Madison Meehan

1/30/20

Forensics D Odd

Current Event 14

Padilla, Mariel. “California Father Is Charged With Murdering Five of His Infant Children.” The 

New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2020, 

www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/us/paul-perez-california-infant-murders.html.

In 2007 a fisherman found an infant’s remains in a sealed container near Sacramento. The infant was killed by blunt force trauma. The investigation went on for twelve years because investigators couldn’t identify the child. Finally, in October of 2019 investigators were able to identify the child using a new technique of DNA comparison. They found out that he was a 1-month-old baby named Nikko Lee Perez. The investigators realized that the father of the baby, Paul Perez, was serving time in prison already. He was arrested for the torture and murder of his baby and had killed four other infants in a similar way from 1992 to 2001. Sherrif Tom Lopez of Yolo County stated, “In my 40 years of law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one”. It would take months before prosecutors woulf decide whether to seek capital punishment due to his charges of five counts of first-degree murder. 

They began the search for the infants family by using the federal Combined DNA Index System but it was unsuccessful. Edward Medrano, the departments chief, stated “Using DNA technology developed by scientists at the California Department of Justice, we were able to create a list of potential siblings and parents of the victim.” This was the first time the “kinship-based search using the existing database technology” was used. They also found that Perez killed all of his children when they were infants. 

The use of this new DNA technology helped put a guilty man behind bars. I learned a lot while reading this article specifically about how difficult it can be to match someone’s DNA and find out who they are. One thing I would change about this article to make it better would be for the author to explain more about the DNA process itself. I learned a lot but they could have been a little more specific. Overall I really enjoyed learning about this technology and believe the article was very well written and informative.

Sophia Prior- Jan 31- C Even Forensic- Current Event 

Citation: Padilla, Mariel. “California Father Is Charged With Murdering Five of His Infant Children.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/us/paul-perez-california-infant-murders.html.

A California father is charged with murdering five of his infant children and a new DNA technology helped officials to solve the case that has kept them guessing for many years. Beginning in 2007 a fisherman found the remains of an infant in a container by the waterway near Sacramento, California. based on the investigation the child had died from blunt-force trauma and the investigation into the killing has been stalled for dozens of years because they were unable to identify the child. However, in 2019 investigators were able to identify the one-month-old baby Nikko Perez with a new technology of DNA comparison. His father Paul was later arrested for torturing and murdering his child in 1996 they also found that he killed four more of his infant children in a similar fashion. This new technology has been life-changing in solving this case, “This was the first time that the kinship-based search using the existing database technology had ever been used in a missing person's investigation’, said Sarah Lovenheim, a spokeswoman for the attorney general”(Mariel, p.3). Based on this new information and DNA technology the investigators were able to connect the infant’s death to his father Mr. Perez.

This technology has been useful to many other cases around the nation as the power of science has overpowered murder and killers so that they couldn’t get away with their heinous crimes. The authorities continue to use this new DNA technology to solve many other cases with unknown victims who were unidentifiable. This has helped society as a whole to bring justice to those in need such as the Perez Family who were murdered as innocents. This is only the beginning of new technology in investigations around the world because every day someone is coming up with a new and better way of solving these crimes. 

The author did a good job of laying out the summary and drawing and the reader with this shocking title. In addition, they gave good quotes from reputable people and explained the DNA technology thoroughly. The author was able to use the dates to create a timeline for the story which made it easy for the reader to read in addition to breaking up the peace and do small short easy-to-read paragraphs.

Esther Devitt Current Event 13

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. 

Molly's review on the “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging" by Michelle Taylor

Molly Palma

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics Current Event #14

January 22th, 2020

Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”

Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,

https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-C

t-Scavenging/

With the latest discoveries from the “Body Farm”, it is found that feral cats scavenge on corpses. These feral cats are attracted to bodies in the early decomposition stage. Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body. Eighteen to fourty-eight days post-mortem, a feral cat scavenged a body, tearing at the “tissue from the left arm and adjacent chest area, focusing on the dermal and fat layers” From days seventeen to twenty-seven days post-mortem, the second cat tore at a corpse's left arm and shoulder, aswell as the lower abdomen. This process of figuring out the patterns of feral cats in scavenging is ongoing and can really further forensic science in the future. 

