Current Forensic Science

Current Forensic Science

ISSN (Print): 2666-4844
ISSN (Online): 2666-4852

Mini-Review Article

Forensic Approaches to Handwriting Examination In Suicide Notes: Traditional And Digital Methods

Author(s): Vinay Singh*orcid of author, Rajeev Kumar and Suneet Kumar

Volume 3, 2025

Published on: 26 May, 2025

Article ID: e26664844359893

Pages: 7

DOI: 10.2174/0126664844359893250430052316

Price: $65

Abstract

In suicide cases, the investigating officer often comes across suicide notes, which play a vital role in any investigation. A document examiner often faces challenges in identifying and authenticating the authorship of the suicide notes. This difficulty increases when the suicide note is written on an unconventional surface with unconventional writing instruments. In this review paper, an attempt has been made by the authors to study the challenges faced during the examination of suicide notes at the scene of crime. This review paper also highlights the means and methods deployed by various researchers to overcome any such difficulties arising during the examination and comparison of suicide notes found at the scene of the crime. This study also focuses on areas of research gaps and future scope.

Keywords: Suicide notes, unconventional surfaces, unconventional writing instruments, manual handwriting examination, digital examination, forensic document examination.

[1]
"Plamondon Réjean. Neuromuscular studies of handwriting generation and representation", In 2010 12th International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition, 2010.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICFHR.2010.129]
[2]
H. Heidi, and M. Larry, Huber and Headrick’s Handwriting Identification:Facts and Fundamentals., 2nd Ed CRC Press Ltd: Boca Raton, 2018.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315152462]
[3]
N. Cheng, G.K. Lee, B.S. Yap, L.T. Lee, S.K. Tan, and K.P. Tan, "Investigation of class characteristics in English handwriting of the three main racial groups: Chinese, Malay and Indian in Singapore", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 50, no. 1, p. JFS2004005, 2005.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/JFS2004005] [PMID: 15831016]
[5]
S.K. Choudhary, and S.L. Vaya, "Identification & characterization of the type of tremors in handwriting: A review", IJLTEMAS, vol. II, pp. 67-69, 2016.
[6]
"Suicide. World Health Organization. Available from: [Accessed on: 17th June 2021]", https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide
[7]
A. Shah, and T. De, "Suicide and the elderly", Int. J. Psychiatry Clin. Pract., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 3-17, 1998.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13651509809115108] [PMID: 24946241]
[8]
K. Karbeyaz, H. Akkaya, Y. Balci, and B. Urazel, "Analysis of suicide notes: An experience in Eskişehir city", Noro Psikiyatri Arsivi, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 275-279, 2014.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/npa.y7000] [PMID: 28360638]
[9]
J.H. Kelly, "Unusual writing surface - and considerations", J. Police Sci. Adm., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 283-285, 1978.
[10]
R.N. Totty, "A case of handwriting on an unusual surface", J. Forensic Sci. Soc., vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 349-350, 1981.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0015-7368(81)71420-8] [PMID: 7310370]
[11]
S. Demirci, K.H. Dogan, Z. Erkol, and G. Gunaydin, "Unusual suicide note written on the body: Two case reports", Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 276-279, 2009.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0b013e318187e050] [PMID: 19696586]
[12]
R. Gulshan, and A.K. Harshvardhan, "Characteristic study of suicide notes written on the walls in suicide pact. the american society of questioned document examiners (ASQDE) 69th annual meeting: Summary of abstract", Available from: http://www.asqde.org/AGM/previous_meetings/programs_and_abstracts/2011Abstracts.pdf [Accessed on: 17th May 2021]
[13]
C. Behera, R. Rautji, K. Krishna, A. Kumar, and S.K. Gupta, "Suicide note on the palm: Three case reports and discussion of medico-legal aspects", Med. Sci. Law, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 84-87, 2014.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802413496410] [PMID: 23986149]
[14]
R.W. Byard, "Evidence of premeditation in skin messages in suicide", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 566-568, 2016.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13002] [PMID: 27049851]
