DEATH BY ADMINISTRATION OF POISON

FORENSIC SCIENCE

SUBMITTED BY
Ishita Goel
Batch: 2018-2023
Course: BBALLB
Division: B PRN: 18010224078

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA SYMBIOSIS

INTERNATIONAL (DEEMED UNIVERSITY), PUNE

IN FEBRUARY, 2022

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Dr. Megha Chauhan
(Course-In-Charge)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

HYPOTHETICAL SITUTION…………………………………………………………3
CRIME SCENE MANAGEMENT………………………………………………….….4
PLANNING ……………………………………………………………4
COORDINATION……………………………………………………...5
PRESERVING THE CRIME SCENE………………………………….5
RECOVERY OF EVIDENCE………………………………………….8
CSM DOCUMENTATION AND EVIDENCE RECOVERY…………9
ANALYSIS OF THE CRIME SCENE……………………………………………….12
 HYPOTHETICAL SITUTION

There she was, Wanda Maximoff, lying in the bathtub of the most prestigious hotel in Delhi,
almost fighting for life as her body burned. She was screaming for someone to save her
magically, but no words seemed to get out of her mouth. She slowly and pathetically lost all
will and died a tragic death with one nagging thought in her mind; will anyone ever find out
who did it?
Ms. Natasha Romanoff, investigating officer of the area, entered the crime scene, scouting out
the hotel room 1408 where a dead body had been reportedly found. The entrance had a little
lobby and on the left side of the lobby was the wardrobe, while on the right side of it was the
washroom. She slid open the washroom doors and found a woman lying in the bathtub, with
her hands over her neck and blue body fully floating over the water. She noticed that there were
2 glasses of wine kept on the side of the bathtub. One empty and one full.
In the bedroom area, there was a fresh bouquet of flowers kept on the bedside table. There was
a food trolley at the back end of the room alongside the couch and the dining table. On the
table, there were some half-eaten food dishes and shockingly 2 plates and 2 sets of utensils.
But, the most shocking part of the bedroom was not the unmade bed, but a note on top of it,
which wrote:
“First it was my brother, Pietro, and then it was my partner, Vision. Without them, life seems
empty, lifeless, and I feel lonely. Although, I’ve been trying to make some sense of life, I have
realised that I have no purpose and that is why it ends today, no one is to blame, but I.”
 CRIME SCENE MANAGEMENT

The Delhi police got a call of a reported death at the Leela Hotel, Connaught Place, Delhi. They
reported that a suicide has happened in the hotel room and the body was found out by a member
of the staff who had went their to do room servicing in the morning. As soon as the information
reached the Investigative Officer, a team was prepared to visit the crime scene and conduct a
search & seizure.
The Delhi Police had a systemised way of dealing with any crime scene.

A. PLANNING:

The Delhi police took care of all the legalities of the crime scene. They followed all the general
principles of crime scene investigation, the forensic process and followed all the procedures
listed in the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law of Evidence and other local laws. They did this
to obtain the authority to enter the crime scene, to conduct the investigation, to prepare and
handle the evidence, such as the sealing bags required, and to submit the physical evidence to
the forensic science lab. This is essential because this can decide the admissibility of the
evidence in the court of law, and its proper compliance is mandatory for fair justice.
A team was prepared that will scout the crime scene and collect these evidences.
It includes:
1. The Investigating Officer: Ms. Natasha Romanoff to conduct the investigation. She was
assigned the case and has dealt with the investigation in a proper manner as per the law.
2. 3 Investigators: Mr. Clint Barton, Ms. Yelena Bulova and Mr. Tony Stark, these officers
assist in the crime scene management and during the investigation.
3. A Medical Examiner and the team lead by Dr. Strange
4. A Photographer: Mr. Peter Parker. A photographer is an essential person on the team
as it is his duty to capture the crime scene and click evidences in the rawest stage and
how they were at the crime scene.
5. A Videographer: Mr. Peter Quill. A videographer takes videos from the start till the end
of the crime scene.
6. A Sketcher: Mr. Hank Pym. If there is a need for live sketching and sketching of the
crime scene.
7. Forensic Experts Team lead by Dr. Bruce Banner
 B. COORDINATION:

