August 25th, 2010
Just five days ago, a painting was stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum of Giza, Egypt for the second time. The work, which is a van Gogh called “Poppy Flowers” or “Vase with Flowers”, first disappeared in 1978. It was recovered two years later in Kuwait. This time around, initial reports indicated that the 12 in x 12 in painting had been recovered mere hours after it was stolen at the Cairo airport. As it turns out, the painting is still missing—prior information about the supposed recovery had been false.
The most recent theft occurred just after the museum opened on Saturday. The painting—which had been valued at approximately $50 million—had been cut out of its frame. Police officials have reviewed security footage, dusted for fingerprints, and have detained and arrested some museum personnel and a member of the culture ministry pending further investigation. No formal charges have been filed at this time. It has been said that security lapses at the museum are to blame and that the museum may face an inquiry regarding the lax measures. Apparently none of the alarms went off and only 7 of 42 security cameras were functioning that morning. That means that one of every six cameras worked. Considering the contents of the museum included not only the infamous van Gogh piece, but also works by Paul Gauguin, Gustave Courbet, Francois Millet, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Auguste Renoir, and Auguste Rodin, that is some mighty superficial security.
For more information regarding the theft, check out this video; or any of the following news stories: Telegraph, The National, MSNBC, or The New York Times.
Tags: Art Crime, Crime, CSI, Fingerprints, Mystery, Scandal, Theft
Posted in Forensics in The News, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
August 17th, 2010
On May 24, 2010, a predator began attacking his prey. The Serial Slasher, or the Flint Serial Killer, as the predator has been called, is thought to have stabbed or beaten eighteen to twenty known victims in at least three different states—Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. So far, five people have died as a result of these attacks, while the remaining fifteen were injured. The police from the three states have linked all the attacks to one unknown suspect based on descriptions and accounts provided by surviving victims and witnesses. The Slasher was thought to be a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, with stocky build and a height between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 2 inches. He was also said to boast an unshaven appearance, a baseball cap, and a stud earring/bar in his left ear. To see an image of the composite sketch for the suspect, click here. On Wednesday, August 11, 2010, police in Atlanta, Georgia arrested Elias Abuelazam as a person of interest in the Slasher case. He had been about to board a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel.
News reports indicate that police were led to Abuelazam by an anonymous phone tip to the Michigan police hotline. Apparently the tipster was calling based on information that had been released about the suspect’s vehicle. The Slasher’s vehicle had been described as an older model (1995-2005) Chevy Blazer or GMC Jimmy with a two-toned or dark green top over a light tan, beige, or gold bottom. The tip led authorities to someone associated with Abuelazam, which in turn led to the liquor store in Michigan where he worked. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Abuelazam had hidden his dark green chevy S-10 Blazer at a Michigan home behind a shed. His movements were traced from Michigan to Kentucky, and then from there to Atlanta where he was arrested at the airport before boarding a flight for Tel Aviv. Abuelazam is currently being held on one count of assault with intent to commit murder in Michigan. He is to be extradited back to Michigan to face charges.
The string of attacks by the Slasher started lasted from May 24, 2010 to August 7, 2010. Based on those attacks, a trend began to appear. The victims were primarily African American males with small stature or of older age—people perceived by the Slasher as being easier to physically control. Only two victims did not fit this profile—one was white and the other Latino. Some authorities therefore believe that these attacks were racially motivated, as none of the victims were been robbed. Information gleaned from victims indicated that the Slasher approached unsuspecting victims who were on their own in the early morning hours. He asked for directions or for assistance as a means to lure them closer to his vehicle. The Slasher then attacked and stabs his victims, a very personal method for killing.
If you have any additional information that may be of value in this case, please contact Michigan police at 866-246-9500 or 810-732-1111 or 810-237-6800. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-422-JAIL. For more information regarding the case, please see any of the following news articles: CNN-1, CNN-2, CNN-3, NBC25-1, NBC25-2, Richmond Times-Dispatch, AOL News, or ABC12.
Tags: Crime, CSI, Evidence, identification, Law Enforcement, Murder, serial killers, Tragedy
Posted in Crime Fighting, Forensics in The News, Senseless Crimes | 7 Comments »
August 10th, 2010
For all of you Wild, Wild West aficionados out there, here is a post that is sure to be interesting!
Billy the Kid has long been one of the many names associated with the Wild West, alongside the Bob Dalton Gang, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cole Younger, Jesse James, and more. What you may not know is that the long dead Kid may be up for a pardon from current New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. So, why is the notorious Billy the Kid up for this pardon, you ask? Well, let me explain by starting with a little history lesson.
