In this Sum it Up, we explore forensics and wrongful convictions. Identifying 9/11 victims On Aug 7, the Washington Post reported that “the remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified nearly 16 years after the terror attacks.” The article explains that 2’753 people were killed on September […]
Arson Detection
Case of the Month: Ruby Grace Byron
Case of the Month: Ruby Grace Byron (May 26, 1902 – Jan 25, 1976) was found murdered in her house that was set on fire. The fire department found her on the floor near the front door. There were blood smears on the door frame. Mrs. Byron(73) had distinctive blows to her head just above the right […]
Lapointe’s wrongful conviction
Lapointe’s wrongful conviction brings back Martin’s cold case because if we take Lapointe out of the equation we are left with no answers. Who killed Bernice Martin? The decision The decision to grant a new trial is here (RICHARD LAPOINTE v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION). A few quotes: “On appeal, the petitioner claims that the court improperly rejected his […]
The Grahlman murders
The Case of the Month for April 2014: the Grahlman murders from April 5, 2003. I read about the Grahlman arson/double homicide case on Jody Ewing’s Iowa Cold Cases. Please read the circumstances of the crime there. No need to repeat Jody here. After I read the overview, many questions popped up in my mind and […]
Trial starts in the Hina Family Murders
Trial starts in the Hina Family Murders today. The Hina Family was killed during a 1989 fatal fire at a Keene apartment complex, New Hampshire. From the SFGate: “David McLeod has pleaded not guilty to four counts of second-degree murder. He is accused of igniting a blaze in a drug-fueled rage on Jan. 14, 1989, […]
Case of the Month: Bernice Martin
Case of the Month: Bernice Martin. On March 8, 1987, fire fighters found Mrs. Bernice Martin inside the Mayfair Gardens Elderly Housing Complex, Manchester, Connecticut. She had been brutally beaten and passed away that same night in the hospital. The fire department found her front door locked but the glass sliding door in the back open. The […]
CT Supreme Court hears Lapointe case Sept 17, 2013
CT Supreme Court hears Lapointe case Sept 17, 2013. This fantastic news came from the Bellingham Herald. Almost a year ago, I posted that Richard Lapointe was going to get a new trial. In a stunning decision, the state Appellate Court Monday ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe, a mentally disabled dishwasher convicted of […]
New Trial for Richard Lapointe!
The Connecticut Appellate Court ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe. From the Hartford Courant: “In a stunning decision, the state Appellate Court Monday ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe, a mentally disabled dishwasher convicted of a murder a quarter century ago, concluding that state prosecutors wrongly withheld a police report that tends to support […]
Lapointe: DNA does not match
Who left his DNA behind: Richard A. Lapointe or Frederick Rodney Merrill? We have new developments that could shed a light on the case of Bernice Martin and could once and for all clear up who left his DNA. We already know it wasn’t Lapointe. The Connecticut State Board of Pardons and Paroles decided last week to grant […]
NHSC to hear David McLeod appeal
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has accepted an appeal by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office in the case against David McLeod. Prosecutors have until June 15 to file a brief as posted by the Sentinel Source. McLeod is accused of setting fire to a multi-unit apartment building in the early morning hours of January 14, […]