Esther Devitt
1/22/20
Mr. Ippolito D-Odd
Current Event 13
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
In this article, Neil Vigdor discusses a case from 1980 that was recently just solved. Helen Pruszynski was a college student in Massachusetts but was working in Denver as an intern for a local radio station. On January 16th, 1980 she was stabbed and killed, although there was lots of evidence left behind at the crime scene such as semen because the murderer had also raped Helen, the case was never solved because of the lack of technology at the time and was left for 40 years. Once the case was opened again detectives were able to track down Helen's killer by using creating a family tree from the semen kept from the body and using sites like Ancestry.com and GEDmatch.com. Even though the case was largely solved by using modern advancements it was still very difficult for detectives to go through this process. They finally charged a man named James Curtis Clanton who was previously in jail for another rape and is now awaiting a trial for first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping.
This story is another interesting time where new technological advancements can help solve a case that has been sitting for years and years. I also found it very interesting how long physical evidence like the killer's semen can be preserved for 40 years and still be used as a way to crack the case. It is also very interesting that sites like ancestry and 23andme can help lead police to a criminal with one of the family members not even being aware.
Although I really enjoyed the article and it was very refreshing to hear that a man is finally getting convicted for his crimes, I wish the author discussed how the semen was used to create a family tree, and what they did with the information from the DNA websites discussed. If I could add something to the article I would include how they specifically found Helen's murder.
10 comments:
Sophia prior
Current
1/22/20
Ippolito
After reading Esther’s piece by the New York Times I like her beginning paragraph where she gave good background information. Also I was very intrigued by her use of factual evidence. In addition, I was interested with the case as it was a cold case from 1980 and only solved recently. I think she could have integrated more statistics into her review to add more emphasis. Also, she could have added in more about her own opinion on the case and how it was handled. I learned a lot more about how important technological advancements in the criminal field are so crucial.
This article follows a case from 1980 that was recently solved. Helen Pruszynski was a college student in Massachusetts but was working in Denver as an intern for a local radio station. On January 16th, 1980 she was stabbed and killed, although there was lots of evidence left behind at the crime scene such as semen because the murderer had also raped Helen, the case was never solved because of the lack of technology at the time and was left for 40 years. They finally charged a man named James Curtis Clanton who was previously in jail for another rape and is now awaiting a trial for first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping. I chose this article because i thought it was interesting how years later they were able to arrest the murderer.
To improve this article I would recommend Esther try and incorporate more specific forensic evidence. This will achieve more clarity and make it more interesting. Also, I would emphasise the importance of how forensic is used in this case. Because of forensic science they were able to find Helens murderer years later! What I liked about this article and current event was how concise it was, it was very clear.
My learning experience from this article per usual is how important forensic science is in our lives and how it can help us solve cases years and years later. This is what makes forensic science worth studying and makes it really important. This article will change my perception on how long lasting forensic evidence is.
Charlotte Dotson
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 20
1/28/19
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead
to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
Esther’s review of, “Nearly 40 Years After College Student’s Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect”is well written and informative. Esther particularly did a great job of summarizing the main points of the article clearly and concisely. The review was not too long, but it did cover nearly all aspects of the original article. Additionally, her critique of the article was insightful and well thought out. This demonstrated that she reflected on the contents of the article.
The one thing Esther could improve in this article would be her lack of statistics or factual evidence. The article included some interesting facts that contributed to the narrative of the crime. Had Esther included some of these she could have further emphasized the facts of the case and addedd credibility to her argument.
Overall, this review was very informative and interesting. As usual, this review showed me how important forensic evidence is in solving crimes. It also makes me think about how everything you do leaves a trace. It is astounding that a crime committed forty years ago can still be solved today. It is a testament to the fact that it is impossible to espcape forensic evidence as a criminal.
Jordan Hoang
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics C Odd
1/28/20
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to
a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
Esther’s review of “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect” had a lot of positives to it. For one, I enjoyed how Esther gave a short, but informative overview of what happened in the murder case. In addition to this, I liked how she organized her information in a chronological manner and gave many dates. It made it easy for me to contextualize what had happened. Finally, I like how Esther gave her opinion of the article, stating how interesting it was that a case from 40 years ago could be solved. I thought this was a very significant and thoughtful point that she made in her review.
One thing that I believe Esther could improve on is making her individual sentences more consince. Some setences felt a bit run-on and were difficult to understand at times. In addition, Esther mentioned that investigators found “lots of evidence” at the crime scene that they had trouble analyzing because of the lack of technology. However, she only mentioned one piece of evidence scientists used analyze the crime. It would have been interesting to here what other evidence they could have analyzed to figure out the murderer.
Esther review gave an interesting insight to how all types of technology can help forward science and forensic investigations. It was interesting to hear about how public services such as 23andme or Ancestry.com can have forensic applications. It will be interesting to hear what new techniques and devices forensic scientists discover in the future that will help them deduce unsolved mysteries.
Charlotte Cagliostro
Forensics
C Odd / Current Event 14
1/30/20
Review: https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/esther-devitt-current-event-13.html
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
Esther wrote a great review of Neil Vigdor’s article “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” In particular, there were three parts of her review that I liked. First, I enjoyed her summation of the original article. She was able to provide a relatively short but informative description of events regarding Helen Pruszynski’s murder. Second, I liked Esther’s writing style. She kept me engaged throughout the piece, which I appreciated. Third, I liked her critique of the original article. She had the same criticisms as me, which I found quite interesting.
However, there were two components of her piece that I think could use work. First, I think she should have spoken to the relevance of this article. I believe that it would have been interesting to hear her perspective and what she got out of researching the murder. Second, I think she should have included some quotes from the original article because that would have legitimized and enhanced her writing.
