The importance of fingerprint evidence cannot be underestimated as it can provide valuable information pertaining to perpetrator of a crime. However, there is no recognised method for the enhancement of latent fingerprints on clothing fabrics. As a result, forensic laboratories rarely attempt to recover fingerprints from such substrates. Recently, new cyanoacrylate (CA) products such as Lumicyano™ have been developed. This method incorporates a fluorescent staining dye powder 3-chloro-6-ethoxy-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (C₄H₅ClN₄O) and liquid ethyl CA into a solution. Therefore, Lumicyano™ can develop fluorescent fingerprints in a one-stage fuming process without the need for an additional visualisation method apart from Forensic Light Source (FLS). The integration of fluorescent dye and CA into a mixture suggests that the fluorescent dye would selectively adhere to the polycyanoacrylate formed on the friction ridges of fingerprints. The readily visible fingerprints and the removal of the post-processing method indicate that Lumicyano™ could potentially be used on fabrics. Thus, this preliminary study aimed at assessing the efficacy of Lumicyano™ on recovering fresh latent fingerprints on black clothing fabrics. This was achieved by developing fresh latent fingerprints deposited on four different types of black clothing fabric materials; polyester, cotton, poly cotton, and nylon. The results showed that Lumicyano™ is an effective method to develop fresh latent fingerprints on black clothing fabrics. Furthermore, an indirect comparison between Lumicyano™ and silver VMD results obtained from another study was performed. The results suggest that Lumicyano™ is a better enhancement method to enhance fingerprints on black polyester and poly cotton fabrics than silver VMD. The fibre material, thread count, weave pattern of the clothing fabrics, and the fingerprint donor were proven to be important in determining the quality of the developed prints.
Keywords: Forensic science, Fingerprint evidence, Lumicyano™, Fabric
