Katie Hennessy
Forensics
Current Event
Bosman, Julie. “Another Victim of a Serial Killer Is Identified, 4 Decades after His Death.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/us/john-wayne-gacy-victim.html?auth=login-google.
On October 25, 2021, police identified another victim of the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacey. This comes after authorities have collected more DNA evidence, and have expanded their databases being able to match more DNA. The victim has been identified as Francis Wayne Alexander; Mr. Gacey was arrested in 1978. Authorities found nearly 29 bodies in Mr. Gacy's basement. Five victims are still unidentified, but authroties have solved three cases involving a murder by Mr. Gacy since the late 70’s. This comes with new technology in forensic science which allows them to easily match people’s DNA to their identity due to a growing database.
This article is significant because it alludes to the ongoing effect that the improvement of technology is having on society. Although Mr. Gacey is dead, these victims are finally getting the justice they deserve. As technology is constantly evolving, criminals are going to have more of a difficult time committing crimes and getting away with it, which will result in a decrease in the amount of crimes people are commiting.
Overall, Julia Bosman did a very nice job with this article and explaining the topic. She did a very strong job giving a broad overview of the whole case, but it could have been a better article if she got a little more specific. I also think she got slightly repetitive at the end, so with a few changes, the article could greatly improve.
1 comment:
Elizabeth Burnell
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics (EF Odd) // Current Events 7
November 8, 2021
Bosman, Julie. “Another Victim of a Serial Killer Is Identified, 4 Decades after His Death.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/us/john-wayne-gacy-victim.html?auth=login-google.
Current Event by Katie Hennessy: https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2021/11/another-victim-of-serial-killer-is.html
After the publication of an article by Julie Bosman in The New York Times on October 25, 2021 entitled “Another Victim of a Serial Killer Is Identified, 4 Decades after His Death,” Katie Hennessy wrote an insightful review of the hair-raising piece. Firstly, I thought Hennessy did an excellent job writing a concise and succinct overview of the article in her first paragraph. Additionally, I appreciated how Hennessy was able to connect this topic to a far broader idea regarding the connection between technology and crime rates. Lastly, I enjoyed how she included multiple details of how the previously unidentified victim came to be identified.
Hennessy’s writing was strong throughout her review, but I believe there are a couple of areas that could be improved. For example, I wish that she had been more specific about the type of DNA technology that was used to identify the victim, as well as how it worked. Moreover, I think Hennessy could add a quote from the original article so as to better relate her writing to that of Bosman.
I really enjoyed Hennessy’s review, and I especially liked it as I had written a current event on this topic previously. While the crimes of Gacy happened nearly 50 years ago, the incalculable value of DNA evidence and technology can nonetheless be clearly seen. I will be interested to see how this technology can be used in the future to better identify criminals and victims.
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