I had not heard about the murder of Helen Pruszynski prior to reading this article, so I found it quite fascinating to learn about her story and the use of forensic science in solving the case.
Eve Balseiro
1/30/2020
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/esther-devitt-current-event-13.html
Esther’s summary and analysis of “Nearly 40 Years After College Student’s Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect” from the New York Times was well-written and concise. There were three main factors that Esther did very well. Firstly, she keeps her summary her summary short and sweet, explaining a general synthesis of the article and moving forward. Secondly, Esther gave the perfect amount of details without getting too gory, as this case is very disturbing. Lastly, I found the detail Esther used about Ancestory.com and GEDmatch.com very impactful because it exemplifies how sites that many of us have used before have profound impacts on the forensic science community.
To improve, Esther would have done two things. Firstly, including quotes is always a sure way to have one’s writing appear more valid. Also, I think if Esther elaborated more on the relevance of this article it would have been helpful.
From Esther’s current event, I learned about the significance of programs like ancestory.com and how they can solve cases even when they’re 30+ years old. This will change my perception because it is now even harder to get away with a crime as the strength of DNA evidence grows.
Masha Popovic
1/30/20
Mr. Ippolito D-Odd
Current Event 14
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/
For Current Event 14, I read Esther Devitts report on . “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” by The New York Times. First of all, she did a great job with keeping the information concise and organised. I felt it had a nice flow and was easy to understand. I like how Esther mentioned different/creative forensic techniques like creating a family tree to track down Helens killer, even though it was mainly solved with modern advancements. Lastly, I enjoyed her criticisms of the author and his article, giving me insight into her opinions and what she thought about what she had read.
I felt that Esther could have elaborated on what the modern advancements were that she mentions in the first paragraph to give the reader more information. Secondly, I felt she could have given more of her opinion on the actual context of the article.
Overall, I felt Esther did a great job with her report. She chose a very interesting article and I enjoyed learning about the subject. Although there were a couple of places that needed adjusting, her report did a great job at summarizing and expressing the purpose of the article.
Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #15
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/esther-devitt-current-event-13.html
Esther’s review of the article “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect” was well-written and enjoyable. I liked how her summary was very clear and concise. Additionally, the criticism that she gave the article was evidently thought-out and was sound advice overall. Lastly, I really liked hearing Esther’s personal thoughts about the significance of the technology in the second paragraph.
One aspect that could be added is an example of how the article was enjoyable, because it would have been refreshing to hear about what exactly would draw a reader in besides the subject matter itself. I also think it would have been a good idea to incorporate a direct quote or some statistics, which would add more credibility to the review.
Being able to use new technologies that can crack cases that have been declared cold many years ago is a very exciting thing to discover. Ultimately, something like this will further the studies of forensic science and even greater accomplishments can result from this, and it’s something that I look forward to hearing more about.
Ellie Dessart
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics C Odd
12 March 2020
Current Event 18 Comment
Citation:
Vigdor, Neil. “Nearly 40 Years After College Student's Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to
a Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
Link to Original Review:
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/esther-devitt-current-event-13.html
Esther’s review was engaging and well-written. Firstly, she did a good job structuring her summary by first contextualizing Helen’s case, and then exploring how genetic records helped investigators charge a suspect decades later. Her writing was organized and easy to follow. Secondly, Esther’s second paragraph showed her thorough understanding of the article’s relevance to our study of forensic science. Not only did she mention the effect of new technological advancements on cold cases, she also commented on DNA evidence’s ability to stay preserved for so many years. Thirdly, Esther brought up a good critique in her final paragraph, stating how she wishes “the author discussed how the semen was used to create a family tree.” As I was reading the original article, I also wondered how investigators specifically used the genetic records to find the suspect, so I’m glad Esther acknowledged this too.
However, there were some areas Esther could have improved on. Firstly, her review would benefit with some direct quotes from the original article. Textual support would enhance her own piece by demonstrating her understanding of the author’s writing. Secondly, there were some grammatical errors and misuse of punctuation that made Esther’s review difficult to read. For example, her third sentence in the first paragraph was a run-on, making it easy for readers to get lost and lose focus.
Overall, I enjoyed Esther’s review. By reading her summary and analysis, I learned the power of DNA and its strength as evidence, even 40 years later. As technology advances and continues to develop, it’ll be fascinating to see the vast array of cold cases that can be solved with access to genetic records. I wonder, however, how privacy concerns with services like 23andme and Ancestry.com may limit investigators.
Luke Sheehan
10/28/21
Forensics
Current Event
Link to Review:
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/esther-devitt-current-event-13.html
Link to Actual Article
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.html.
For this current event, I decided to comment on Esther Devitts review of a stabbing death of a college student. While reading her review I noticed some things she did very well. The first thing I noticed was her ability to summarize all of the articles main points in a cohesive manner. This allowed for the reader to really understand what was going on. The next thing I thought she did really well was when she voiced her opinion in the review, she said how interesting it was that a case from 40 years ago could be solved. This showed that she understood the article well enough to have an opinion on it. Lastly, I liked her writing style. The style in which she wrote allowed for me to be engaged throughout the entire review. This allowed me to do a lot of learning.
Although her article was very good, there are some things that I would change. The first thing I would change is that she could have added some quotes. By adding some direct quotes it will allow the reader to know the information is true, it would legitimize it. The next thing I would change is the relevance aspect to the article. She did not include how it was relevant and if she added some information about how it impacts society, it would have helped the reader understand more fully.
My learning experience is that I learned about technological advancements that have helped solve cases that have been unsolved for years. I chose this article because when I read the title I was immediately intrigued. This will help change my perception of ongoing cases. With new technology coming out, it seems that more and more older cases will continue to be solved.
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