A sober Sum it Up. Frank Bender, forensic artist/sculptor, is battling lung cancer. He spent a lifetime helping authorities solving crimes by contouring the faces of murder victims and the unidentified.
Frank Bender primarily works in clay and then casts his pieces into plaster and paints them, but he has also aged fugitives using pastels. His fine art work stems from his forensic work and is often a blend of art and science.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20140717104425/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycvalndZgS8
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UK Forensic Scientists: the closing of extraordinary labs. “Three FSS laboratories closed last year in an attempt to balance the books after a £50 million government bail-out in 2009, but the move was to no avail. The decision has caused huge controversy within police ranks, as well as within the forensic community both inside and outside the UK. But the full implications of the closure of the FSS have yet to reach the British public, not least because, critics claim, the Government and opposition would rather bury the evidence.” Read more here.
One of the people directly affected by the closing of labs is our very own Sue Carney. She blogs about the closing of the FSS here and explains what the future holds for her. I know whatever the future will bring, Sue can handle it. I am proud to have her in my team and wish her all the best in her endeavours.
We are very glad that the LAPD has been able to clear the backlog of untested DNA evidence. “After 2 1/2 years chipping away at a backlog of untested DNA evidence collected in thousands of rape cases that spanned decades, Los Angeles officials Wednesday announced that all of the potentially vital evidence has been analyzed. As it has continued to ship evidence kits out to private labs, the LAPD has slowly but steadily been hiring and training new analysts for its in-house DNA laboratory. Since the start of 2009, the lab has nearly doubled in size to 78 people, the mayor said. Until it reaches its ultimate target of 98 analysts, however, the LAPD conceded that the lab will not be able to keep up with the constant influx of new evidence.”
Virginia authorities have a new tool in the fight against crime: 3D scanners that capture the crime scene. “The investigator presses a button and a 3D image of two bodies on a front lawn pops up on the screen. He scrolls to the left and can see nearly 1,000 feet down the street, even though the scan was taken in total darkness. He scrolls on around and checks out a couple SUVs parked in the driveway. With a few clicks, he can measure how far a body is from a light pole; isolate the basketball goal in the driveway to check it for bullet holes or arrange the view to check if the witness really could have seen the murder from the window in a house down the street.”
A French case to follow: a severed leg found beneath a terrace may lead us to the truth in the case of the missing Dupont de Ligonnes Six. “Investigators now suspect kidnap and murder, city prosecutor Xavier Ronsin said, as a search continued at the property. He said the family of six had not been heard from since early April. Parents Xavier and Agnes Dupont de Ligonnes had recently announced they were all moving to Australia.” Read more about this disturbing case here.
Betsy Aardsma’s post on DCC has been getting new attention. If you check this blog you can see that the there is a person identified as the possible murderer: Dr. Richard C. Haefner, deceased in 2002. Read more about Haefner here and please let me know your thoughts!
Cold cases were solved in LA, California (Robert Rathbun), in Inverness, Florida (Arlene Preg and Charlene Nelson), and in Butler County, Ohio, where serial killer Nolan Ray George was convicted on murder charges of 43 years ago.
An intriguing read: lessons from cross-examining Hermann Goering. The original transcripts of the entire Nuremberg trial can be found here. The cross-examination should be mandatory reading for all law students who intend to practice. It clear shows how Goering ran the cross-examination. A quote: “The culmination of this series of questions addressed Goering’s letter of July 31, 1941, to Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Security Main Office, ordering him to prepare a plan for the “final solution of the Jewish question.” Goering’s letter is the first such document to refer in writing to the “final solution.” Goering countered deceptively, referring to a similar word earlier in the letter, that the German word in issue had been incorrectly translated as “final solution.” Rather, according to Goering, the correct translation was “total solution” and referred only to “the emigration of the Jews.” Holding in his hands what must be one of the most incriminating documents known to history, Jackson did not pursue the issue.”
Till the next Sum it Up!