In 1990 Mrs. Andronowich was at a bar with her husband. An argument ensued and she left the hotel. She was found in the morning laying at the rear of a junior high school about 1 mile away. She had been viciously sexually assaulted, mutilated and murdered. Her head had been so badly crushed with a 55 pound piece of concrete parking lot barrier, that dental records were required to identify the body. When the husband was questioned about the murder, he confessed. A forensic geological examination was conducted on the block to determine if any of the hundreds of concrete particles found in his car trunk matched the block. This examination met with negative results.

A further search of the area resulted in the discovery of a piece of concrete that roughly matched the murder weapon. After a petrographic examination, it was found to be a perfect match to the weapon. The second piece was found roughly 500 feet from the scene in an arena parking lot. It indicated that the murder was a result of different circumstances and the husband was re-interviewed. He then recanted his confession and was released.

An extensive series of tests were then conducted on concrete in an attempt to discover a way to fingerprint the porous surface. A new fingerprinting technique was discovered and the block was tested. Partial hand patterns were developed but no fingerprint ridge detail was found. This was determined to be due to the slippage involved in the repeated hammering of the block on the head.

Several years later, a male was arrested, tried and convicted of the murder. This incident is detailed in the report "Latent Fingerprint Development on a Cement Matrix", which is found under the publications section of this web site.