This article is important because feral cats are heavily prevalent in the United States.  According to lead author Sara Garcia of a newspaper in the Journal of Forensic Sciences,  postmortem scavenging can “distort or conceal soft tissue trauma” which confuses forensic scientists in making an accurate time and cause of death. As a forensic scientist, it is important to become aware of all the factors that could compromise evidence, which in this case is a body, including cats, as ridiculous as that may seem. 

Taylor’s article was informational but direct. After reading it, I was able to draw out a who, what, why and where. Her analysis about feral cats and bodies was supported with important quotes, which added sophistication to her article. To improve her article, Taylor would’ve finished her article with a point of her own rather than just quoting Garcia again. In addition, It would’ve been better Taylor had explained to the reader what the “Body Farm” was before she continued, because not everyone is aware already. 

Charlotte Martin

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics Current Event #13

January 22th, 2020

Fortin, Jacey, and Heather Murphy. “Despite 'Unsupportable' Bloodstain Analysis, No Relief for Man Convicted of Murder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/us/joe-bryan-texas.html.

Bloodstain pattern analysis is a technique used in forensic science to study bloodstains found at a crime scene. It can also help draw conclusions about the case. In 1985, Joe Bryan was convicted of killing his wife, Mickey Bryan but he claims he is innocent. When a man at his trial had delivered an expert testimony concerning the blood splatter in the room where the murder occurred it was a very pivotal moment. It has now been revealed that some conclusions of this man had made were incorrect. At the time of the murder, Mr. Bryan was in Austin Texas, 120 miles away from his wife. After he returned he let Ms. Bryan’s older brother, Charlie Blue to use his car. Mr. Blue later told authorities when he opened the trunk of the car he found a flashlight with bloodstains on the lens. They then concluded “They called Robert Thorman, a police detective who was trained in bloodstain-pattern analysis, as an expert witness. Pointing to the patterns of blood as evidence, Mr. Thorman tied the strands of the case together in a narrative that involved Mr. Bryan driving from Austin to Clifton, shooting his wife at close range, changing his clothes and driving back to the conference.” In July 2018 the Texas Forensic Science Commission said that the blood-spatter analysis used to convict Mr. Bryan was not supported by science.

Overall, I found this article to be very informative on the use of bloodstain analysis and how it works in actual cases. The author did a good job making sure the article was easy to understand and had a great amount of background information to catch the reader up. It was also well organized with its dates and events in order. Although this article could be improved by including more quotes just to show what source they got their information from. 

Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #13

Williams, Graham. “Exhibit A and Other True Crime Shows Can Fuel Misconceptions about Forensic Science.” The Conversation, 9 July 2019, theconversation.com/exhibit-a-and-other-true-crime-shows-can-fuel-misconceptions-about-forensic-science-120022.

Recently, the trustworthiness of forensic science has been questioned by some experts, but this article argues that it isn’t forensic science itself that provides untrustworthy conclusions. Rather, the way it’s misused by rogue scientists and misinterpreted in court is where the issue lies. Many techniques, such as DNA profiling, have come under fire in the past, but have been proved to provide indisputable evidence for a crime. However, another form of evidence known as touch DNA, which are DNA samples transferred to people or objects that someone has touched, was used in the crime documentary series Exhibit A. Touch DNA was used to create a DNA profile in the documentary, but the profile was not reliable and couldn’t be confirmed to match the suspect. Yet it was treated as though it was completely reliable information in Exhibit A. Despite the fact that incorrect use of forensic techniques caused uncertainty, the very nature of forensic science itself became scrutinized. Additionally, courts tend to require black and white answers from forensic scientists, even though the field doesn’t always provide definitive answers, which can cause inaccuracies in the interpretation of the evidence.

