (Singer,

Musician, Actor) for an upcoming

event, please contact her on:

Mobile: 0432151083

Email: grace.mezak@outlook.com

Furr-ensic Family Fun Day

November 2017

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

This year we decided to try something a little different. We invited our furry

friends from the South Australian Police and SES Dog Operations Unit to

join us for a family barbeque in Bonython Park.

Despite the unpredictable weather on the day, we had a great turn out

and a fun day was had by all. There were smiles all round as we

wrapped the afternoon off with a good old sausage sizzle! The children

left with Christmas gift bags (thanks to Julianne Henry) and the adults

left with new knowledge of the crucial role our furry friends (and their

trainers) play in catching criminals, and also a new appreciation for the

commitment of our SES volunteers to the important task in missing

persons cases.

Many thanks to SAPol and SES for bringing the dogs and being so

interactive. We hope to follow this event up next year with a Christmas

BBQ with a range of engaging activities and games for all the little and

big kids among us!

As if the dogs weren’t enough excitement for the day.

Two mounted police horses from the nearby barracks also

made an unexpected appearance!

We had demonstrations from the

SA Police German Shephard.

These dogs are trained to take

down criminals in police pursuits.

This time it was our poor police

trainer (wearing appropriate arm

protection of course) who was

tackled to the ground.

Next we met the black Labradors from SA Police who are trained to detect drugs and firearm cartridges.

Police placed a number of items around the park and within minutes the dogs had located them and alerted

their trainers. These dogs work 24 hours a day and are never off duty, even when at home and ununiformed.

One trainer told of the time she busted a group of construction workers while walking her drug dog on their

day off! We also learned that the owners cannot simply feed these dogs at home, it must always be a game for

the dogs and they must always locate an item before receiving their dinner. Even if this means that the trainer

must plant items in their back yard at 3am after a long shift!

The SES demonstrations were great and got the children

involved by replicating a missing person scenario. All

hands shot up as the SES asked for a volunteer. Those

chosen got to play hide and seek with the SES dogs. One

at a time, the children hid behind a tree and the SES dog

rapidly located them.

Get your

ANZFSS Merchandise!

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

NEXT MEETINGJOIN US THIS FRIDAY

AT THE BRAGGS LECTURE THEATRE

At the upcoming meeting, we will be giving away some old stock FREE to make way for

some exciting new products.

First come, first served!

ANZFSS SA Branch Newsletter March 2018

The Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society, SA Branch Inc.

GPO Box 194, Adelaide SA 5001Email: sabranch@anzfss.org

Web: www.anzfss.org/sa

ANZFSS South Australia

WARNING: The ANZFSS (SA Branch) Committee wish to advise that the material presented at some of the ANZFSS meetings can be of graphic or

explicit nature. Some of the material presented may disturb or offend some people. Persons attending meetings do so at their own risk. For this reason,

we recommend that persons under the age of 17 years do not attend meetings.

Views and opinions expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society or the SA Branch.

Contact Us

mailto:sabranch@anzfss.orghttp://www.anzfss.org/sa