The team acted in coordination. The team put tapes all over the west wing of the hotel lobby
of the 14th floor having 10 rooms in totality. The team preserves the crime scene. The people
in the rooms were shifted to different rooms and the room 1408 was sealed off for the
investigating team. No one was allowed to enter the crime scene expect the professionals. The
Investigating officer then allocated the duties of the team members. After the Investigating
officer and the medical examiner, the photographer and the sketch artist inspected the body and
the crime scene, the forensic team was called to collect the necessary evidences. The equipment
that was necessary was brought in, such as
1. sealed baggage’s from various sizes to collect evidence,
2. vials to collect liquid evidence,
3. box or kits for the forensic team to check finger prints,
4. blue lights for looking at the room for extra evidence.
The team worked in coordination and duties are allocated such as,
1. The videographer takes the video from the entrance of the hotel till the hotel room, he
also got footage of all the exists of the hotel.
2. The photographer will take photos of the hotel room and all the evidence he could find.
3. The forensic team will use their kits to start collecting evidence
4. The Medical team instantly looked at the body after the photographs were taken.
5. The sketcher was sketching the room and the lobby and where the evidences are placed.
6. The investigating officer and the subordinates were searching through the whole hotel
lobby and hotel room looking for any suspicious thing and further evidence.
The team preserved the scene of the crime through photography and videography. The
photographs and video’s and all the evidence were marked with the time of the day, direction,
scale. The team were to wear masks, gloves and make sure that no evidence was getting
tampered with. The team marked things in the room as necessary and unnecessary and went
ahead with the investigation.

C. PRESERVING THE CRIME SCENE:

Narrative Notes: Firstly, Mr. Clint Barton, an investigator prepares the narratives notes in
extensive manner in all the crime scene management.
Photographs:
1. 5 Photographs of the general view of the hotel room, including the bathroom and
bedroom. – Annexure A-1
2. 4 photographs of corpus delicti – Annexure A-2
3. 2 photographs of each evidence and 1 close up photograph with scale.
a. The suicide Note- Annexure A-3
 b. The two wine glasses for fingerprint testing- Annexure A-4
c. The two places of food and utensils for fingerprint and DNA testing - Annexure
A-5
d. The wine bottle – Annexure A-6
e. The hair strand - Annexure A-7
Then, Video of all the hotel room is made.

SKETCHING:
The crime scene was then represented on sheets of paper. The equipment’s used for sketching
are measuring tape, board, scales, D and Triangle scales, etc. The entire hotel room including
the bedroom and the bathroom were sketched and reconstructed as the real one.
The coordinate method of searching was used for the bathroom and the bedroom.

BATHROOM

A Y Axis
B C

D Focal Point

X Axis

The scale that has been taken in 1cm = 1m.

Legends:
A: The dead Body: x axis the body is 2 cm away and the y axis the body is 1 cm away.
B: Empty Wine Glass: from the x axis it is 3 cm away and from the y axis it is 1.5 cm away.
C: The full wine glass: x axis: 3 cm, y axis: 0.5 cm.
D: The rat poison bottle: x axis: 1.5 cm, y axis: 1.25 cm away.
The Direction is North East.

BEDROOM
B
Y Axis C

BATHROOM
Focal Point
X Axis

Scale: 1 cm = 0.5 m.
Legends:
A- The Suicide Note: X axis: 0.5 cm, y axis: 0.75 cm
B- Two plates for food and utensils and fingerprints: x axis: 0.5 cm, y axis: 4 cm
C- Hair strands on bed: X axis: 1 cm, Y axis: 0.5 cm
Direction: North-East.
 D. RECOVERY OF EVIDENCE

Searching
For recovery of evidence searching techniques are used. We used the ZOAL TECHNIQUE
search technique.
BATHROOM
ZONES: I, II, III, IV, V, VI

I II III

IV VI
V

BEDROOM
ZONES: I, II, III, IV, V.

II
I

IV III
V
 E. CSM DOCUMENTATION and EVIDENCE RECOVERY

WORKSHEET

FIR No. 123456/2022

Victim Ms. Wanda Maximoff
Suspects 1. Unidentified Man who accompanies
Wanda
2. Mr. Loki, the hotel staff.

Scene of occurrence Room No. 1408, Hotel Leela, New Delhi.