The entire field of forensic science being challenged due to misapplication of some of its procedures can definitely lead to incorrect assumptions of the field as a whole. As the article mentioned, it’s important that the future brings a more practical acceptance of the limitations of forensic science. The field itself is still reliable, but it’s also not something that can provide concrete evidence all the time, something that’s important to keep in mind when dealing with legal issues.

I thought that the article did a good job at keeping the reader engaged by making everything easy to understand but also quick and concise. I also liked how it was able to tie everything nicely together in its final paragraphs and provide a connection between touch DNA and the fact that forensic science is challenged. However, one thing I’d like to see is more examples of how misapplication of forensic techniques have ended up causing problems, which would further ground the argument and make it more believable.

Ruby Howell Current Event #13

Ruby Howell 

Mr.Ippolito

Forensics Current Event #13

January 13th, 2020

Shanahan, Ed. “A Father and Son, Brutally Murdered. 32 Years Later, an Arrest.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/dna-cold-case-connecticut.html

DNA testing today is more advanced than it has ever been, and has helped solve wrongfully convicted murders as well as solve unsolved murders. This is evident in the New York Times article by Ed Shanahan, an article about Mr.McFarland, a man who was arrested two months ago for a crime he confessed to 32 years ago in 1996. The crime occured in August 1987 in Conneticut, involving a double murder of a father and a son. These men are thought to have been killed August 21st, and it had been released through police investigation that Mr.McFarland had been arrested the next day on account of accusations of using a knife for sexual assault. A couple weeks later, detectives interviewed him and he denied any involvement in the murders, and then about a decade later in 1996 he confessed to the crime, yet there was not enough physical evidence for police to arrest him. Investigator Captain Smith, who took Mr. McFarland’s confession, stated “he told us approximately 30 things that you would have had to be there to know.” But now, 32 years after the crime was committed, DNA testing has been used to find DNA evidence that links Mr.Mcfarland to the crime. 

This article was very interesting and I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the value of the advanced DNA testing technology we have today. Additionally, the author did an excellent job explaining the story in a long yet cohesive way. While the story was interesting, the article had little to no mention of how unsolved crimes lose their vitality over time, and how DNA testing plays into that. I also believe to improve this article the author could have cut unneeded details from the story. 

Randy Ayala Valdez
Mr. Ippolito
Forensic Science
6 January 2019

Current Events #12
Murphy, Heather. “Headless Body in Cave Is Identified as 1916 Ax Murder Suspect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/us/idaho-outlaw-remains-found.html.
Forensic Genealogy, a forensic technique that uses individuals’ relatives in genealogy databases to identify human remains and crime scene DNA, was able to help identify a torso that had been stuffed in a “burlap sack in a cave.” The torso belonged to Joseph Henry Loveless. Loveless was a bootlegger in Idaho who repeatedly escaped from jail by hiding a saw in his shoe and cutting his way out of his cell in 1916. He died 103 years ago yet forensic science was able to crack the case. The clothing found on the torso was an exact match for the clothes found on “Clark County John Doe.” To confirm this hypothesis, the genealogists used a close relative, locating his 87-year-old grandson, and the test determined that the remains belonged to his grandfather. Although the investigators do not know why Loveless was killed and buried in the cave, genetic genealogy aided in identifying unclaimed remains from a century ago. 
The rise of genetic genealogy services has helped police crack crime investigations. The growth in the number of DNA ancestry tests being uploaded is what has enabled genetic genealogy to assist criminal investigations. The use of this practice has led to the identification of suspects or victims in criminal cases, pushing the concept of a future with genetic genealogy as a routine police procedure. 
The article did a great job organizing the case in chronological order, making it very easy for the reader to follow. The research on the investigation is detailed oriented, listing dates and names originating back to the mystery of Joseph Henry Loveless. The article relies so heavily on the details of the case that it fails to grasp the bigger picture. In doing so, the reader only focuses on the identification of the torso instead of how in solving one mystery, investigators helped solve another. The article could be improved by providing both an analytical and simplistic approach to the investigation. 

