Yellow Paint
After Malcolm Fairley "the fox" had raped many victims and robbed dozens of houses, the police finally got a break. After searching the crime scene of a family's home, investigators discovered some chips of paint that had been rubbed off onto a bush near the driveway. The paint did not match any of the vehicles the victims owned, so the police sent it to the crime lab for testing. Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) tests were performed on the sample to try and determine its composition. PLM uses polarized light, a type of light that creates vibrations only moving in one direction and cannot be seen by humans normally. The tests allow investigators to view the 3D structure of materials and, in this case, paint. After the tests were completed, forensic scientists determined the paint had come from a Harvest Yellow Austin Allegro. Investigators obtained a list of all people in the area who owned such cars and began to search their houses and question them. When they arrived at Fairley's home, they found his Allegro had a scratch on it, linking him possibly to the crime scene and the rapes. With enough evidence to take Fairley into custody, they did, and after further analysis of the paint and comparison techniques, it was confirmed that Malcolm Fairley's car was on the scene that day, thus dubbing him the rapist.
-Carly Wright
-Carly Wright