Informer Mr. Mary Jones

Time of Intimation 9:30 Am
Arrival Time 10:05 Pm.
Nature of Incidence Culpable Homicide / Suicide
Team Members 1. The Investigating Officer: Ms. Natasha
Romanoff
2. Investigators: Mr. Clint Barton, Ms.
Yelena Bulova and Mr. Tony Stark.
3. Medical Examiner and the team lead by
Dr. Strange
4. A Photographer: Mr. Peter Parker.
5. A Videographer: Mr. Peter Quill.
6. A Sketcher: Mr. Hank Pym.
7. Forensic Experts Team lead by Dr. Bruce
Banner

DESCRIPTION
Crime Scene A woman has been found dead in the hotel
bathroom. There are evidences of someone
else being in the room, a suicide note.
Victim Name: Ms. Wanda Maximoff
Age: 32 years
Female

E-LABELS

REFERING INVESTIGATING AGENCY: NEW DLEHI, LAB STATION.

FIR: 123456/2022
NAME OF THE I.O: MS. NATASHA ROMANOFF
DESIGNATION: Chief-Inspector
E -labels of all the evidence was made and had been signatured by the investigating officer,
Ms. Natasha Romanoff along with 2 Witnesses, Mr. Mary Jones and Mr. Happy, along with
their signature.

EVIDENCE CHART:

Location: New Date: 03-02- CASE No. 12 Police Station: IO: Ms. Natasha
Delhi 2022 FIR no. Connaught Romanoff.
123456/2022 place.
S.no. Evidence Material Quantity Container Seal Witness Remarks
1. Suicide paper 1 packet 1 Ms. NIL
Note Natasha
Romanoff
2. Wine glass Glass 2 packet 2 Ms. NIL
Natasha
Romanoff
3. Food plates glass 2 packet 2 Ms. NIL
Natasha
Romanoff
4. Utensils Silver 4 Packet 4 Ms. NIL
Spoons Natasha
and forks Romanoff
5. Fingerprints Print 4 Photographs 4 Ms. found on the
Natasha plates.
Romanoff
6. Saliva High- 2 Packet 1 Ms. Of the dead
quality Natasha body for
container Romanoff toxicology
report
7. Hair strands High- 2 Packet 2 Ms. Of the dead
quality Natasha body for
container Romanoff toxicology
report
8. Hair High- 2 Packet 2 Ms. Found on the
Strands quality Natasha bed.
Container Romanoff
 9. Blood High- 1 packet 1 Ms. Of the dead
quality Natasha body for
container Romanoff toxicology
report
10. CCTV Pen-drive 1 Polybag 1 Ms. Received
Footage Natasha from the
from the Romanoff hotel
hotel management.

Sd/-
SIGNATURE WITH STAMP
Ms. Natasha Romanoff,
Chief Inspector
03-02-2022
1:00 pm.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY has also been written.
 ANALYSIS OF THE CRIME SCENE

At the crime scene when the medical examiner examined the body, he concluded that Ms.
Wanda Maximoff had died, although the cause of death seems to be ingestion of poison. From
the samples such as hair, saliva, blood of the dead body it is confirmed that the poison given to
her was in a very high quantity and it was what lead to her dead. The estimated timing of her
death is around 3:00 am in the night.
From the forensic toxicology report it has been found that the cause of death is administration
of poison. The traces of poison found in the dead body indicate that the poison used is called
pseudaconitine commonly known as wolfsbane. The sample of wine confirms the contents of
pseudaconitine in it.
There seemed to be another person inside the room, as there were 2 plates, 2 utensils and
specially 2 glasses of wine, where one was empty and another one was full. There are also 2
sets of fingerprints to be found in the room. One belonging to the dead body and one belonging
to a secondary person. The hair strands found on the bed also does not belong to the dead body.
However, on the suicide note, fingerprints of the dead body were found.
From the CCTV footage recovered by the hotel management, there seems to be another man,
who was wearing a cap, which hid his face. He seems to be a muscular man with a ‘om’ tattoo
on his left arm. He had entered the room 1408 along with Ms. Wanda at 10:00 pm in the night
and left the room at 1:00 am in the night.
Conclusion
Thus, after carefully analysing the collected evidenced, it is concluded that this is a clear case
of death by administration of poison, pseudaconitine. There seems to be a case of suicide.
Although, the evidences, such as the hair strands, fingerprints on the food plates and the CCTV
footage indicates a secondary man as suspect.