The United States Supreme Court Justices put off a decision in the Hank Skinner case. It is from Texas, a state that executes more prisoners per year than any other state. Hank Skinner made an actual innocence claim, demanding DNA testing on other evidence gathered at the crime scene. The justices had issued a stay just before […]
Forensics
Update 1984 Cold Case of Elizabeth Heath
Elizabeth Heath, the 30-year-old mother whose skeletal remains were found last Wednesday in a chamber beneath the sub-flooring in a barn, was the victim of a homicide, the state medical examiner announced on Friday. The medical examiner’s office did not release the cause of Heath’s death at the request of prosecutors, who did not want […]
Missing Woman’s Remains Found 26 Years
The discovery of a femur bone during renovation at a Newtown property led police to a full human skeleton that was positively identified as missing woman Elizabeth Heath on Thursday evening. Dental records on file since Elizabeth Heath went missing in 1984 while she was divorcing her husband John, matched teeth found in a skull […]
Gummy Fingers, on sale now!
LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Fingerprint identification, which was supposed to be the last barrier to stop forgery in NADRA (National Database & Registration Authority) and the Passport Department, is now being rendered useless by the use of ‘gummy fingers’ (artificial fingerprints) with the cooperation of officials. People claim that by paying Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000, anyone could get […]
Adam
In 2002, a woman of West African origin was arrested in Glasgow in connection with the murder of a young boy whose torso was found in the Thames in London. The child’s torso, clad only in a pair of orange shorts, was spotted floating in the Thames near Tower Bridge on 21 September, 2001. It had […]
Cold Case of Lysandra Marie Turpin Solved!
The remains of Lysandra Marie Turpin who went reported missing in 1988 have been found after a man who witnessed her murder as a teenager, contacted Northern California law enforcement, 22 years after the crime. In April of 1988, 27-year-old Lysandra Marie Turpin was reported missing in Humboldt County. She was never found and officials have […]
Riley Fox: still unsolved
An appeals court agreed with a federal jury’s 2007 finding that Will County Police framed Kevin Fox for the rape and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley Fox, but reduced the damages awarded to Fox and his wife from $12.2 million to $8 million. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the investigators on the […]
Zeigler, Part V
Zeigler, Part V: The Bodies Mr. Charlie Mays was savagely beaten, his face disfigured with blood coming through his skull, and he had been shot twice in the abdomen (once from the front and once from the back). Judging from the blood splatters, Mays had been beaten to death where he was found. The killer […]
DNA: a civil right?
The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article related on DNA as related to the Skinner case. It discusses that the United States Supreme Court (USSC) must consider if inmates’ requests for DNA testing can be handled as civil rights claims — a question that has split the nation’s top federal courts. The USSC on Thursday […]
Update Ray Hagy trial
William Ray Hagy Jr., who was convicted this week of one 1980s murder and is accused of another, is to plead no contest Friday to resolve the remaining charges against him, said his attorney, Gary Lumsden. Ray Hagy, 49, also is to be sentenced Friday, the Roanoke Circuit Court Clerk’s office confirmed. Ray Hagy, who […]