Billy the Kid—born William Henry McCarty, but also known as William H. Bonney—originally came from New York. While still young, his family relocated to New Mexico. Unfortunately, by the time the Kid was fifteen years old his mother had passed away from tuberculosis. It was at this point that many sources say the Kid began his life of crime—starting with stealing and progressing to murder. Other sources state that without parental guidance, the Kid simply got a bad start in life. He joined the wrong groups and wound up running from the law. One particular misstep in the Kid’s life was his affiliation with the Lincoln County War. As a result of one of the many ambushes that occurred, Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady and one of his deputies were found dead, having been shot by the Kid. Billy became a fugitive.
At some point after these murders, Lew Wallace became governor of New Mexico. Now, the stories of what actually happened next seem to clash, so suffice it to say that the Kid ended up in custody. He made a deal with the governor that should he testify against persons involved in the Lincoln County War, he would receive a full pardon for involvement in Sheriff Brady’s death and other misdeeds. The Kid testified as promised, but the pardon was never granted. So, the Kid escaped custody and eluded the law for the next two years.
During the Kid’s time as an outlaw, Pat Garrett was elected Sheriff and sent after him. Once again, Billy the Kid ended up in custody. This time however, he was sentenced to hang for the death of Sheriff Brady. While in prison, the Kid escaped again—this time killing two guards in the process. Once more, Sheriff Garrett was sent after the Kid. The next time the Kid encountered the sheriff however, it would be his last.
On July 14, 1881, Sheriff Garrett, under the cover of shadows, shot Billy the Kid dead in a residence in Fort Sumner. Some believe that the Kid lived on as “Brushy Bill” Roberts, but others believe that the Kid was in fact buried the next day in the Fort Sumner cemetery. At some point, due to the debate, there had been a movement to have the supposed bodies of the Kid and his mother exhumed for DNA testing. A judge apparently ruled against the efforts, but that hasn’t stopped present Governor Richardson’s interest in the case. He continues to look into whether the Kid rightfully deserves a posthumous pardon as promised by Governor Wallace. As you can imagine, there is much controversy arising from this investigation—which side will you join? Click here to sign a petition for the pardon of Billy the Kid, or click here to sign a petition opposed to that pardon.
For a look at Sheriff Garrett’s account of Billy the Kid’s death, see here. For additional information about the Kid and/or his potential pardon, please click here, here, here or here. Or, if you’re looking for a bit more adventure, you should come to the museum and check out our Wild West exhibits—including a look at the infamous Billy the Kid!
Tags: Bill Richardson, Billy the Kid, Crime, DNA, Hanging, Law, Law Enforcement, Murder, Mystery, Pat Garrett
Posted in A Notorious History of Crime, Forensics in The News, Fun Facts, Punishment: The Consequence of Crime | 8 Comments »
July 24th, 2010
Hello everyone! We had a question come in from one of the workshops taught at the museum regarding the composition of regular black fingerprint powder. Now, you should know that this powder is different from black magnetic fingerprint powder—they are not the same thing. The formula for regular black powder can change based on the manufacturer, but generally contains rosin, black ferric oxide, and lampblack. Other components may include lead mercury, cadmium, copper, silicon, titanium, or bismuth.
Tags: Crime Scene Processing Techniques, CSI, Evidence Collection, Science
Posted in Fun Facts | 9 Comments »
July 22nd, 2010
An indictment that was unsealed on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, has charged four members of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) with federal civil rights violations, specifically deprivation of rights under color of law and use of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
Just days after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, two men were found dead on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans, and another four were found wounded. According to recent statements from responding officers at the scene, the civilians were found wounded and bloody. There were no weapons present. However, at the time of the shootings, it is said that the involved officers fabricated witness statements, falsified reports, and event planted a gun at the scene.
In December 2006, seven NOPD officers were charged with either murder or attempted murder for the Danziger Bridge crimes. However, these charges were thrown out in August 2008 by a state judge. A month later, a new mayor stepped in and invited the Justice Department to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the police department. When asked about the investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder stated, “Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who are sworn to protect the public.”
Since the onset of the Justice Department investigation, five former NOPD officers have pled guilty to helping cover up the shootings on the bridge. They are currently awaiting sentencing. However, their statements have the potential to lay grounds for more serious charges against those actually accused of the shootings and engineering the cover-up. If those charged for the shootings are convicted, they could face the death penalty.
