Forensic Analysis of Stains on Fabric Using Direct Analysis in Real-time Ionization with High-Resolution Accurate Mass-Mass Spectrometry.

A rapid technique using direct analysis in real-time (DART) ambient ionization coupled to a high-resolution accurate mass-mass spectrometer (HRAM-MS) was employed to analyze stains on an individual's pants suspected to have been involved in a violent crime. The victim was consuming chocolate ice cream at the time of the attack, and investigators recovered the suspect's pants exhibiting splatter stains. Liquid chromatography with mass spectral detection (LC-MS) and stereoscopic light microscopy (SLM) were also utilized in this analysis. It was determined that the stains on the pants contained theobromine and caffeine, known components of chocolate. A shard from the ceramic bowl that contained the victim's ice cream and a control chocolate ice cream sample were also found to contain caffeine and theobromine. The use of DART-HRAM-MS was useful in this case due to its rapid analysis capability and because of the limited amount of sample present as a stain.