Welcome to another Sum it Up! Exciting times with a lot happening during the summer. It deserves a Sum it Up post. Of course, I am thrilled to tell you that my post about the Penn State CSI Students’ opinion in the William Thomas Zeigler case has soared to DCC’s most popular and best read post spot! And, the post is being circulated around the blawgosphere! Some have forwarded the link to their local media.
Thank you to all who help spread the word that the upcoming DNA-hearing on August 19th for Zeigler is crucial and may determine once and for all what the truth is in the very complex case.
As we are watching this case, there are a few others that bear watching. The forensic arson investigation in the Hina murders is still the most crucial part for me. This week however, the discussion centered on dismissing the case against David McLeod due to foggy memories from witnesses. The forensic arson detection part started last Friday so I’ll keep you posted. Jury selection could start on October 3rd.
State Police in West Virginia can still use your help in determining what happened to Robert Kovack. “Trooper Jason Davis told The Register-Herald that state police want to get the word out that the case is still open.” DCC happily obliges! The best information about this case can be found here.
In Illinois, authorities hope that exhuming Maria might help shed a light on her unsolved 1957 murder. “Authorities announced weeks ago that they had arrested Jack Daniel McCullough in Seattle and charged him with the 1957 slaying of the girl (Maria Ridulph), who was abducted by a man as she played outside her home in Sycamore, IL.” Authorities hope to find forensic evidence that will prove murder and can tie their suspect to Maria. To be continued!
I have said it before: just because someone confessed does not necessarily mean that they are guilty. In a great article, Tom Conlon digs into two cases and explores the confessions. He writes about the Central Park Five and Lapointe confessions. “The five, all but one of whom were juveniles, served sentences of between six and 13 years, only to be exonerated when another man confessed to the crime and was conclusively tied to it with DNA evidence. The five youths had given false confessions. I was struck, among other things, by the uncanny parallels to the Connecticut case of Richard Lapointe.” I am glad to see that many still doubt the verdict in the Bernice Martin murder and support Richard Lapointe.
Last, with a hat tip to Patricia Turner for giving me the links, “The Texas Attorney General has declared that a state forensic panel does not have authority to continue its years-long scrutiny of the arson case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday that the Texas Forensic Science Commission cannot examine forensic testing that predates the panel’s September 2005 inception. The attorney general’s opinion apparently blocks the commission from issuing a determination of negligence or misconduct by state fire investigators in the case of Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for setting the house fire that killed his three young daughters.