Murder of Annie Le

 

            The murder of Annie Le has made many headlines in the20past week. Authorities suspect and have charged Clark with the murder of Le. Both Le and Clark were Yale students working in the laboratory. Le’s body was found inside a wall, she was proved strangled to death.  Clark was arrested 5 days ago in the Super 8 motel after he had been tailed and had given a DNA sample. Originally authorities said that they had matched his DNA to that found at the crime scene. The body was found in the Amistad building which is a lab for technicians. This new lab is home to thousands of animals. Le was to be married just days after her death. Clark came into suspicion early last week after there were bruises and scratches on his chest (possibly defensive wounds) he also failed a lie detector test. Clark was put in a state prison for protective custody. 

The murder of Annie Le has been all over the media in the past 2 weeks. Such a brutal murder at such a prestigious school in uncommon and has effected everybody at the school and many others throughout the country. Although the DNA analysis was not explained, i know that this science would be relative to forensic science. In fact every test that has been run pertaining to the crime scene is related to forensics. 

Although this article did not focus as much on science as i would have liked, it was simply an informational article that was well written. The cruelty was well-explained and so were the events leading up to the charge and arrest of Raymond Clark III.

Current event post.

The article Who Says You Can't Do That? Crime Scene Photography: Capturing the Scene, presented in a review by Meghan Bond was very interesting and well written. Meghan does a good job of explaining to the reader what the job of the photographer is and how significant it is. She also gives details in explaining what kind of things the photgrapher must do. For example, the photographer must have field notes and diagrams that match up to the still pictures.  Meghan also does a good job of emphasizing the importance of crime scene photos in court cases because visual evidence is vital. I also commend her on using a direct quote from the article, it gives the reader of the review more of a detailed understanding of what the article was about. Although the review was excellent there were some things that she could have added to make it better.

            Perhaps if Meghan could have gone into detail on how the photographs are presented in court. I think that this would have interested the reader by giving some background information on the court process of presenting visual evidence. I also think that this review of the article could have been better if she added some sort of conclusion. In this conclusion she could once again state the significant factors of the article so that the reader could finish the article with a complete understanding of photography in crime scenes.

            I was impressed by this review because it was thorough and well written. I also learned about the way photographers go about a taking pictures in a crime scene. For example, how they are supposed to depict what happened at the scene instead of photographing everything even the extras. Before reading this article I did not realize how important crime scene photographers were to a court case 

New technology makes fingerprint removal from metals easier

Tim Brogan 9/22/09
Mr. Ippolito Forensics Even



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713085018.htm


This article is about an advance in technology that has helped us discover news way in removing and identifying fingerprints. Researcher Alex Goddard has discovered a natural technique to remove a fingerprint without disturbing the construction of it. The way that he does this involves studying the chemical and physical interactions occurring between the metal and the fingerprint sweat deposit. Using advanced surface imaging techniques, such as an atomic force microscope, observations of fingerprinted brass samples can identify optimum conditions to promote the natural enhancement of the fingerprint, vastly improving their recovery rate.

This article can help many crimes be solved. The way in which this article can help that is because of the major advance in technology presented in it. This technology will allow many crimes to be solved with even partial prints because it will be able to lift the print off of a bullet without destroying it.

In the world today this is extremely useful because now many of the murders that happen everyday will be solved and the people who break the law and harm others. In the world today this may help the crime rate in cities go down because criminals will start to think about the advancements in technology that might catch them for their crimes.

Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells

Recently, residents in the mid-west, especially in Wisconsin, have been falling ill due to the contamination of well water. The ground water has become increasingly polluted due to many factors. However, the main factor is an excess amount of waste being spread across fields. After the fields have absorbed as much “fertilizer” as possible, the extra waste flows into streams, rivers, and groundwater. Lisa Barnard, who lives just 15 miles from the city of Green Bay said, “sometimes it smells like a barn coming out of the faucet.” Residents have had to deal with water contamination for a while now and it has been causing many illnesses.

The people who are affected by the contaminated well waters have experienced “chronic diarrhea, stomach illnesses, and severe ear infections.” One young boy had so many ear infections that he had to have an operation and his physician said that the infections were most likely caused by bathing in polluted water. Along with being sick, residents have also had to spend thousands of dollars re-digging/digging deeper wells. For instance, Joel Reetz spent $16,000 making his well deeper after he learned that his water was polluted. Thankfully, Reetz was able to afford to dig a deeper well, but this is not always the case and leaves many families with nothing except contaminated water.

Although there has been a large effort to greatly reduce the amount of pollution in water resources, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are even more factors that refute their arguments. For example, the EPA has requested that larger farmers, those with 700 or more cows, be required to follow special laws. However, the George W. Bush administration passed regulations allowing many farms to “self-certify that they will not pollute.” In response, most farms never register and get away with contaminating states’ water sources. Also, even though the EPA is trying to increase the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, Congress has yet to create new rules on the topic.

Who Says You Can't Do That? Crime Scene Photography: Capturing the Scene

Dick Warrington is a crime scene officer who works with traffic fatality, homicide, theft, assault, or any other kind of case. He strictly influences those who are at the crime scene of these events must capture an accurate record of the scene and the evidence collected. In order to provide a complete record of each scene, the photographer needs field notes and diagrams, along with relevant still photographs that correlate with those notes and diagrams. While you do not need to be a photography expert to take crime scene photographs or testify in court about these photographs, a photographer does need to have a solid understanding of the proper way to photograph a scene.

It is highly advised by Warrington to look for a camera that you can operate well and that can provide high quality pictures. Whether you choose a film or a digital camera, the photographer must remember that all pictures taken at the crime scene have to be accounted for. It’s easy to delete photos with a digital camera, but a photographer should never delete photos taken at a crime scene. If you delete photos at a scene, it can lead to a lot of controversy if your case goes to court.

In addition, when photographing a scene you have to realize you are trying to provide a permanent record of the scene and the evidence collected. This record will assist anyone who is not at the scene and can help if the case goes to trial. From detectives and prosecutors to members of the jury, any visual information is vital. As you create that record, Warrington asks you to, “…remember that the photographs you take should be relevant to what you are trying to depict. Basically, a photographer should only capture the scene and the surrounding areas that provide useful information, not the ‘extras.’ ”

Bitemark Evidence And Analysis Should Be Approached With Caution, According To Study

Here is the link to my article. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123515.htm It is about a study that has been recently done on bite-mark analysis. The reason that the study was done was because in the past 10 years or so there have been several overturned convictions, convictions that were based on bite-mark analysis. The basic conclusion of the study was that there are a lot of times where it is hard to distinguish between bite-marks done by two different people. More information is in the article about this.