Tessa Majors Killing: Focus Turns to DNA Evidence

Sandoval, Edgar, and Jan Ransom. “Tessa Majors Killing: Focus Turns to DNA Evidence.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/nyregion/tessa-majors-barnard-dna.html.

This article titled, “Tessa Majors Killing: Focus Turns to DNA Evidence” published by the New York Times discusses the stabbing of Barnard student Tessa Majors in a NYC Park in early December 2019. Majors’ body was found lying in the streets bleeding out late on December 11 and it took a while for investigators to piece together what had happened and who harmed the young college student. Ultimately, it was concluded that Tessa Majors had been stabbed by three teenagers who were attempting to rob her. The day after the attack a thirteen-year-old was brought in for questioning and charged with a felony second-degree murder charge but that meant the person holding the knife was still on the loose. Police took DNA from Majors hoping that some of her DNA might show up on the suspects which could provide conclusive evidence as to who attacked her. Additionally, they believed that when Majors was fighting the teenagers off she bit one of them leaving behind a mark on one of the attacker’s hand. Weeks later when a fourteen-year-old suspect was brought in for questioning the police also took DNA from them and are hoping the tests return positive matches to DNA found on Majors’ body or a match that her DNA is present on his body. Police believe the suspect’s family kept the boy in hiding until the bite mark disappeared from his hand. Currently, charges have not yet been brought to the additional suspects as police as still waiting for more evidence but they assure the public that this case was treated in a much more professional manner as lots remember how the police handled a similar New York park stabbing in 1989 in what led to be the famous Central Park Five case. 

This article is important to the study of forensic science because, at this point in the investigation into the death of Tessa Majors, the police still need to find their primary suspect. There appears to be no video evidence or anything of that sort to help their case but they do know Majors had bitten one of the attackers and police are hoping some of her DNA may show up on the fourteen-year-old suspect. If any of her DNA is found on him or they can conclude that he did have a bite mark that matched her mouth shape and structure it would be fairly conclusive evidence that he was present at the time of the murder. This case could also have implications on further use of DNA in cases because police were relying so heavily on this bite mark and they fear that since it now may have faded from his hand they can’t prove he was at the scene; this may lead to further innovation to help ensure this can’t happen as easily in the future. 

Overall, I thought this was a very informative article that outlined the events in the death of Tessa Majors and where the investigation currently stands. I also thought the authors did a good job of including how this new DNA testing could help investigators tie the new, fourteen-year-old suspect to the crime scene. However, I think the article could have benefited from more analysis on the authors’ part. The article was very much an informative piece and offered little beyond the facts. I think stating their opinion and maybe something about the police response and how Majors’ body wasn’t identified until too late while in a public park could have possibly made for interesting commentary. 

Nearly 40 Years After College Student’s Stabbing Death, Genetic Records Lead to a Suspect

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/us/helene-pruszynski-james-curtis-clanton.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.

The murder of a college student, Helene Pruszynski, stumped Colorado detectives. The cold case languished for so long that all but one of her immediate family members had died. But then on Thursday, Ms. Pruszynski’s older sister, Janet Johnson, got a phone call: A prosecutor said homicide investigators had made a breakthrough thanks to advances in genetic genealogy and dogged police work. Using Forensic science Investigators say that they were able to put together an extensive family tree of potential suspects using semen recovered from Ms. Pruszynski’s body and working with forensic genealogists at United Data Connect and websites like Ancestry.com and GEDmatch.com. The DNA evidence had been preserved at the time of the murder, but the technology didn’t exist. A check of a national DNA database maintained by the F.B.I. in 1998 also didn’t yield any leads.

This article is so important because it emphasized the importance of forensic science and how it is never leaving.  Meaning “40 years later” science has led us to get justice for Helene Pruszynski. As quoted, “There’s DNA that’s a big part of this case, but don’t misunderstand that it’s like, ‘Hey we just entered DNA into some voodoo database and out popped this guy,’” George Brauchler, the local district attorney, said during a news conference on Monday.

To improve this article  think a better description of the actualy murder is very important to help the reader because it can be confusing. In addition, this article was great because it was very to the point which I appreciated. In conclusion, this article really displays the importance of forensic science.

