Bloody Clothing Near Dead Baby’s Body in NJ Leads to Composite of Mother’s Face

Augenstein, Seth. “Bloody Clothing Near Dead Baby's Body in NJ Leads to Composite of

Mother's Face.” Forensic Magazine, 20 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/bloody-clothing-near-dead-babys-body-nj-leads-composite-mothers-face.

In “Bloody Clothing Near Dead Baby’s Body in NJ Leads to Composite of Mother’s Face” Seth Augenstein discusses how a popular phenotyping service was used to reconstruct what the mother of a decapitated newborn baby - found at a recycling facility in New Jersey in November 2014 - may have looked like based on the evidence that she left behind. The handbag and two bloodstained blouses found near the little girl’s remains were determined forensically to have belonged to the mother. Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based DNA phenotyping company which uses DNA profiles to generate composite facial likenesses, predicted that the mother would look like a Latina woman who had Central or South American ancestry. “It’s certainly not a perfect science—but it’s a best estimate based on the DNA pulled from these clothing items that were recovered,” said Christopher Gramiccioni, the Monmouth County Prosecutor. “Keep in mind – this is not a photograph. It’s a predictive composite.”

This article is important to society because it focuses on a controversial DNA science and the mystery surrounding a newborn’s death. Parabon’s phenotyping service have “produced some successes in recent cases where just a general appearance had helped guide investigators” but the DNA technology has also faced scrutiny for its limitations. It will therefore be interesting to see if this composite will be helpful in leading investigators to the mother and the truth surrounding the death of this poor baby.Augenstein did a great job summarizing this case and providing a lot of information on the facts and sciences. For example, he included many details on the phenotyping science and discussed how unknown deceased baby cases have been rising. I also love how he included a composite image of the baby, pictures of the mother’s belongings, and the featured composite image of the mother. However, I think that the author could have included more information on the facts of the case because it would provide the reader with a more thorough understanding of the case if Augenstein had explained what investigators have learned over the past three years.  

Body of Florida Man Missing 17 Years Discovered. Homicide Investigation Underway

Lucy Rizzo

December 21, 2017

Forensics

Current Event #12

https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/body-florida-man-missing-17-years-discovered-homicide-investigation-underway

Augenstein, Seth. “.” Forensic Magazine, Advantage Business Media, 21 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/body-florida-man-missing-17-years-discovered-homicide-investigation-underway.

I read the recent article “Body of Florida Man Missing 17 Years Discovered. Homicide Investigation Underway.” In 2000 Mike Williams was declared missing after never returning from a solo duck hunting trip on a Florida Lake. After searching for his body for 44 days, Investigators declared that Williams must have drowned and his body was eaten by alligators. This however did not fully close the case. When law investigators were tipped off with “new information” they reopened the search investigation and found Mike William’s body 50 miles from his original hunting spot. Williams best friend, Brian Winchester, and widowed wife Denise Williams have been called into question on the mysterious murder of Mike Williams.

Because this is an recently new and ongoing investigation there was very little information let out to the public by investigators. This did not help readers further understand what the next steps were being taken in the investigation. There was also no reference to forensic science and technology being used to process and analyze William’s remains, although they mentioned that the body had been so well preserved they knew exactly how he died even though it had been almost two decades ago. The article could have included quotes or statements from the wife, best friend, or any one involved in the investigation on the law enforcement side. This would have brought much needed life and additional information to the article and for the readers. In a follow up article on updates of the case, the author should provide a very in depth and descriptive account of how the investigation has progressed and where it is headed. The direction of where the investigation is going currently was lost and that would have been very helpful.

This article caught my eye because it had recently been updated. I am interested in homicide and murder investigations and this piece really caught my eye. I hope that the author will include more information on the forensic science being used in this case and how it connects the victim to its perpetrator. I am excited to read the future articles on this case and to see if it attracts nationwide coverage.

Otto Warmbier Suffered Extensive Brain Damage, Coroner Confirms

Jack Baxter

Current Event

December 15th

Forensics

Kolata, Gina. “Otto Warmbier Suffered Extensive Brain Damage, Coroner Confirms.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/health/otto-warmbier-north-korea-autopsy.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection.

