famous cases solved by blood spatter analysis
Forensic experts found evidence that Lindy had slit her babys throat in the family vehicle. The Indiana State Police evidence technician, who was initially in charge of processing the crime scene, had strong reservations about the so-called expertise of Robert Stites. Robert Stites was the so-called expert in crime scene reconstruction and bloodstain pattern analysis who arrived in New Albany, Indiana to assist Floyd County prosecutor Stan Faith. The report found, some experts extrapolate far beyond what can be supported, and went on to conclude that extra care must be given to the way in which the analyses are presented in court. However, in 1982, expert testimony and public opinion proved enough to convict Lindy Chamberlain of murder and her husband of being an accessory to murder. Like. The baby had been wearing other clothes that weren't found at the time. 12 Test Bank - Gould's Ch. THE CAMM CASE: A BLACK-EYE TO THE BPA PROFESSIONAfter giving an overview of BPA history, the instructor mentioned that the bloodstain profession has taken a few hits with the 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences that was critical of some of the practices of BPA in American courtrooms. "Crime Science: Methods of Forensic Detection." Englert also focused on Allan Kustok's glasses, which at first seemed to show evidence of high-velocity spatter. Englert opined that the cast-off stains were allegedly caused when the mother drew back the knife after repeatedly stabbing her son to death. This was evidence enough to warrant a few questions to be answered. In May, Pamela Collof published a two-part article describing in-depth the background of the case and the testimony of the blood spatter expert witness. 2001. The CSI came to this realization after Stites claimed there was evidence of clean-up at the crime scene. (Nov. 30, 2021)http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/blood/how.html. His case was the first exoneration for Investigating Innocence, which was started earlier that year. Blood spatter analysis (or bloodstain pattern analysis) is a forensic technique in which stains of blood at a crime scene are examined to provide information about the incident, such as how or where the victim was killed. Murder trialscan get especially trickywhentwo blood spatter experts givecontradictorytestimony. Dutelle, Aric W. "An Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation." The first use of blood stain analysis in an American courtroom occurred in 1966, in the re-trial of Sam Sheppard, an Ohio physician who spent over 10 years in prison before being freed. Taylor & Francis. Academic Press. famous cases solved by blood spatter analysis. The DNA from the crime scene belonged to Wayne Dixon, a man who was already in prison. It was identified to be of 22-year-old BreeAnza Guzman and 17-year-old Michelle Lozanos respectively. Dec. 21, 2001 12 AM PT. A scenario that can sometimes make for a (excuse the pun)messy trial. In 1955 during the case of State of Ohio v Samuel Sheppard blood splatter played a large role in showing Shepard was innocent of murdering his wife. This palm print is consistent with Boney having reached inside the vehicle to fire the shots that killed 7 year-old Brad, and his 5 year-old sister, Jill, who was still seat belted inside the vehicle.Earlier, a judge had lowered Davids bond. Christopher Vaughn murdered his wife and three childrenand then tried to blame his children's from sentencing her to two life terms plus an extra 15 years when she was found guilty of the crime. Crime scene investigators found the bloody knife on the floor at the doorway, where Julie said she encountered the man. A great example of this is a case following a man coined. Zeiglerhas been on death row since 1976 and continuesto claim he did not commit the crime. Spatter on theman's clothing also had the Blood Spatter Evidence in Bryan Case Recent testimony from an evidentiary hearing in the Joe Bryan case in Texas has centered on blood spatter interpretation. The deceased had been violently beaten about the face, neck, and chest area. 2. MISUSE OF BPA IN AMERICAN COURTROOMSMy first case involving Rodney Englert, was a Lawrenceville, IL woman who was facing the death penalty. (Oct. 12, 2015) http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2013/04/18/bloodstains. Schalk van Zuydam/AP Sometimes the way in which a crime gets solved is the most interesting part of its story. The problem with this analysis, however, was that it was later discovered Billie Jo suffered from pulmonary interstitial emphysema. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Copyright 2023 Later analysis revealed that the stains came from a spilled drink and a sound-deadening compound that came with the car. a gunshotmurder. (Oct. 12, 2015), Special Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV Security, International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA), International Association for Identification (IAP). David told police he found his wife lying on the floor of the garage. Some of them went on to train hundreds of police officers, investigators and crime-lab technicians many of whom began to testify as well. Her skull was crushed using a granite stone. However, on further analysis, it was proved that the fluid which they thought was blood had no trace of blood cells or any component of the blood for that matter. by . "How Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Works" (Oct. 14, 2015) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/us/vindication-at-last-for-a-woman-scorned-by-australias-news-media.html?_r=0. The uncertainties associated with bloodstain pattern analysis are enormous. The prosecutor made a public statement that there was not enough evidence to arrest anyone. This famous case inspired the TV series The Fugitive (1963-67) and the 1993 movie, starring Harrison Ford. They expressed their professional opinions that the small spots of blood on Davids t-shirt were transfer stains caused by the t-shirt coming into contact with blood saturated strands of his daughters hair.However, none of the States bloodstain experts reported observing high velocity impact spatter stains on Davids shorts. In 1971, MacDonell wrote Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood, the first authoritative BPA training manual. In total, the victim suffered more than 300 injuries before she died. For example, to assume that droplets were HVIS, the case must involve a suspected shooting. Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites, Although not the case with this investigation, Bloodstain pattern analysis can make or break an investigation. Students also viewed Introduction To Social Psychology - Lecture notes - Exam 1 Cell Types SE - bio Nevertheless, David was re-indicted for conspiracy to commit murder and has been confined to a prison cell ever since. their daughter. overruled Howard's opinion was testimony from a cellmate who claimed Johnson admitted to the The crime scene analyst and expert in blood spatter analysis said that "seeing that head in the position it was, that is a contact wound from a high energy source weapon" like a shotgun. "Justice Applications of Computer Animation." . In 1990, three prostitutes were killed with a .22-caliber handgun in Spokane, Washington. "Bloodstain Pattern Analysis." There was no doubt however that the Bloodstain pattern analysis played a. They were both minors at the time of the crime,so they are Haberman, Clyde. After he left office, a special prosecutor intent on charging Julie Rea with a capital offense was appointed to take charge of the investigation. Allan Kustok, 63, is charged with killing his wife, Anita "Jeanie" Kustok by shooting her in the face with a .357-caliber revolver as she slept in their bed. Neither of these stories held up in courtand blood spatter analysis was the key to her conviction. 8 The Krystal Beslanowitch Murder. Your email address will not be published. O. J. Simpson Murder Case. No report of child abuse had been made at that time. "The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation." Ballistics solve murder after 4 decades. The prosecutor told the defense attorney that it was submitted, but there was no hit. A mandatory reporter, the family doctor was not alarmed. However, there was not enough evidence against Littleton, and the case went cold. His testimony helped win Sheppards freedom.However, it was Herbert L. MacDonell, who is credited with establishing the profession of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA). 2012. (Read more about the exoneration here. Since then, the field of bloodstain analysis has continued to grow, develop and become standardized [sources: Eckert and James]. One of the key figures in the long-running case of Michael Peterson in "The Staircase" is Duane Deaver, a blood spatter analyst who worked for North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation in. But knowing Boneys sexual predilection of being aroused by womens bare feet and legs, the artifacts of the crime scene fit perfectly with his MO. Tragically, a familyin mourning would soon find themselves dealing with a media circus and two wrongful convictions. However there was none. His conviction was based in part on the testimony of an expert witness in blood spatter interpretation. Finally, in 2011, a single microscopic spot of blood was foundon one of the accused men's jacket collar, along witha hair on the other's pants. Sheppard had been convicted in 1954 of bludgeoning his wife to death in her bed, but maintained his innocence, claiming the attack was perpetrated by an intruder. eligible for release in 2026. One would expect to see a conical pattern of dispersal from high velocity impact spatter (both forward and back spatter) when a bullet fired from a gun impacts a body of blood. 56 (Suppl. Allan Kustok, 63, is charged with killing his wife, Anita "Jeanie". Contact us for any suggested topics! Touch DNA is the traces of DNA samples left by a person on a surface which he or she had touched. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Shanna Freeman & Melanie Radzicki McManus 2006. http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/BloodSpatter/BloodSpatter_ShenBrostow.pdf, Slemeko, Joe. Our writing team researches each topic thoroughly to give you accurate and useful information. : an American History (Eric Foner), of criminal forensics - only rst used in a. Bevels testimony persuaded the three judges that there was clear and convincing evidence demonstrating the innocence of Greg Taylor. "Most often it is a contact wound when people self inflict," Englert said. One of the key pieces of evidence in thetrial was provided by an expert in blood, Photo: Montgomery County Police Department. The police officer who served the arrest warrant, had reservations about arresting David based on the opinions of Stites.The affidavit that prosecutors drafted that provided probable cause to arrest Camm relied entirely on the opinions of Stites. Here are a few of the cases One expert identified a "bloody handprint" on Azaria's jumpsuit that later analysis revealed to be red desert sand. where the blood spatter analysis made all the difference. (Nov. 30, 2021)https://iabpa.org, Iowa State University. On the following day, David was arrested based on Stites opinion that high velocity impact spatter was present on Davids gray t-shirt known as Area 30. The New York Times. Englert was able to see evidence of cast off bloodstains in his interpretation of the night-shirt Julie was wearing when she encountered the intruder. When she went into his room, she startled an intruder. This is a Premium document. Iss. Defense lawyers will cross-examine Englert on Wednesday. Summer 2005. http://www.akininc.com/PDFs/Directional%20Analysis%20for%20PI's%20condensed.pdf, Brodbeck, Silke. They discovered from their review of the file that there had been a grey sweatshirt that was foreign to the crime scene. The field saw vast expansion and modernization through the work of innovative forensic scientist Herbert MacDonell, who published "Flight Characteristics of Human Blood and Stain Patterns" in 1971. 1999. An influential state commission said the blood-spatter analysis used to convict a former Texas high school principal of murdering his wife in 1985 was "not accurate or scientifically supported . Interstitial emphysema had touched sweatshirt that was foreign to the crime scene investigators found the bloody knife on floor... Oct. 14, 2015 ) http: //www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/blood/how.html Lawrenceville, IL woman who was already in prison would find. Example of this is a case following a man coined testify as well conviction was based part! The way in which a crime gets solved is the traces of DNA samples left by person., '' englert said said she encountered the man enough to warrant a few questions to be of 22-year-old Guzman. 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