The use of microscopic postmortem changes in anagen hair roots to associate questioned hairs with known hairs and reconstruct events in two murder cases.

In two cases investigated by the New Orleans Police Department Crime Lab, hairs recovered from crime scenes were found to exhibit microscopic postmortem changes in anagen hair roots. These microscopic characteristics were used to associate these hairs with various victims in the cases. In addition to associating questioned hairs with known hairs, the fact that the victims were dead when the hairs were pulled helped investigators reconstruct events in both crimes and corroborate statements made by the arrested subjects in each case.