The Article “Otto Warmbier Suffered Extensive Brain Damage, Coroner Confirms” written by Gina Kolata talks about Otto Warmbier and what happened to him and what was reported by the coroner's office. Otto F. Warmbier was the college student that was held in North Korea for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for his alleged crime. The North Koreans claim that his condition was caused by sleeping pills and botulism. But his parents are claiming that he was greatly tortured by the North Koreans. He died six days after being returned to the US. Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco was the coroner who performed the autopsy on the body. She could not find any signs of torture but at the same time she couldn’t rule it out as a possibility. “There are a lot of horrible things you can do to a human body that don’t leave external signs behind.” she said. She has stated that the most frustrating thing about this whole ordeal is the lack of what happened to him in North Korea.

This Article was brought to my attention because it is something that is going on in our world and something that people should be aware of. We don’t always hear of these things but at this time with everything that is going on between North Korea and the US it feel important that people hear this. The forensic science was done by Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco as she looked through the body she looked at the teeth as well as many other things to look for signs of torture.

This article was well written and a good read. I thought that is was a little lengthy but when you started to get bored of reading it something new popped up and made you want to continue. The title could have been a bit different. The title I personally feel like gave off that they were only going to be talking about the brain damage but if you actually read the article you learn that that is not true. It was overall a good read and I enjoyed it very much.

Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction By ASHLEY SOUTHALL OCT. 19, 2017

Zach Zucker

12/14/17

Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction

Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection.

After a bird watcher found a severed hand from an unknown person washed up on the shire in Brooklyn, remains of other body parts such as a foot and ribcage weer found which could possibly be linked the the same person. The medical examination examined the parts and concluded that it is likely that they belong to the same body. ALong with this,the examiner analysed that the parts would have come from a woman from ages 20-45. On a flap of skin in the calf of the body, was a tatoo with the name Monique. After no more progress was made on the case, the police headed to go into the direction of phenotyping. Phenotyping uses DNA from the biological matter people leave behind, like skin and blood, to predict their appearance. “Once we identify the deceased, it’d go a long way to solving the crime itself,” said Chief Patrick Conry, who was chief of Brooklyn detectives and is now a senior official at Police Headquarters.

By using phenotyping, scientists can discover variation traits in the person such as eye color, freckling, and geographical ancestry. AFter this step, the scientists put these traits into an algorithm that creates a profile for the individual. Recently, pharmaceutical companies have used programs that can generate faces for these traits. It resulted that Monique had a sub-Saharan African ancestry, and not white like what the scientists originally believed as it look from the severed limbs of the body. This is how scientists can use a new type of technology called phenotyping to identify bodys.

I feel that this article and very informative and very relevant in today's society. For example, as crime rates have been drastically rising, it is important that we are able to get true justice and we deserve to know what happened in certain cases. Along with this, technology is rapidly expanding and improving so it is very interesting to see how phenotyping call eventually solve many unsolved cases and mysteries and how it could possibly lead to suspects involved with cases.

After reading this article called “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction”, I feel that this article is very well written. I think the article is well written because it is very easy to understand and shows purpose in today’s society and our advancing technology. Although this article would be improved. FOr example, the article could have explained and gone more into detail on what happened to Monique and if they ever caught a suspect. To improve this article I would suggest writing, about another story on which phenotyping was used to identify a body.

Is This Really the Bluesman Robert Johnson?

Bussell, Mark. “Is This Really the Bluesman Robert Johnson?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2017,

https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/is-this-really-the-bluesman-robert-johnson/?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

A man named Zeke Schein purchased a photo that he thought depicted the blues music legend, Robert Johnson, who was prevalent in the 1930’s. Since this claim, forensic experts have had disagreements as to whether or not this photo is of Robert Johnson. The age and grain of the paper the photo was printed on indicated that it is from the 1930’s, but the style of suit, the zoot suit, is not typical of that time period. Another discrepancy regarding the photo is that Johnson appears to be holding the guitar as though he was a lefty, even though he was actually a righty. However, the guitar is stringless meaning that it was probably a prop for the photoshoot so Johnson may have been indifferent to which hand he held the guitar in. Two of Johnson’s close friends David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Robert Lockwood Jr., didn’t recognize Johnson from this photo. However, Johnson’s son confirmed that the photo was of his father. Vanity fair published an article that shed light on the everyday man, Zeke Schlein, and his photo of Johnson which began the criticism of Schlein and speculation that these claims were for financial gains. Schlein countered this criticism by saying “They were accusing us of only being in it for money, which was never the goal for either of us. I needed to at least explain my position, why I cared so much about trying to put out a musician’s image who affected me.” As investigations of this photo continue, it is still unclear if this photo is of Johnson, or Schlein’s motives behind this claims.

