Sundeep Bhatia’s observation is one I agree with: “But the request to test the DNA evidence is not really about the conviction or sentence. It’s about the evidence and the possibility that it may shed some light on who the real killer is. Skinner hopes it is exculpatory. But it may be inculpatory. Skinner doesn’t know. And that’s […]
Archives for October 2010
Indictment in 1974 Anita Andrews murder
Roy Allen Melanson has been indicted for the 1974 murder of Anita Elizabeth Fagiani Andrews: during a two-day hearing earlier this month, the grand jury found there was enough evidence to hold Melanson in connection with the crime. UPDATE: Melanson was found guilty of first degree murder. The hearing, which was held in secret, without […]
My interview with Natasha Phillips
The tables were turned today, and Natasha sat down with me for some serious questions. See here, or scroll down! 1: Where did your passion for unsolved/ wrongfully solved crimes stem from? The curiosity started in law school where we focused a lot on police interrogations. During classes my mind would wonder around the question […]
BabyBarista “Law and DisOrder”
BabyBarista “Law and DisOrder” a.k.a. BabyBarista and the Art of War is one of the books I grab when the spirits need to be lifted by being transported to a different time. The book is about a pupil barrister who will have to work hard to outshine his fellow pupil barristers in the race for tenancy in chambers. […]
Latest on the Blakelock Murder
Following in his father’s footsteps, Lee Blakelock is now also a police officer, serving with Durham Constabulary, UK. He was eight years old when his father was killed. Pc Blakelock and his colleague Pc Richard Coombes were attacked during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in 1985. Coombes was seriously injured but survived. They were trying […]
Vidocq presents… Scott Dickson
Scott Dickson is a crime analyst in central Texas and a former police detective. He publishes The Crime Analyst’s Blog and one day hopes to escape the normal workday world by becoming a hack writer. Scott tweets under the account name @scott_dickson. For DCC, he answered the following questions: 1: What is your most favourite part […]
Night Stalker’s DNA confirmed
The Night Stalker a.k.a. Richard Ramirez terrorized California in the early 80s with a string of rape-murders. His DNA has now finally been retested allowing San Francisco Police to close the case of the 1984 murder of a 9-year-old girl in the Tenderloin. Though the retesting of the serial killer’s DNA was largely a formality — meant simply […]
NYT Editorial on Skinner and DNA
In my post “DNA: a civil right” of March 26, 2010, I described why I firmly believe that (post-conviction) access to DNA testing for the condemned (in this case Henry Skinner) should not hinge on how formalistic the question to the courts is phrased. It should be implied. Today, the New York Times published an editorial that […]
Arrest in 1979 murder of Kathy Jo Baker
Richard L. Boswell Jr., a convicted sex offender, has been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in the 1979 murder of Kathy Jo Baker (20). That case was recently reopened by the Indiana State Police. He made his initial appearance this morning in Vigo Superior Court 6 to face the allegation that he abducted […]
Stephen Saloom: Texas science panel chairman John Bradley is biased
Stephen Saloom, the policy director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said prosecutor John Bradley shows “a critically important lack of objectivity” in his approach to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Bradley has publicly called Willingham a “guilty monster.” Bradley is the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is investigating whether fire […]