Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Molly Justice Murder
In Victoria, investigators are reopening one of Canada’s most famous cold cases. In 1943, Molly Justice, a 15 year old seamstress, was murdered at Swan Lake. Today, the only evidence that remains is a box filled letters, notebooks, an unidentified knife, and three leather gloves. In 1943, investigators concluded that Molly had been beaten and stabbed, but there were no signs of sexual assault. Her death was investigated for three months. Frank Hulbert, a 15 year old boy, was arrested after threatening another young girl at Swan Lake. Hulbert managed to convince the Canadian police that he was not guilty of the murder and blamed William Mitchell, a worker at the local paint factory. Mitchell had an alibi and it became clearer and clearer that Hulbert was the murderer. For years, Hulbert was able to avoid any sentence because of a lack of evidence. In the end, he was let off with perjury charges only. To this day, people still question whether Hulbert was guilty of Molly's murder or not. In present-day, police might have been able to provide a more definitive answer to Molly's death, given advances in forensic techniques. Hair that was apparently found underneath Molly's fingernails could have been analyzed to obtain a DNA profile. A fingerprint recovered from the contents of her discarded purse could have been run through a databank system for a possible match. But both those pieces of evidence have been lost to history “If we could locate the exhibits that I know of, which are limited to the print and the hair, then yes, modern technology could assist us there,” added Saanich Inspector Rob McColl. Currently, forensic scientists are working to find scraps of evidence in order to solve the 65 year old mystery.
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6 comments:
i thought this article was good because it talked about how forensics allows unsolved cases to be figured out, it talked about the importance of DNA evidence in hair, and it noted how valuable genetic evidence is.
However, I would've liked to have known more about what investigators are specifically doing to acquire more evidence, and i would love to see a follow-up on the final results of the tests.
I learned that evidence under fingernails can remain valid for over 60 years.
Emma, I liked your current event because right from the first sentence it had caught my attention. I also liked how you made sure to give a little background about the victim and the suspect as you summarized the article. And finally, I liked the emphasis on showing how investigators would have been able to charge the suspect with murder if they had the technology we do now.
However, do to the fact that you started off your post saying that an old case had been reopened, I wanted to hear more about what steps are being taken now and by whom. I also think that your post could have been a little longer.
But, thanks to you I now have truly seen an example of how modern technology has made breakthroughs in many different areas.
Amazing way to start off your blog. It caught my eye right from the first sentence. This is an amazing story and evidence of how technology has improved drastically since 1943. I thought that you supplied us with a clear overview of the story and your opinion. You clearly described the victim in this case, and some steps that were taken even back then with minimal technology. Though your blog was kind of short, you still explained very well the case and I like how this blog was from one of Canada’s murder cases; it made it more interesting.
Emma, I really enjoyed your review. Just from the title, it definitely caught my attention. I find it very interesting years after this case is closed, they are reopeneing. It really shows that when a case is closed, it isn't really closed. I would have liked to heard more about the evidence found, as well as how they found it, also more about the trial itself. All in all, it is a very interesting case!
emma, i really liked this article because it noted the significance of inability to pin Frank for the murder because lack of evidence connecting him to the crime, it demonstrated the importance in advancements in technology, and most interesting, how this case was being reopened from 1943.
I would have liked to know more about how Molly and Frank might have known each other that would lead the police to accuse him for her murder and also if the police had any ideas to who might have actually committed the crime.
I learned how important technology has become to our society in not only solving todays crimes, but unsolved mysteries of the past.
The article, while somewhat disturbing, was good because it covered a real crime and showed the truths about them and how they are not always successful. The only thing I would suggest is to add to the steps that investigators have been taking and what different pieces of evidence have told them. I did not know that evidence, such as hair found under fingernails was still usable after such a long time.
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