This article is relevant to society because Robert Johnson impacted music and history. Johnson was working in the 1930’s so only two confirmed photographs of him exist, and a third photo-documentation of this legend would be an incredibly important historical document. It is also interesting how the process of investigating the photograph involved knowledge of fashion trends throughout history, and details about Johnson’s own life, such as his dominant hand.

This article is well-written. It is concise and easy to understand. The article would be better if the beginning focused more on speculations of Mr. Schlein because it would have made the article seam more relevant and pressing. This article also did not explain who Mr. Schlein was, and I had to do further research to realize he was an everyday person.

After 2 Death Sentences Tossed, Prosecutors Go for Life Term in Murder Trial of 'Baby Lollipops' Mom.

Alexander Rizzo

Current Event

December 7th, 2017

Mr. Ippolito

“After 2 Death Sentences Tossed, Prosecutors Go for Life Term in Murder Trial of 'Baby Lollipops' Mom.” Forensic Magazine, 6 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/after-2-death-sentences-tossed-prosecutors-go-life-term-murder-trial-baby-lollipops-mom.

This article is about a women, Ana Maria Cardona, 56, who is being convicted for allegedly killing her son. Prosecutors have tried to apply the death penalty twice but have failed twice due to lack of evidence. Cardona has been locked up in prison since 1990, when the murder occurred. The reason why is because, although it has not been proven that she murdered the children, she was convicted for child endangerment, assault, and other crimes but not murder. So far, the most important evidence in the case has been eye witnesses who ID’d her as the perpetrator due to a shirt that she owned that read ‘Baby Lollipops’. The case has become famous due to the prosecutor's errors that have lead to the women to be continuously held, ‘not guilty’. The case has been embarrassing for the prosecutors in florida.

This article is still relevant, even to this day, because of the amount of turmoil that has been created by the prosecutors in this case. This case is also relevant because of how gruesome the murders of the children were, and finally it is important because most of the evidence lies solely on the identification of the victim's shirt from a witness. This lead to questions like, should this witness have so much power in this case?

I think this article was good, but what could be improved is more detail regarding the evidence in the crime. I found it confusing trying to figure out what evidence lead the Cardona to be put into jail and what charges she was convicted with. I think, however, that the article did a good job describing how the prosecutors fumbled in the case.

It Took Two Years for Cops to Crack the Dead Woman's Phone. Here's How They Got in.

Alexander Plaza

Mr.Ippolito

12/6/17

Forensics Review

Hays, Holly V., and Vic Ryckaert. “It Took Two Years for Cops to Crack the Dead Woman's Phone. Here's How They Got in.” Indianapolis Star, IndyStar, 5 Dec. 2017, www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2017/12/05/electronic-footprint-sand-digital-forensics-technology-allows-investigators/915526001/.

I read the article “It Took Two Years for Cops to Crack the Dead Woman's Phone. Here's How They Got in” by the Indiana Star. The article talks about how it took the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police investigators to look at the phone of an 18 year old woman who had committed suicide. It turns out that one police officer had handled the phone deleting dozens of photos. He faces charges of obstruction of justice and digital trespassing. The article talks about how the law must constantly keep up with the advancement of technology and to monitor the “electronic footprint” of people. The article also brings up the controversial question of whether the government has the legal right to access emails, texts and other digital communications, bringing up concerns about privacy and the trade off with safety. The article continues explaining that a digital forensics company called Cellebrite Services was able to bypass the security on the phone to provide investigators with evidence.Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said, “Without the ability to extract the information off of the young woman’s phone, there would have been no capability whatsoever to file this case”. It is a constant cycle of cell phone manufacturers improving security and digital forensic companies bypassing security.

This article is very pertinent to the state of forensics at the moment. As technology continues to improve and continues to be a part of society today, Law enforcement must keep up and constantly improve to be able to gather all possible information about crimes, especially digital forensics companies. Eventually, the trade off between privacy and security must be completely addressed.

Overall, I think this article did a very good job. It took on a tough topic and shed light on the changing landscape of the field of forensics and law enforcement in the information age. One thing I think the article could do better is go into more detail about the debate on privacy versus public safety. If it did this, I think it would be a more complete article. Nonetheless the article does well to provide an intro to the subject.