For more information, please see this story, or this one.
Tags: Crime, Evidence, Law, Law Enforcement, Murder, Police Corruption, Scandal
Posted in Punishment: The Consequence of Crime, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
July 15th, 2010
On July 7, 2010, the man thought to be the Grim Sleeper—Lonnie Franklin Jr.—was arrested by Los Angeles police. The Grim Sleeper was thought to have been responsible for at least 10 deaths in the south L.A. area since 1985. But why the nickname the “Grim Sleeper”? It seems that Franklin Jr. took a twelve year hiatus between killing sprees, thus resulting in him being dubbed the Grim Sleeper versus the Grim Reaper.
Fortunately for police, the Grim Sleeper wasn’t concerned with making sure no evidence was left at his crime scenes. DNA evidence was recovered from various murder scenes, and upon testing, was shown to belong to the same individual. However, at the time the samples were collected, there were no matches in the database. Since 2008, the state of California has adopted a new method for DNA analysis utilizing what is known as familial DNA. This process allows analysts to run a DNA sample against the databank while looking for a close-but-not-quite-exact match in violent crime cases.
Let me give a brief DNA lesson: When doing a DNA comparison, analysts focus on 13 regions, or loci—as decided by the FBI—to look for what are called short tandem repeats (STRs). STRs are essentially a sequence of base pairs (comprised of the nucleotides A, T, C, and G) that repeat consecutively at a specific location. For instance, if you have a sequence at a site reading ATGCTACTACTACTATGA, you will see that the repeating sequence is CTA. This is the STR in this case, and it repeats four times here. Now, on a different individual, you would look for that same STR and see how many times it repeats for that person at that same location. The number of repeats will vary from person to person, thus assisting analysts in making identifications or exclusions. However, relatives will be more apt to share the same number of repeats at each site. With familial DNA comparisons, analysts look for such similarities, as well as how frequently a given variation in the DNA may occur. The lab software can then rank who may be a first-order relative to the individual whose DNA is being run. In addition, California requires that if the individuals in question are male, the STRs on the Y chromosome must be compared as well, as fathers and sons and brothers should have matching STRs.
Using this technology, the DNA from the Grim Sleeper cases was run through the database in 2008 with no success. The DNA was run again in 2010. This time the results indicated that the Grim Sleeper may be related to Christopher Franklin, a young man convicted in 2009 of a felony weapons charge. The DNA test and other case information led police to Franklin’s father, Lonnie Franklin Jr. DNA for the elder Franklin was retrieved from a discarded pizza slice, run against the Grim Sleeper DNA, and was confirmed as a match. Lonnie Franklin Jr. was arrested and charged with ten counts of murder and one count of attempted murder and is currently awaiting an August 9, 2010 arraignment date.
For more information, please see the following links: Familial DNA Testing, Serial Killer Snared, No Bail for ‘Grim Sleeper’, Grim Sleeper, and Terror Ended.
Tags: Crime, CSI, DNA, Evidence, FBI, Forensic Science, Grim Sleeper, identification, Law Enforcement, Science
Posted in Forensics in The News, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
July 9th, 2010
Before the recent take down of the Russian sleeper spy operation this past week, did you really think Russia was a threat to the United States???
At the museum, visitors are always surveyed for their perspective, and prior to this media spy frenzy 100 visitors were asked if they thought Russia was a threat. Not one said yes. 100% of the people thought Russia posed no threat at all.
After an investigation over several years headed by the FBI, eleven United States residents were accused of being Russian spies. Ten of them were detained in New York and all pled guilty to espionage. The U.S. quickly sought the pardon and release of four prisoners in Russia charged with espionage in exchange for the extradition of the ten spies back to Russia. The news coverage of the case is wide spread and the entire story of who assisted these spies in the United States and what information these spies leaked back to Russia has yet to be reported. The spies, who departed on a U.S. government chartered plane, returned to Russia late this morning (EST.).
The FBI has always listed Russia as one of their top five intelligence threats and welcomes any information you can provide against persons whom you believe to be taking part in any unlawful intelligence activities against the United States. As stated on their website:
Help your country and put money in your pocket: the Attorney General has recently authorized a reward of up to $500,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person who commits or conspires to commit an act of espionage or that leads to the prevention of an act of espionage.
To report suspected or suspicious activities, contact the FBI field office nearest you and ask to speak with the Counterintelligence Domain Coordinator. Or submit an anonymous tip online.
