WVU researchers' new approach to duct tape forensics is sure to stick

Aug. 18—MORGANTOWN — While duct tape's adhesive properties have long been recognized for their role in capturing crime scene DNA, the field of forensics has focused less on the information hiding in tape's edges. That is, until now.

For more than four years, Tatiana Trejos, associate professor of forensic chemistry at West Virginia University, has been working with a team of researchers to develop an algorithm that analyzes the physical fit between the edges of pieces of duct tape.

This research can help investigators determine the source, brand, and origin of a piece of duct tape, and connect dots surrounding a suspect's purchase and usage of it, Trejos said.

When pieces of duct tape from the same roll are separated, their edges still fit into one another on the microscopic level, like puzzle pieces. This can have a number of benefits, especially for crime scene investigators, Trejos said.

Take, for example, a kidnapping scenario in which a perpetrator uses a piece of duct tape on a victim.

If the perpetrator does not leave behind their own DNA evidence, then analyzing the physical fit of tape edges could match an individual piece to its source — likely a roll of tape that they own or at some point purchased.

Analyzing the physical fit of duct tape has been a common practice in laboratories across the country for years, but has never been standardized nationally.

In the field of criminal justice, this means juries have been provided information on edge matches not based on a national metric, but according to the interpretation of physical fit by individual lawyers.

Developed with the support of Aldo Romero, WVU director of research computing, Trejos' system uses artificial intelligence to analyze the closeness of two edges.

It also creates a universal standard for what constitutes a match and the margin of error present in each result, which provides a method to analyze physical fit that can be standardized nationwide.

For Trejos, this project is just part of a long career researching trace evidence — materials present in a sample, but in extremely small amounts.

"Usually, we don't see them with the naked eye in the crime scene," she said. "But if we find the technology and tools to recover them, they can provide a lot of clues about how things happened."

Before entering academia, Trejos served as a practitioner of forensic science, applying research methods to crime scene evidence. Her background helps her stay informed about the needs of the field at large.

"Once you're a practitioner, you're always a practitioner by heart," Trejos said. "I have always been working very close together with practitioners, so I never lost that link with them."

Trejos discovered the need for a standardized system of analyzing physical fit through conversations with members of a forensic subgroup at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Approaching the project required working with a talented team of WVU researchers, including recent forensic science graduate Meghan Prusinowski.

Prusinowski began the project with Trejos in May 2017, and spent her time as a graduate student researching physical fit and trace evidence inside and outside of Trejos's lab.

"The great thing about this project is that it's the first stepping stone for where this research can go in the future," she said. "Physical fits are not just a feature unique to duct tape. Physical fits occur in a variety of other materials that we as professionals [and] forensic scientists are often asked to identify."

Prusinowski emphasized that principles of Trejos' project can be applied to other materials examined through forensic science, "having a very clear impact on the field."

Zachary Andrews, a current WVU doctoral candidate in forensic science, currently serves as part of Trejos' research group, and emphasized the value he sees in the project.

A native of Huntington, Andrews began as an intern with Trejos' lab before entering a graduate program, and his decision to pursue his doctorate at WVU was influenced by his experience working on the project.

For Andrews, social impact has always been the backbone of his interest in forensics.

"I wanted to do something a little more applied, a little more direct in terms of helping people," he said.

With his research at Trejos' lab, Andrews believes he has done something that can make a difference.

When labs lack a standardized method for analyzing physical fit, they are more likely to produce false positive matches, and less likely to supplement their analysis with additional examination. This can lead to false imprisonment, Andrews said.

With a new, standardized approach to physical fit, though, Andrews said that there is now a cheaper, simpler way to conduct this analysis, and one less subject to user error.

The project has "gone a long way to building a method we're more confident about," Andrews said.

Reach Jack Walker by email at jwalker@timeswv.com.