HANDWRITING evidence may be useful in the investigation of a variety of crimes, including cheque fraud, linking demand notes used in bank robberies to a suspect and establishing whether a suicide note is genuine or was written by a murderer to cover a crime.
One high-profile case compared the handwritten addresses on a series of letter bombs. A total of 15 explosive devices, some containing nails, were sent to addresses across the country as part of the campaign – a six-year-old girl was injured when she opened one parcel.
The comparison established that the envelopes had been written by the same person and when the suspect was arrested the team was able to match his handwriting to the packages.
The analysis involved a like-for-like comparison of each of the letters. The constituent features of each letter were examined for construction, shape, slope and how it was joined to other letters as well as other general elements of the writing, such as layout and punctuation.