For more information please visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/09/russia.spy.swap/index.html?hpt=T2
Tags: russian spies; espionage; fbi investigation; spies
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
July 1st, 2010
After 112 years, the missing L.R. Doty was finally found at the bottom of Lake Michigan. According to divers, the wooden steamship appears to be intact and almost perfectly preserved after sinking over a century ago during a violent storm. Apparently even the cargo of corn was still found in the hold. It is presumed that the bodies of the crew have been preserved as well, possibly in the boiler room, at the bottom of the cold, freshwater lake. Currently, there are no plans to raise the Doty from its watery grave, however, to make things a bit more interesting, we can speculate as to the condition of the bodies.
Typically there are a few general rules explaining what happens to the human body once it is dead. First and foremost—it decomposes. There are several processes by which decomposition is actually accomplished. Bacteria, temperature, scavengers, location, and other variables all play important roles. Now, in the case of the crew aboard the L.R. Doty, location and temperature are going to be very important. Let’s consider a second rule called Casper’s law. This tells us that in general, a body will decompose twice as fast in air than in water, and eight times faster in air than if buried. Well, because the bodies we are considering are submerged, we would assume that they would take twice as long to decompose compared to what we might normally expect. Also, because of the extremely cold temperatures of Lake Michigan, we would expect that bacteria growth in the body would be slowed dramatically, thus in turn, slowing the decomposition process. In addition, because the bodies are underwater, they would be prone to developing adipocere, which is essentially a fatty, wax-like substance that forms on the surface of a body. This added layer may have also helped to slow decomposition, unless of course, some sea creatures decided to nibble on the bodies.
Having said all that, there is a chance that the bodies of the crewmembers may very well be in decent condition, given the fact that they have been dead for over a century. Granted, there are a few other factors that would require consideration, but those are the basics. Speculate as you will from there.
For more reading about the L.R. Doty, click here. For more information regarding the decomposition process, click here.
Tags: anthropology, CSI, Decomposition, identification, Mystery
Posted in Forensics in The News, Uncategorized | No Comments »
June 16th, 2010
Ronnie Lee Gardner had been arrested in Utah on robbery and murder charges. He was awaiting his day in court. Just before 9am on the morning of April 2, 1985, Gardner was being transported to the old courthouse of Salt Lake City. Once inside, he grabbed a gun that had been left by an accomplice and opened fire in his attempt to escape. When all was said and done, one attorney was dead, the court bailiff was seriously injured, and Gardner himself had taken a bullet. In November of that year, Gardner was sentenced to death.
Twenty-five years later, Gardner is still on death row. On Friday, June 18, 2010, Gardner is slated to die by firing squad at the Utah State Prison. His attorneys have begun filing the first of what are expected to be several appeals. Among these is the claim that Gardner has been on death row too long. According to Gardner’s lawyer, “He asserts that executing him now, after nearly 25 years on death row in Utah, so lacks retributive or deterrent value that it violates the Eighth Amendment.” The Eighth Amendment protects against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
What do you think? Is it too cruel and unusual to put a man to death after he has been on death row for 25 years and claims to be a changed man? If you want to read some more about the case (Gardner v. Utah) before forming your opinion, click here. Additional background can be found here.
Tags: Crime, Law, Law Enforcement, Murder, Punishment
Posted in Forensics in The News, Punishment: The Consequence of Crime, Q&A | 3 Comments »
June 10th, 2010
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.” Regardless of whether you’ve heard them on TV or have been read them directly, most everyone knows what the Miranda warnings are. These warnings are designed to protect a person’s right against self-incrimination and their right to have a lawyer. On June 1, 2010, in a 5-4 decision during the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, the Supreme Court ruled that in order to invoke one’s right to silence, one must first explicitly say that they want to invoke that right. For instance, Thompkins, the accused in this case, decided to remain silent during his interrogation. At some point, one of the investigators asked a question to which Thompkins simply responded “yes,” thereby implicating himself in the crime. Because Thompkins did not tell the investigators that he was invoking his right to stay silent, his affirmative response to the questions could legally be used against him in court. The statement was used, and a jury came back with a guilty verdict for Thompkins. So, the lesson to be learned here is that if or when you are ever interrogated by the police, it is now legally assumed that you have waived your Miranda rights unless you speak up and say otherwise.
To read more about the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, click here or here.
Tags: Law, Law Enforcement
Posted in Forensics in The News, Fun Facts, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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