Reference no: EM132412886

Criminal Investigation On January 12, 2018, Mrs. Brown reported hearing arguing and banging at her neighbor's house that woke her from her sleep. Her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, previously had a dispute the prior month. Mrs. Brown was about to call the police department, then noises stopped, so she went back to sleep. A week later, police and fire trucks were called to the Smiths' home by neighbors who saw flames coming from the kitchen window. Firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly put out the fire. Mrs. Smith was found in the kitchen with several gunshot wounds to the chest. Mr. Smith was found in the garage with a gunshot wound in his left temple, with a gun in this left hand. The Smiths' bodies were taken to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy and arson investigation team was called to determine the cause of the fire.

Please answer the following questions.

1. Residue found all over the house needs to be taken to the lab for analysis. How should the evidence be transported?

2. The medical examiner found gunshot residue near Mrs. Smith's wounds. List three elements that might be present in gunshot residue. What are the chemical symbols for these elements? How many protons, neutrons, and electrons do they have?

3. There are several cans of kerosene and gasoline in the garage. What instruments could be used to determine if gasoline or kerosene were used to ignite the fire?

4. Based on the composition of both compounds, why would gasoline be easier to ignite?