CASE: Court document shows details in Abilene Police investigation of Veliz Homicide

How the GSR was found out in the crime scene?

Investigators collect primer GSR with adhesive lifters, sometimes referred to in supply catalogs as dabs
or stubs. Several companies sell them, usually as a kit with gloves, instructions, an information form, and
tape to seal the kit when finished. The adhesive contains carbon, which colors it black and makes it able
to conduct electrons in the SEM. Analysts also can use clear adhesive lifters; however, these require an
extra step of carbon coating to prevent charging from the electron beam hitting the sample during
analysis. The adhesive is located on an aluminum stub fixed into the cap of a plastic container.Removing
the cap exposes the tape, and the sample collection official can press the adhesive - without ever
touching it-to the sampling surface.

FINDINGS:

Abilene police believe video evidence shows that a man whose body was found Aug. 31 at a
convenience store parking lot was shot fatally in the head about two hours earlier at another business,
according to a court document. Police arrested Gabriel Balagtas Hall, 28, of Sachse early Friday in
connection with the shooting death of Carlos Veliz JI, 33, of Abilene. The court document states Hall's
arrest followed officers' review of the video as well as searching a vehicle rented in his name and
gunshot residue tests of Hall and his clothing.

After executing search warrants, police found gunshot residue on Hall's hands and clothing and gloves
belonging to him as well as on the interior roof of the rented SUV, the document said.