In the spring of 1916, a peddler in Idaho got away from prison by concealing a saw in his shoe and utilizing it to remove his method for his phone. A couple of months after the fact, the man killed his custom-based law spouse by "beating her to a pulp with a hatchet," as indicated by a neighborhood paper. At her burial service, one of his kids told a journalist, "Daddy never remained in prison exceptionally long and he'll before long be out." half a month later, he did it again, getting away from one more prison with the old saw-in-the-boot stunt. This week, over a century later, authorities in Clark County, Idaho, declared that Joseph Henry Loveless, the bootlegging slick person, been found. Obviously, he is long dead. What's more, it had been a very long time since anybody was effectively searching for him. 

Yet, in explaining one puzzle, specialists unraveled another. Since 1979, the experts in Idaho had been attempting to recognize a middle that had been full in a burlap sack in a cavern. Presently, they have discovered that the middle has a place with Loveless. 

Given that the peddler seems to have kicked the bucket in 1916, his case is more likely than not the most established to be split with measurable family history, a quickly extending scientific system that uses people's family members in lineage databases to distinguish human remains and wrongdoing scene DNA.

Evidence On Trial: Why The Forensic Evidence Is Less Reliable Than We Think.

Jordan Hoang

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics C Odd 

1/5/20

Hardy, Elle. “Evidence On Trial: Why The Forensic Evidence Is Less Reliable Than We Think.” 

GQ, 16 Dec. 2019, 

https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/tech/evidence-on-trial-why-the-forensic-evidence-i

s-less-reliable-than-we-think/news-story/27c34297d86970ec5867da91b0f6729e 

The article “Evidence on Trial: Why the Forensic Evidence is Less Reliable Than we Think” had an interesting perspective on the legitimacy of forensic evidence. The author, Ellie Hardy, brought up a case in Australia in which a 15-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted and kidnapped by a man named Adrian Shane Drummond. Forensic scientists failed to find evidence of DNA on either of the two individuals. However, they reported that “studies have shown in our laboratory that 10 percent of these swabs or samples actually only provide us with any useful information”. The second appeal of Drummond’s case later revealed that the scientists had mistakenly quantified the reliability of the swabs- and that “there will be DNA transfer in up to 90 percent of cases.” Hardy noted that this drastic misunderstanding may be the result of Australia not having strict rules on the legitimacy of forensic evidence. However, there have been multiple other cases involving forensics that have made us question the reliability of these tests. In one case, over 16,500 cases were questioned after a scientist named Sonja Farak was found to have stolen and used drug samples. Using phones have also been found to be unreliable at detecting origin or an individual's location at a specific time. With over 45% of forensic evidence being found to contribute to wrongful convictions in court, Hardy brings to light how forensic evidence may not be as reliable as it appears to be. 

I thought it was interesting to see such a different take on the reliability of forensic evidence. Like Hardy mentioned briefly in her article, we can be quick to agree with this scientific data because of how simple and straightforward it is portrayed in the media. It can also be hard for us to believe that science can be untrustworthy at times. However, I don’t believe that forensic science should be seen as a completely unreliable practice. Cases can be complicated and hard to solve- and forensic technology is rapidly evolving and helping us solve them. All things considered, however, we do have to be more aware of how we utilize, regulate, and interpret the evidence that we are given. Bias, tampering of evidence, and many factors can ultimately play a role in how reliable or unreliable forensic evidence can be. 

Although I thought Hardy brought up very convincing statistics and educated opinions on this paper, much of the data and examples she used were outdated. The trial that she exemplified at the beginning of her article dated back to 2010, and the drug scandal she mentioned dated back to 2012. Since then, technology and regulations have gotten more advanced- so I question if Hardy’s article is entirely accurate on the state of forensic reliability. In addition, I feel as though Hardy could have been more concise at points. The article was quite lengthy and may have been more appealing to readers if Hardy had condensed it. Overall, however, it was interesting and enlightening in some ways we can improve forensic evidence and persecutions in the future.