[15]
C. Behera, R. Swain, D.N. Bhardwaj, and T. Millo, "Skin suicide note written in mehndi (henna)", Med. Leg. J., vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 39-41, 2016.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025817215614145] [PMID: 26612577]
[16]
N.K. Tumram, and V.N. Ambade, "Engraved suicide notes: The last note written on body by metallic object", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 61, no. S1, pp. S256-S258, 2016.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.12927] [PMID: 26258290]
[17]
C.J. Mahesh, and K.G. Rakesh, "Examination of handwriting on an unusual surface in a suicide case: Dead persons do tell tales – conduct a forensic investigation for the cause of humanity and justice", Problems of Forensic Sciences, vol. 101, pp. 50-59, 2015.
[18]
O. Hilton, "How individual are personal writing habits?", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 683-685, 1983.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/JFS11563J]
[19]
M.K. Katherine, Forensic Document Examination: Principles and Practice., Humana Press: Totowa, N.J., 2007.
[20]
P.J. Om, K.S. Atul, and A. Harzeen, "Spray paint writings on vertical surfaces executed by spray paint cans: A preliminary forensic study", Prob Foren Sci, vol. 98, pp. 83-90, 2014.
[21]
S. Jatin, and A. Sheza, "Unusual Circumstances: Extent to which they affect the handwriting and signatures", In International Conference on Questioned Document
[22]
T. Afreen, K.G. Anil, K.M. Munish, P. Ranu, L. Rubina, and S. Vaibhav, "Evaluation of similarities among conventional and unconventional writing", Inter J Soc Rel Conc, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 44-48, 2015.
[23]
U.Q. Syed, S. Anu, and R.Q. Saba, "Forensic identification of handwriting on curved surfaces especially tree", Inter J Res Anal Rev, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 645z-648z, 2018.
[24]
K. Amanpreet, T. Mohit, and R.K. Garg, "Forensic examination of handwriting transcribed on an unusual surface (Human Skin)", Prob Foren Sci, vol. 117, pp. 5-18, 2019.
[25]
B. Rolf-Dieter, "1-Dimensional and Pseudo 2-Dimensional HMMs for the Recognition of German Literal Amounts", In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, 1997, pp. pp.487-490
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICDAR.1997.620546]
[26]
Y.C. Chim, A.A. Kassim, and Y. Ibrahim, "Dual classifier system for handprinted alphanumeric character recognition", Pattern Anal. Appl., vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 155-162, 1998.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01259365]
[27]
K. Franke, and M. Köppen, "A computer-based system to support forensic studies on handwritten documents", Int. J. Doc. Anal. Recognit., vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 218-231, 2001.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/PL00013565]
[28]
N.S. Sargur, X. Aihua, and M.K. Kalera, "Learning Strategies and Classification Methods for off-Line Signature Verification", In Ninth International Workshop on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition, 2004, pp. pp.161-166
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IWFHR.2004.61]
[29]
S. Srihari, and G.R. Ball, "Comparison of statistical models for writer verification", DocRecog Ret, vol. XVI, p. 72470E, 2009.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.806077]
[30]
A. Ghosh, B. Bhattacharya, and R.S. Chowdhury, "Handwriting profiling using generative adversarial networks. computer science > computer vision and pattern recognition", arXiv:161108789, pp. 1-9.
[31]
N.S. Sargur, S. Barish, and D. Kartik, "Questioned document examination using cedar-fox", J Foren Docu Exam, vol. 28, pp. 15-26, 2018.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.31974/jfde28-15-26]
[32]
C.P. Saunders, L.J. Davis, A.C. Lamas, J.J. Miller, and D.T. Gantz, "Construction and evaluation of classifiers for forensic document analysis", Ann. Appl. Stat., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 381-399, 2011.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-AOAS379]
[33]
H. Heidi, "A Survey of Forensic Handwriting Examination Research in Response to the NAS Report", In 17th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society, 2015.
[34]
S.N. Srihari, S.H. Cha, H. Arora, and S. Lee, "Individuality of handwriting", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 1-17, 2002.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/JFS15447J] [PMID: 12136998]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite