"CSI" met "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" earlier this month when MSU police conducted a two-day workshop on techniques for preserving fingerprints during investigations.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said fuming chamber technology, which preserves the prints, was developed in the 1970s, and the course was a refresher for many of those who attended.
The low-tech devices are inexpensive and, unlike most equipment used by crime scene investigators, can be assembled from common items found at a hardware store. The whole apparatus cost includes the price of a tube of super glue, a PVC pipe, a plastic cover, a lightbulb and a small aquarium.
A fuming chamber was used this spring when several projectors were stolen on campus, and a crime scene investigator was able to obtain valuable evidence during the investigation into the crime trend, McGlothian-Taylor said.
MSU student Jason William Trew was charged in connection with the thefts of more than 35 data projectors and other university property valued at about $200,000.
Fuming chambers are one of many techniques crime scene investigators use to solve cold cases, or reopened criminal cases. But their effectiveness is debated.
Ingham County sheriff's Detective Lt. Roy Holliday said he has never experienced a cold case in which a fuming chamber was helpful. His department is investigating nine cold cases and said methods involving DNA or new advances in trace evidence, such as fabric fibers or tire impressions, would be more helpful during the process.
The Ingham County Cold Case Homicide Task Force opened a 33-year-old murder case three years ago, and last October, Gary Mason and Kumbi Salim, who is also known as Stanley Price, were charged with the open murder of MSU student Martin V. Brown.
The men are in the hearing process at the 30th Ingham County Circuit Court, and the case is an example of investigators continuing to re-examine evidence long after the incident occurred.
Detective Lt. Doug Monette said fuming chambers aren't the only process MSU police rely on, and the type of methods depend on what evidence is involved in the situation. The size and what the item is constructed of, such as paper or plastic, are classifications weighed when fuming chambers are considered.
