Lindt Siege virtual crime scene investigator Domenic Raneri recognised for forensics breakthrough

A forensic scientist who used groundbreaking 3D laser imaging to reconstruct what happened during the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege is being recognised for his work.

North Strathfield’s Domenic Raneri has been a crime scene investigator with NSW Police for six years.r

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A forensic scientist who used groundbreaking 3D laser imaging to reconstruct what happened during the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege is being recognised for his work.

Domenic Raneri, of North Strathfield, has worked to create three-dimensional maps of some of NSW Police’s most tragic cases, including the Martin Place Lindt cafe siege of 2014.

The 29-year-old was nominated in the Western Sydney University science and Technology Award category. It recognises young people contributing to the community through exceptional and visionary science and technology achievements.

Domenic Raneri took on a role with NSW Police as a Crime Scene Officer where he investigated the application of 3D laser imaging.

After finishing his Forensic science degree at Western Sydney University, he took on a role at NSW Police as a crime scene officer, where he has worked for the last six years.

He was tasked with investigating the application of 3D laser imaging to crime scene investigation.

“When I walked in the door, they asked me to work wholly with this equipment they had,” he said.

“It was worth a quarter of a million dollars but no one was able to get it to do anything useful.

“Initially, we thought we would use these devices like a fancy camera but as we kept learning, researching and developing we found we could achieve so much more.

“So much we could offer investigations in terms of analysing evidence in new ways we never thought were possible.”

Together with his passion for law enforcement and forensics, Mr Raneri paved the way for virtual crime scene investigation to be used in the reconstruction of events surrounding the Lindt cafe Siege.

Mr Raneri’s work has been recognised by Western Sydney University.

“There were distressed hostages, people who had lost loved ones, traumatised police officers who had to run in there thinking they could die, it’s quite rewarding to be able to show that despite the tragic outcome, the police had done the best job that they could on the day,” Mr Raneri said.

“We were able to go step by step and moment by moment through the police intervention and show what scenarios were possible, what was not possible.

“We are able to figure out which person was where, when they may have been wounded as well as what the police would have seen through the windows and through the barrels of their guns.”

Mr Raneri paved the way for virtual crime scene investigation to be used in the reconstruction of events surrounding the Lindt cafe Siege.

Mr Raneri started by capturing as much physical evidence as he could at the scene, using a scanner.

“We’ll be the first people in a crime scene, we can capture it undisturbed,” he said.

“We attended (the Lindt Cafe) and used the scanners to record inside and around the cafe.

“We attended all the post mortem and attended the wounded, the deceased and over the next 18-months we were involved in recording forensic testing, looking at the way weapons were performing, the behaviour of the ammunition.

“We can take a chair that has been struck by a bullet and determine the trajectory of the bullet.

“We can now move that chair around the 3D environment and see exactly where that bullet line is pointing.

“That can determine where the shot was fired.”

Mr Raneri said there were many ideas and theories as to what happened, but the equipment he uses allows him to “know for certain exactly what happened.”

“When you walk into a crime scene like the Lindt Cafe, you can be initially overwhelmed by the magnitude,” he said.

Mr Raneri says paving the way for virtual crime scene investigation was very rewarding

“But once you get inside and break it down into any other crime scene, it’s a process of isolating the aspects of evidence that are of interest to you.

“Once you piece all that together, it’s very rewarding, out of the confusion you start to draw a clear idea of what’s occurred.”

Mr Raneri has been nominated in the Western Sydney University science and Technology Award category.

It recognises young people contributing to the community through exceptional and visionary science and technology achievements.

“One of the things that has drawn me to my work and is a huge motivator for me is the fact that the work is putting criminal offenders to justice and the impact that has on the community,” he said.

“A lot of people everyday don’t get thanked for their work and to be recognised by the community that I serve is quite an honour and I’m flattered to have received.”