Madison Meehan
3/11/20
Levenson, Michael, and Heather Murphy. “Golden State Killer Suspect Offers to Plead Guilty.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Mar. 2020,
The man accused of being the Golden State Killer, facing a possible death sentence for many rapes and murders in California during the 1970’s and 80’s, has recently offered to plead guilty. Although he offered to plead guilty, he will only do so if he gets a life sentence instead of the death penalty. The suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, was arrested in 2018 and charged with 13 counts of murder. This specific investigation was the first to be solved with genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy is a “forensic technique that relies on identifying crime-scene DNA”.
Since this case used genetic genealogy successfully, many other agencies began to solve violent crimes using the same system. Investigators took a sample from the scene of a 1980 murder and submitted it to GEDmatch, connecting the DNA to a distant relative of DeAngelo and finally to him. This has led to a “rapid emergence of genetic genealogy over the past two years”. This makes forensic scientist’s jobs much easier.
I learned a lot from reading this article, however there were some things that the author could have done better. One thing that could’ve been better is more description of the process for genetic genealogy. The author summarized the case really well though and I understood everything that happened. Finding out about such an important process for forensic scientists was very interesting and informative.
2 comments:
Molly Palma
Mr. Ippolito C-Odd
Current Event 20
Due on 31st
Levenson, Michael, and Heather Murphy. “Golden State Killer Suspect Offers to Plead Guilty.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Mar. 2020,
www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/golden-state-killer-trial.html.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4250390869532540972&postID=3187985997712542316
I liked Madison’s review of the New York Times article “Golden State Killer Suspect Offers to Plead Guilty” for several reasons. First and foremost, Madison did a sufficient job summarizing the case with suspect Joseph James DeAngelo. She stated years that the murders took place (70s-80s), when the suspect was arrested (2018) and how the case is still playing out today. An example of Madison’s present outlook on the case is when she says “although he offered to plead guilty, he will only do so if he gets a life sentence instead of the death penalty.” Madison’s review included a quote from the original article about genetic genealogy which not only added sophistication to her review but added more information about forensic science, which is important because that is the entire point of doing these reviews. I liked Madison’s sentence structure in this review. It flowed nicely, keeping the reader interested and willing to learn more about the case.
Madison’s review was a little too short to just be ‘concise’. Madison could’ve expanded on her own views toward this article more, especially towards the end of the review, when she is literally writing an entire paragraph about her opinion. Additionally, Madison ends her paragraphs on an abrupt note. To fix that, she would have to either expand her sentences and write a new conclusion sentence which reiterates the topic.
I chose this article because I have heard about the Golden State Killer before and I was interested in learning more about him. Reading this review, I have newfound knowledge about this case even though I hadn’t known about it until this year. After reading this, I have a new involvement surrounding this case and will research it as the days go on. I would like to know whether Joseph James DeAngelo will plead guilty and will receive a life-sentence instead of a death-sentence.
Levenson, Michael, and Heather Murphy. “Golden State Killer Suspect Offers to Plead Guilty.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Mar. 2020,
www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/golden-state-killer-trial.html.
I read Madisons Meehan's article “Golden State Killer Suspect Offers to Plead Guilty.” which details, The man accused of being the Golden State Killer, facing a possible death sentence for many rapes and murders in California during the 1970’s and 80’s, has recently offered to plead guilty. Although he offered to plead guilty, he will only do so if he gets a life sentence instead of the death penalty. The suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, was arrested in 2018 and charged with 13 counts of murder. This specific investigation was the first to be solved with genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy is a “forensic technique that relies on identifying crime-scene DNA”.
The article was really great however there are some things that I would improve. For example, Since this case used genetic genealogy successfully, many other agencies began to solve violent crimes using the same system. Investigators took a sample from the scene of a 1980 murder and submitted it to GEDmatch, connecting the DNA to a distant relative of DeAngelo and finally to him. This has led to a “rapid emergence of genetic genealogy over the past two years”. This makes forensic scientist’s jobs much easier. This could have been explained better and made more clear. If these things are cleared up this would be a great review.
This article furthered my knowledge on forensics science. But it also helped me understand the importance of DNA technology which is a big reason why I chose it. I chose this article because DNA analysis was my favorite unit of the year and proved to be very important in the real world of forensics science.
Post a Comment