Behind the yellow tape, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Forensic Laboratory is where science meets the front lines of justice. It’s a place where “outside the box” intuition and grit are just as important as the high-tech equipment used to analyze evidence. From restoring rusted firearms to processing complex DNA samples, each unit plays a critical role in uncovering the truth hidden within the details.
These stories aren’t just about laboratory techniques; they highlight the deep dedication and emotional resilience required by the professionals behind the scenes. Whether it’s finding a way to make a degraded murder weapon functional or navigating the heavy mental health toll of high-profile cases, these experts transform silent evidence into the answers that move investigations forward and support the pursuit of justice.
The first story features our Firearm and Toolmark Unit:
Several years ago, there was a triple homicide in Las Cruces. Almost exactly a year after the incident, a firearm was located in a chemical toilet at a highway rest stop. The firearm was brought to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Forensic Laboratory Firearm and Toolmark Unit in Santa Fe, where good fortune and forensic science collided to determine it was used in the crime.
Kevin Streine, a forensic scientist supervisor, was on the case, and over a series of weeks he was able to clean the firearm enough to disassemble it into parts, clean it again, and reassemble it to make it function.
“The gun was in pretty rough shape. We were fortunate because the chamber was loaded with one round of live ammunition. This live round protected the chamber,” said Streine. “Absent that being the case, it likely would have deteriorated to the point where we wouldn’t have been able to make a determination.”
He then shot the firearm into a water tank located in the lab in Santa Fe, recovered the test bullet and cartridge cases (“knowns”) and compared them to the evidence collected at the scene (“unknowns”). There was enough agreement of microscopic markings to conclude that the firearm recovered in the rest stop toilet was used in the triple homicide.
Cases like this illustrate how the Firearm and Toolmark Unit’s routine work can play a critical role in determining case outcomes and advancing public safety statewide.
Our second story features our Controlled Substances Unit:
Deadra Caleb has had a long-standing interest in forensic science. It first caught her attention in her high school chemistry class, and then there was a moment in college when she was watching Law & Order and the medical examiner commented about there being a ‘high concentration of fluoride’ in the person’s lungs.
“I thought immediately that the person’s head was pushed in the toilet because that’s where there’s a high concentration of fluoride,” said Caleb, a criminal forensic scientist with the Controlled Substances Unit of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Forensic Laboratory in Santa Fe. “When I made that connection, the person sitting next to me said, ‘how did you know that?’ I said that’s where it is found. I don’t know why that came to me in that moment, but it helped me realize that I have the ability to think outside the box.
Her mother also bought her the book Forensic Science by Jay Siegel, right before she went to grad school which she read twice, admitting she was really drawn to it.
Similarly, her colleague Abigail Mayo’s interest also started in high school with a forensic course and continued into college, ultimately leading to her current role as a criminal forensic scientist with the Controlled Substances Unit.
Our third story features our DNA Unit:
Work within the DNA Unit of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety’s Forensic Laboratory in Santa Fe can be highly challenging and not just in a scientific way. There’s a mental health aspect to the job that many have experienced, including Roslynd Archuleta, DNA supervisor and 18-year forensic scientist.
Archuleta managed the largest case ever to come through the DNA Unit, with more than 300 pieces of evidence, 13 reports, and over two years of work in the Victoria Martens case.
“It was very gruesome, high profile and a very stressful case to work,” said Archuleta, who is also the Combined DNA Index System Administrator. “The case was really important, and testifying was critical. Also, it was important for me to highlight the impact of our work on us as forensic scientists. We need to focus on mental health and ensure our analysts are taking care of themselves. We work with really heavy information, and that can really eat at you, especially when you have a case like this one that involved a child. I had young children myself at the time, and many of the items I saw in the case were ones I had at home for my own children. That hits really hard as a scientist realizing that the work you are doing – that there was a child that was hurt.
“I try to be a big advocate for all of us to take care of our mental health – to get help. I got some PTSD from it. I’m pretty open to talking about it. I found a therapist which was critical to find a better ground to stand on after such a difficult case.”
The fourth story features our Latent Prints Unit:
Identical twins and triplets share the same DNA, but no two people, even identical twins, share the same fingerprints.
This makes fingerprints a powerful tool in identifying who may or may not be associated with a crime, according to Latent Prints Unit personnel of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Forensic Laboratory in Santa Fe. It is that tool that helps agencies solve crimes throughout the state.
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