Recap #CrimeChat Oct 25, 2013 with Shaun Kaufman & Colleen Collins a.k.a. the Writing PIs. It is always a pleasure to talk to these two. There are always new stories, new books they are working on, and they have a great sense of humour. While Shaun was driving home from court, Colleen and I started […]
Evidence
Follow-up False Confessions Post
After posting “False Confessions: Why & How” I got an email from Mr. Joseph Buckley, President of John E. Reid and Associates. He wanted to alert my readers to a few things. A technique is a tool and the tool is only as good as the one handling it. In other words: yes, false confessions […]
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013. Today’s #CrimeChat was about real CSI. Retrieving DNA from certain surfaces can be done by swabbing and taping but those methods may not work 100% on porous surfaces, brick, concrete or, wet surfaces. The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum sampling system. Jared Bradley, tweeting as mvacsys, said: “think of a medical […]
Alfred Moore; first impressions
As you know, Pam alerted me to the Alfred Moore campaign to have this case, a wrongful conviction, examined again. I have done some checking on the web, found the eBook by Steve Lawson, and have started mulling this case over. Those familiar with my blog know that my first take on a case usually […]
Updated information about Danny Goldman
Paul Novack alerted me that the site has been updated. I like to draw your attention to some important official documents. I quote: “In 1968 and 1972, statements were made that implicate who was involved and what was done. Danny was murdered on Miami Beach shortly after his abduction from Surfside, and his remains were cast into […]
RTI International Webinar on backlogs in crime labs
RTI International webinar on backlogs in crime labs and their impact on the justice system This morning I attended this webinar and learned more about the backlogs in crime labs, what causes them, whether all labs have a case acceptance policy, the costs involved and much more. The live discussion took place in Washington DC […]
Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask
Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask: by request, I post all three parts that I wrote as guest posts for other bloggers here for readability. ___________________________________ I like to read about old unsolved cases. We usually refer to them as historical mysteries. One of them is the story of the unknown prisoner or the man […]
Recap #crimechat Feb 10, 2013
Crimechat recap from Feb 10, 2013. Our subject: Richard III & the Princes in the Tower. There was so much to talk about. We did not even have time to talk about the recent discoveries, the facial reconstruction, where to rebury the King and more. Richard III (October 2, 1452 – August 22, 1485) was King of England […]
Update Marianne Vaatstra
Update in the case of Marianne Vaatstra: according to Marianne’s father, his daughter did not know the man, Jasper S., whose DNA matched the biological materials left on Marianne’s body. He doubted that they knew each other especially if you consider the age differences. Marianne’s father did know Jasper’s children as they went to school […]
No longer cold: the 1999 murder of Marianne Vaatstra
The 1999 cold case of Marianne Vaatstra is defrosting in the Netherlands. Marianne was only sixteen years old when she was found murdered. Police arrested many people and even held a large scale DNA search but, the perpetrator was never found. On September 29, 2012, police began a “DNA relationship testing” in a 5 km […]