Disagreement on Evidence After Judge Tosses Amazon Echo Case

This week, I reviewed the article ‘Prosecutor, Police Disagree on Evidence After Judge Tosses Amazon Echo Case’ by Michelle Taylor published in Forensics Magazine. The article updates upon a homicide case last year in which the police wanted to use an ‘Amazon Alexa’ as a witness. In November 2016, four friends in Arkansas hung out at Victor Collins’ house in his hot tub with beers and vodka, but the next morning Collins was found face down in the hot tub. After trace evidence found a violent struggle took place, police wanted to consult his Alexa, who was being used as a speaker. Amazon wasn't so willing though, as they pleaded for first amendment protections. This was changed after defense attorneys consented and Amazon gave the information to the court. The fight might not have been worth it because two days ago they found that the police department “did not find any evidence from the Echo device.”

This was a very interesting article to read, specifically because I have an Amazon Alexa at my house. Previously I heard of a domestic violence case where the woman called the police using her Alexa. This crime was different, however, because the police wanted the data from the device. I think it's very important that we use technology to our advantage, especially with forensic related cases. This case set the precedent when using digital assistants for the case But, it’s important for people to have their privacy. Already, people are comparing Alexa to the spying telescreens from the dystopian novel 1984. Personally, I think that we should try to make a law  so that when it comes to using the Alexa in conjunction with government or police, the person has rights over the ‘robot.’

This article was very well written, but there were some problems I had with it. The article that I used was very short because it was more of an update on the case. I felt that the author could have added background information, so a new reader doesn't have to go looking for the original article. Finally, I felt the article to be very unclear with the speakers. When dialogue was brought up only one quote was used, and all other dialogue was just shortened or summarise. This confused me as I was reading. However, none of this majorly impacted what I learned from the article.

Taylor, Michelle. “Prosecutor, Police Disagree on Evidence After Judge Tosses Amazon Echo Case.” Forensic Magazine, Advantage Business Media, 5 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/prosecutor-police-disagree-evidence-after-judge-tosses-amazon-echo-case.

Fingerprints Lead to Arrest of Oregon Fugitive at Texas University.

Timmy McGrath

Bronxville School

Forensics

December 5th, 2017

“Fingerprints Lead to Arrest of Oregon Fugitive at Texas University.” Forensic Magazine, 5 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/fingerprints-lead-arrest-oregon-fugitive-texas-university.

This article was about the technique of fingerprints leading to the arrest of a fugitive from oregon. Daniel Charles Ray Hanson, 42, has been known to have used aliases in the past. And this time he used one to enroll in a Texas University. He had used many fake identities in the past to enroll into other schools. One time he even used one to enroll back into highschool after he had graduated and was in his late 20’s. When he was enrolled at the University of Texas, Austin he was granted some scholarship money, he took this money without hesitation and continued to go to school but had an angry outburst that caused many people to write complaints to the university about him. The University then revoked his money and ran a background check in which they checked his fingerprints from the local database. They didn’t get an exact match at first so they brought in a very high trained fingerprint examiner and he was able to give them a direct match. That match lead back to Daniel Charles Ray Hanson who had an outstanding warrant in Oregon for many counts of forgery on legal documents and using a false identity.

This article while being very well written, I felt could have gone into more detail about what happened to the fingerprints the first time. I feel like adding why they couldn’t get an exact match would have helped make the article much more interesting. The article was very well written but it was a little on the short side adding some more detail about the complaint that was made about him. But it was overall a great article and a good read.

This really relates to the real world because people are arguing now a lot that fingerprinting isn't a good way to prove someone is guilty but by reading this article it restores some faith that that is in fact not true and fingerprinting can be trusted.

Tips Sought to Help Identify Human Remains Found in 1994; Artistic Renderings Released.

Maggie Miller

December 4th, 2017

Forensics A/B Odd

Current Event 10

“Tips Sought to Help Identify Human Remains Found in 1994; Artistic Renderings Released.” Forensic Magazine, 30 Nov. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/11/tips-sought-help-identify-human-remains-found-1994-artistic-renderings-released.

Michigan State Police have released information about 23 year old human remains, asking help from the public to identify the individual. In October, 1994 a hunter was walking in a wooded area in Alcona County when he came across the remains of an identifiable individual. Anthropologists at Michigan State University are assisting in the investigation to identify the female remains. They are said to be from a 30-50 year old female between 4’7” and 5’6” tall, most likely European/ Caucasian. The skull was found fractured from trauma around the time of death, which was 4 years before the time they were found. DNA samples were collected and posted to the CODIS and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System databases. However, this was not enough to identify the remains. Forensics Artists then became involved to help involve the public, they developed 3 possible sketches of the individuals face following these techniques. Three techniques were used, the first image was a two dimensional sketch drawn in graphite based on anthropological landmarks on the skull which indicated feature shapes. The second image was created through digital rendering aided by a 3D scan of the skull. And the third image was a 3D clay model of the skull, which FBI forensic artists created following a two dimensional approach.

