Case #10- The Smith Twins

On July 18, 2008 a school teacher named Genai Coleman was gunned down by a man while she was waiting for her daughter and he stole her car. Later in the investigation, they were able to identify the man from a cigarette butt that had been under the driver's seat of her stolen vehicle. The saliva sample was a match to a man named Donald Smith. Donald matched the profile from which the surveillance camera shot during the crime. On February 3, 2009 police arrested him, but it didn't end there because Donald Smith had told investigators that the one who committed this crime was his identical twin. To make sure he wasn't lying, investigators chose to dust the car for fingerprints, they were a match to his twin, Ronald Smith. Both his parents and sister confirmed him in the footage of the surveillance camera. Cell phone records also confirmed him being the area where the car was left after the murder. Ronald Smith confessed to the crime and was arrested on February 6, 2009.


http://listverse.com/2014/03/22/top-10-weird-forensics-cases/

Case #9- Anna Palmer

Anna Palmer was ten years old, when she got attacked and murdered at her own front door. There were multiple stab wounds on her body. Investigators had no witnesses, evidence that wasn't useful enough, and no suspects. They needed all the help they could get to solve this case so they called in forensic analysts & they had Anna's fingernails examined for any DNA samples- (usually when you're being attacked you tend to fight back & you never know what type of evidence can end up in your nails). Analysts finally got a match, which belonged to a man named Matthew Brock. It turns out that at the time of the murder Brock only lived a block away from Anna Palmer and was 19 years old. Matthew Brock was already serving a 10 year for a sex related crime with another child and he plead guilty in 2011 to the aggravated murder of Anna Palmer & will be in prison for life.


http://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/10-cold-cases-solved

Case #8- John Joubert

In 1983, two schoolboys were murdered in Omaha Nebraska. Investigators only discovered one body, tied with a type of rope that was unusual and couldn't be identified. They got a lead of a man "scouting" a school, it (the license plate) led investigators to a man named John Joubert. Turns out that he was a radar technician at a local Air Force base. When searched, the same rope that was used to kill the boys was found in his belongings. DNA analysis wasn't yet available but the rope was perfect enough to get him to confess. Investigators then discovered that Joubert was involved in a 3rd murder that occurred in Maine in 1982, his teeth were a match to the ones that left a bite mark on the boy. John Joubert was founded guilty & responsible for these three murders and died in the electric chair in 1996.




http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #7- Jeffrey MacDonald

On February 17, 1970, Jeffrey MacDonald, his wife, and two daughters were attacked, leaving just three of them dead from multiple stab wounds. Strangely, the only survivor from this horrid attack was army doctor himself- Jeffrey MacDonald. He had suffered from minor wounds which is why he "survived"- or so he claimed. Dr. MacDonald had said that there were 4 suspects, hippies to be exact. Although.. investigators didn't believe him because based on the physical evidence from the crime scene, everything was pointing to him being the killer. Because of poor quality for investigative techniques, the army decided to drop the case, it didn't exactly just stay that way because several years later MacDonald was brought to trial in a civilian court. A forensic scientist testified against Jeffrey and pointed out that the pajama top he used to take on the attackers had 48 smooth, clean holes, and when someone is being attacked, tears in the clothes of the victim will be sloppy. The scientist also insisted that if the top were to be folded the 48 holes could have easily been made by 21 "thrusts" which ironically was the same number that his wife had been stabbed. The holes and the pattern of her wounds matched which made it to be as though the top was laid on top of her before and during the stabbing to make it look like the doctor was a victim as well. Convicted in 1979, Jeffrey MacDonald was sentenced to prison for all three murders.




http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #6- The BTK Killer

This serial killer liked to commit his murders in Wichita, Kansas. Over the years 1974 and 1991 he had 10 victims. He loved all the attention he would get from the media & even craved it. He would send letters to local newspapers and tv stations, purposefully taunting the investigators. He got too carried away and that's what had led to him being captured. But he then resurfaced in 2004, he sent a computer floppy disk to the Wichita Eagle. The deleted data on the disk was traced by forensic analysts and connected it to a man named Dennis located at the Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita. When in police custody Dennis Rader confessed to all the murders and was sentenced to nine life terms in prison.




