Eve Balseiro
12/11/2019
Shanahan, Ed. “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/dna-cold-case-connecticut.html.
My current event article, “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest” by Ed Shanahan, covers a recently solved double homicide from 1987 in Hamden, Connecticut. Father and son Fred and Greg Harris had been bound and stabbed in their home on a night in late August. Though confessed to in 1996 by Willie McFarland, the police still did not have enough evidence to charge him. 32 years later, thanks to advancements in forensic science, that all changed. The state’s crime lab reported that the results of testing on a glove confirmed McFarland’s confession.
Though this crime was commited 32 years ago, it remains very revelant to today’s society. “This year alone, DNA evidence has led to arrests in more than a half-dozen unsolved murders going back 20 years or more, including in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Colorado, and California”. Recently advancements in forensic science has lead to make unsolved murders being solved. Most famously, the Golden State Killer was caught in 2018 after committing 13 murders, 50 rapes, and 120 burglaries at least. This shows that even though someone may not initially get caught, forensic science can still catch you 30+ years later.
Though this article maintained a formal tone and had a cohesive, well-written summary, I feel there is definitely room for improvement. More detail would have brough this article to the next level. Especially surrounding the recently solved cases. I felt that that section was swept over very quickly without providing many details. Also, I found it peculiar that the author chose not to mention the names of the victim’s until halfway through the piece.
3 comments:
Sunday Ladas
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics D-ODD
12 December 2019
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2019/12/eve-balseiro-12112019-shanah
an-ed.html
Shanahan, Ed. “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years
Later, an Arrest.” The New York Times, The New York Times,
10 Dec. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/dna-cold-case-connectic
ut.html
I like how Eve informed the reader as to how the forensic scientist perform the autopsy. It was and what it was and how she explained the steps the forensic scientist took when performing the autopsy. I also found it interesting how she explained the positive and negative effects of the new treatment that is being researched as the writer of the article did. I also liked how she incorporated current problems when opening their body and how it tells them what happened. Lastly, I thought that she did a really good job incorporating the article into her article, I liked how she incorporated quotes that the Author of the article she read said.
I did not like how she listed facts then talked about a dispute between two forensic scientists and then listed facts again. I felt she could have listed the facts and then talked about the dispute between the scientists regarding the new treatment. Although she did a good job tying the article into current day events and problems, I felt she could have added more to tie in the cause of death to current events or given more examples as to what the cause of death was.
When reading this article I learned lots of new things about forensic anthropologists that I didn’t know before. I found that the new treatment that makes it easier to perform an autopsy could potentially be easier. I think that this particular case is very interesting because the forensic report differentiated animal parts from human parts.
Shanahan, Ed. “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/dna-cold-case-connecticut.html.
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com
Eve Basieros Review of “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest” by Ed Shanahan, is a great review. The review follows the case of Connecticut Father and son Fred and Greg Harris. Who had been stabbed in their home on a night in late August. Though confessed to in 1996 by Willie McFarland, the police still did not have enough evidence to charge him. 32 years later, thanks to advancements in forensic science, that all changed. The state’s crime lab reported that the results of testing on a glove confirmed McFarland’s confession. Eve does a good job of summarizing this clearly. I chose this article because it was so close to home and was really moving.
To improve this article if I was eve I would have touched more upon the aftereffect of this circumstance. I also would have highlighted more clearly how forensic evidence was used to come to conclusions. This is just a minor thing she could fix to improve the quality of the review.
This review really emphasised the importance of forensic evidence and technology. In addition, it highlighted a really important case. Therefore, I am happy I chose this case. This will change a perception of mine that thinks forensic evidence is only “So” important.
Madison Meehan
1/5/20
Forensics D Odd
Current Event 12
Shanahan, Ed. “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/dna-cold-case-connecticut.html.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4250390869532540972&postID=4235076668130424422
Eve’s review on “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest” was very well written. She summarized this double homicide case very well and made sure not to drag on about unnecessary details. She also explains its relevance to forensics today even though the murder occured 32 years ago. She also made sure to back up all of her claims with evidence from the article, which was helpful.
Although Eve’s review was very well done there were some things that she could modify to make it better. One thing she could improve on is including a specific part of the article she would fix, for example, include a quote. Lastly, she could have mentioned more about the outcome of the case and the significance.
I learned a lot from reading this article and Eve’s review and believe it is very relevant in our study of forensics. It showed me how important forensic evidence is in a case, no matter how old it is.
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