The case of Sharron Prior has created discussions per email. Readers told me many interesting facts. I asked whether I could use parts of their information online. This information is not found in any of the newspaper articles and even contradicts some articles. I invite everyone who used to live in the Point (Canada) to read […]
Forensics
Arrest in 1981 murder of Joseph Azevedo
Christopher David Winter was arrested for the 1981 murder of Joseph Azevedo (Nov 14, 1930 – May 2, 1981) from Lancaster, CA. Detectives believe that Winter was burglarizing Azevedo‘s mobile home and was startled by Joseph, an aircraft mechanic. Winter is described as a truck driver living in Indiana. Armando Azevedo was 17 when he and his […]
Tracy Allen & Patty Vaughan
Tracy Allen & Patty Vaughan are just two cold cases handled by the Texas Bexar County Sheriff’s Office but they can use your help in two cases: Tracy Allen In 1986, Tracy Allen (18) was found dead in Hondo Creek, Texas. Cause of death: strangulation. She went missing September 9 and was found on September 13, […]
Penn State’s Forensic Science students to explore the Zeigler case
I am proud to announce a special collaboration with Penn State University’s Forensic Science Program. The students in this program will get access to crime scene photographs, police reports, witness statements and more to apply everything they have learned in class in a real case. The students will be able to explore bloodstain patterns observed […]
Remember Betsy Aardsma
I am very glad to report that police are waiting for DNA test results of Betsy’s red dress that she wore the afternoon she was killed. Betsy was stabbed in her heart and nobody heard her scream. She died on November 28, 1969. Betsy was a lively young woman, a reader, a great cook, and […]
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing!
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing! The Orlando Sentinel reports that an Orange Circuit Judge has granted long-time death row inmate Tommy Zeigler an evidentiary hearing more than a year after the man convicted of killing his in-laws, his wife, and another man on Christmas Eve 1975 filed a Petition_and_Proposed_Order[1] in his case. The order granting […]
“It’s not about the conviction or the sentence.”
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]