http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #5- The Green River Killer

Through 1982-1983 there were at least 48 to 90 killings along the green river in Washington state. The victims were almost all prostitutes. As investigators did some digging they found that a man named Gary Ridgway with a history of abusing prostitutes, so they automatically named him as the primary suspect. They collected some DNA samples from Ridgway but with how low of technology they had, it wasn't enough for them to connect him to any of the murders. Not until 2001, new DNA techniques brought back an examination of what they collected from Gary. Found guilty, he was arrested and it wasn't long until he confessed and plead guilty to the 48 murders. Later he confessed to more. If he confessed he'd be spared the death penalty so he took advantage of that opportunity. He was sentenced to 48 life sentences without the possibility of parole.






http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #4- The Night Stalker

Between 1984 and 1985 13 people were victims of murder and assault. Investigators were dealing with a Southern California serial killer. August 24, 1985 a young man saw that there was a suspicious vehicle strolling through his neighborhood, and immediately notified police after writing down the license plate. Turns out that on that same night, The Night Stalker had struck again in that area of the neighborhood. The car was soon tracked down but when found it was abandoned. All investigators had a lead on was a fingerprint they found inside the car. This fingerprint was matched to 25 year old Richard Ramirez. His face was everywhere and local citizens soon recognized and captured him. He was sentenced to death and is still to this day awaiting death row.






http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #3- The Atlanta Child Murders

In 1982, Wayne Williams was convicted of killing two adults. He was sentenced to life in prison, but Atlanta police did announce that he was responsible for at least 22 of the child murders. There had been many murders going on between 1979 and 1981 almost all 29 people killed were children and all were strangled by a serial killer- Wayne Williams. At a local river where other bodies had been dumped and found, police staked it out and arrested Williams as he was driving away from the sound of a splash where a body was recovered days later. Although they never physically saw him dump the bodies in the river, they did have forensic science link several-30 to be exact- fibers taken from the victims to items in his house, vehicles, and his dog.






http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #2- The Lindbergh Kidnapping

In 1936, a man named Hauptmann was convicted and executed for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. He was only 20 months old when he was kidnapped on March 1st, 1932. His father paid the ransom of 50,000 dollars in order to get his son back but once Hauptmann received the money it seems he was taken back and never returned the child. The body of Charles was found two months later just miles away from his home. With how the ransom transactions went, it led investigators to Bruno Hauptmann. Once found and confronted, there was over $14,000 in his garage which he claimed not his. All the while claiming this money to have belonged to a friend, forensic science was used to match his handwriting from the transactions to the ransom notes. More forensic science was used to connect the wood in Bruno's attic to the wood used to make a ladder in order to get into the bedroom of this innocent child.




http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

Case #1- Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy was about to be convicted of kidnapping, because of the lack of evidence tying him to all those 30+ murders. Two years of having been convicted, there was trial that he didn't attend due to his escape to Florida. Three more people had been killed in early 1978. In February that year he was captured and this time they had enough evidence to tie him to these murders because of a bite mark on the buttock of his victim Lisa Levy. To prove that it was him, Bundy had crooked and chipped teeth. Another one of his victims was Kimberly Leach, she was 12 years old. He was responsible for her death and to prove it, there were fibers from her clothes that matched the ones Bundy had in his van.




http://www.criminaljusticeschools.org/blog/10-famous-cases-cracked-by-forensics/

About

This blog will be talking about homicide cases that involve Forensic Science to help solve what is needed. I will be interviewing a teacher from Palo Verde High on Forensic science because I count her to be as an expert in this topic, she teaches this to mostly Juniors and Seniors. Other posts will be talking about and explaining some cases I will research that have been both solved and unsolved and that include this use in this science. Also throughout the posts I'll be explaining the different types of methods there are and how to get DNA samples by just using a lock of hair.