Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany

In the first case the person was found in a barn which had burnt down completely. Some circumstances suggested that gasoline was involved. In the other case a female poured gasoline over her whole body. The use of a highly sensitive headspace-GC/MS method made it possible to detect the special components of the gasoline used. For the detection samples of the lungs, liver, kidneys and blood were used. By means of the matrix-independent multiple headspace extraction (MHE) technique quantitative analyses of the distribution of hydrocarbons in the organs were possible.

The chemical evidence for the gasoline and the exact determination of the type were an important contribution to the criminal investigations and the clearing up of the case, and made it possible to exclude a crime.