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Forensic Physics

Fatal Falls from a Height: Two Case Studies

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ABSTRACT:

Two case studies are presented involving fatal falls of adult females from a height. One involved a launch at low speed from a balcony, and one involved a launch at high speed from the top of a cliff. Crime scene evidence obtained on the balcony itself provided a strong indication of homicide, but subsequent investigation showed that the fall was accidental. No crime scene evidence was obtained for the cliff fall since the fall initially appeared to be just another suicide from a popular suicide spot. Subsequent investigations indicated homicide based on measurements of cliff height, horizontal distance to the impact, and available runup distance, plus measurements of possible run, jump, and throw speeds. It was found that a female weighing 61 kg (134 lb) can be thrown at speeds up to 4.85 m/s by a strong male, more than enough to account for the estimated launch speed (4.5 m/s). Given the available 4.0 m runup distance, it was found that

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Forensic Physics 101: Falls from a Height

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I. INTRODUCTION

A recent innovation in some physics departments is the introduction of courses on forensicphysics.Topics of interest include motor vehicle accidents, trajectories of bullets, fire and explosion investigation, and materials identification and imaging methods. Another topic that could be used to illustrate a forensic application of Newton’s laws is the physics of falls from a height involving serious injury or death. Fatal falls are mostly accidental and commonly involve falling from or down objects such as a ladder, tree, stairs, balcony, or a construction site. Falling from a height is surprisingly common, accounting for about one in eight work related deaths. During 1997–2000, 1643 people fell off flat roofed houses in the south-east part of Turkey. Between 1937 and 1981, 720 people fell or jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. Falls from a height are generally a safety issue, but can also be an issue for the police. Over the last five years I have

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