Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Cinderella Robbery

          On October 6th, a woman walking home was set upon by two men. One of which held a pistol to her. They walked her home in the attempt to rob her house. Upon arriving at the Woman's house, the lady's mother answered the door and was immediately knocked out by the robbers. The woman's husband heard the commotion and came running. After a scuffle and the lady hitting one of the robbers over the head with a lamp. The thieves decided life was too short and made a break for it. Unfortunately for one of these robbers, he left his sneaker at the scene of the crime. Forensic scientists were able to uncover the identity of the perpetrator by taking a DNA swab from his sneaker. After a few months of DNA research, scientists found a match to the sneaker. The robber had a prison record and an identifiable tattoo. Soon after the man was caught and put in prison.

          I thought this article was very interesting because it showed me that scientists can extract DNA from almost anything. They were able to capture a man purely by having his shoe. Another thing I thought was interesting was the fact that the man lost his shoe, I mean they are supposed to be tied to your feet. But I digress... I guess this man will tie up his laces before he committs his next crime.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/nyregion/queens-robbery-case-hinges-on-a-sneaker.html?ref=forensicscience

2 comments:

Ivan said...

The first thing that I liked about this review was how Nick made it seem like it was a story. The way he described what happened. I like how the thieves ran away as they thought “life was too short”. Forensic scientists were able to uncover the identity of the perpetrator by taking a DNA swab from his sneaker. Then, after a few months of DNA research, scientists found a match to the sneaker. Also, how the robber was taken to prison because of this.

There were two things that could have made this review better. First, I feel like this review could had been longer than what it was. There needed to be a longer analysis of the article and to break it up into multiple paragraphs.

The thing that impressed me most about this article was that the police were able to track the criminal just by having his shoe.

Kathleen Moriarty said...

This is Nick Janney’s best article yet! It immediately caught my attention because of the fairy tale reference in the title. It reminded me of the countless times Mom read Cinderella to me when I was a little girl. Years later, I am reading this article and it sounds very similar to the bedtime story. Not only is this article nostalgic, it’s also very funny! I particularly like Nick’s commentary at the end: “Another thing I thought was interesting was the fact that the man lost his shoe, I mean they are supposed to be tied to your feet. But I digress... I guess this man will tie up his laces before he commits his next crime.” It’s amazing how foolish some criminals can be. In addition, I liked the part where he included a critique at the end.
However, I noticed a few flaws with Nick’s summary. First of all, I noticed a few run-on sentences and other grammar mistakes. Another thing I think Nick could have done better would be his critique. He doesn’t explain any drawbacks to the shoe retrieval method. Oh, well.
Lastly, I would like to say that I was confused at the part when Nick said “After a few months of DNA research…” With all the forensic technology we have nowadays, why does it still take so long to track down a criminal?