Everyday a new case is released involving a missing or unidentified person. For most people like myself, I think of DNA matching like fingerprints to find a match to the remains. Not many people think about the involvement of the arts in forensic studies, but digital art and graphic work can be essential in identifying victims and suspects involved in a criminal case. New 3D and digital technology has developed incredibly the past few years, that I believe it’s on it’s way to becoming one of the most common factors in identifying individuals.

This article was very interesting to read, mostly because art and forensics are both classes I take this year and am fascinated by, so to see them tie together was very interesting. The article presented a good summary of information on how this method applied to this specific case and how they were developed. However, I felt the article lacked a lot of points that could add to it, such as the previous history of this forensic artistry and how this will impact us in the future. I would suggest readers to also research this in other articles because it’s worthwhile, however it would be easier had these authors of this article provided this assortment of information themselves.

“Forensic Technology Developed in UK Will Make It “Impossible” for Criminals to Destroy Fingerprint Evidence”

Avery Kane 12/4/17

Current event Forensics A/B

https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/11/forensic-technology-developed-uk-will-make-it-impossible-criminals-destroy-fingerprint-evidence

The article “Forensic Technology Developed in UK Will Make It “Impossible” for Criminals to Destroy Fingerprint Evidence” talks about a new innovation in forensic science. One of the most popular ways in which criminals can protect their identity is by using special formulas that erase fingerprints from bullets and other items that may be at the crime scene. Also, evidence can be exposed to extreme temperatures that erase fingerprints. With the help of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Dr Paul Kelly and the Loughborough University science department developed a way in which it would be impossible for criminals to erase their fingerprints from evidence. Dr Kelly said the technique, which uses a chemical to uncover prints, has the potential for major advancements in forensic science. The DSTL lead scientist on the project, Steve Thorngate said “Through our work with Loughborough University, the ability to significantly increase fingerprint recovery rates from items recovered will mean criminals will find it impossible to conceal or destroy their fingerprints.” These new discoveries will make it easier for police to recover impressions from problematic crime scenes involving materials exposed to high temperatures, immersed in water, or prints left on deformed surfaces.

These new discoveries have changed the forensic world. Now police and forensic scientists at crime scenes around the globe can identify perpetrators even if they remove fingerprints from pieces of evidence. Or if a piece of evidence that may have fingerprints on it has been exposed to cold or hot temperatures.

I enjoyed reading this article and learned a lot about how this new discovery will positively affect the world. But I wish the article explained the ingredients in the formula that would be used to uncover fingerprints.

Fingerprints lack scientific basis for legal certainty: More research into validity of fingerprint comparisons needed.

Carnegie Mellon University. "Fingerprints lack scientific basis for legal certainty: More research into validity of fingerprint comparisons needed." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171005111100.htm>.

In the article I read, I learned that new research indicates fingerprint evidence isn’t always conclusie. I thought his was interesting as we’re currently learning about another forensic method that is not considered conclusive conclusive which is bite mark analysis. A study done by the  American Association for the Advancement of Science showed that latent fingerprint analysis collected from crime scenes lack scientific foundation and are indefensible. Collecting latent fingerprints is done by dusting a smooth or nonporous surface with fingerprint powder, photographing them, and lifting them from the surface with clear adhesive tape. The lifting tape is then placed on a latent lift card to preserve the print. The article went on to discuss how while fingerprinting was one of the most commonly used methods in crime scene investigations, but there is no was to scientifically estimate the number of people who have the same characteristics leading some scientists to conclude it has no scientific basis.

This conclusion by one University doesn’y neccesarilychallegge the long history of successful fingerprint analysis in criminal cases. latent fingerprint examiners are able to  rule out most of the population from fingerprint features, but there isn’t a lot of data out there that proves fingerprint features are unique. Thi could affect the forensic community because more tests could be done to find out just how conclusive fingerprint analysis really is, and the future of investigative practices could be changed.

This article overall was informative but a little choppy. There was background information that could’ve been included but wasn’t ,such as what a latent fingerprint is, that I had to look up myself to fully understand. I thought it ended with a very interesting quote : “most forensic disciplines have not been subjected to rigorous scientific study”. This made me a lot more curious about what other investigative practices have not been thoroughly studied.

Posted for L. Monahan