Defrosting Cold Cases

Blood Pattern Analysis: A follow up to #cclivechat of Feb 3, 2012, Part I (or, How I Punched a Side of Pork in a Sheffield Morgue) by Sue Carney ___________ In this week’s #cclivechat we focused on blood pattern analysis. The previous week we’d touched on the issues of whether it might be possible to [...]

Tags: Blood Pattern Analysis, cclivechat, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, DNA, Forensics, Identification, Sue Carney

It has been dubbed the most entertaining Cold Case Live Chat ever and the only thing I did was mention snot. He! We were talking about body fluids so it was not that far out, right? But seriously, we had an enlightening chat with Sue Carney about blood patterns, how they evolve, wet versus dry [...]

Tags: Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Sue Carney

The first Sum it up! for 2012 and I got a lot to share with you. First of all, another police department has decided to place all their cold cases online with information for the public. The Syracuse Police Department and the Criminal Investigations Division have established the Cold Case Unit with an email address and a telephone [...]

Tags: Arson Detection, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Evidence, Forensics, Sum it Up!, Unsolved Homicide

Forty-six years ago, Jim and Nancy Beaumont were confronted with a nightmare that has been ongoing ever since. Their beloved children, all three of their children, vanished without a trace. It broke their hearts, their hopes, and their marriage. Over the years, South Adelaide Police did investigate more leads. They checked into child serial rapist [...]

Tags: Austria, Beaumont Children, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Missing Person, Police, South Adelaide, Victim, Witnesses

Friday the 13th! It was tempting fate and indeed something happened. Air plane delays messed up Richard Case‘s travel plans. Our #cclivechat therefore began much early with questions and answers send via email and Twitter. At the noon hour, several other CSI folks jumped in and we learned a great deal today! 1: Can you [...]

Tags: cclivechat, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Richard Mark Case

Tragedy has struck the Meredith family again. Very early this morning, Brandon Meredith was found dead at his sister’s home. Brandon was Trisha‘s brother whose cold case can be found here on DCC. The cause of Brandon’s death is still unknown and details will follow later. Trisha’s case is not forgotten. During his life, Brandon [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Indiana, Investigations Division, Police, Trisha Meredith, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

Our chat today was with Gary Howard a.k.a. TriniCSI on Twitter and we discussed the chemical treatment of fingerprints. And despite mind-boggling technical difficulties we got an excellent conversation going. We touched on the three types of fingerprints that can be found at a crime scene, blood transfers, latent and patent prints, and the different [...]

Tags: cclivechat, chemical treatment of fingerprints, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gary Howard

Since 1974, the Caughlin Family has been wondering why their beloved 14 year old Karen had to die. To this date, there are no answers. Maybe we will never get the answers we need but then again, it might be possible with the help of some special people. The Caughlin Family would like to have [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Canada, Crime Scene, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Karen Caughlin, Michigan, OPP, Police, Sarnia, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

From the New York Times: “In an opinion that harshly criticizes the tactics of the police and prosecutors, an Illinois appellate court on Friday night reversed the conviction of Juan Rivera, who has spent 19 years in jail for the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old baby sitter in a suburb of Chicago. There [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Illinois, Investigations Division, Juan Rivera, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Another case of senseless violence that costs a police officer his life. Yesterday, Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse was shot in the head and killed during a routine traffic stop. He had not even exited his car yet. The driver of the car stopped was a third party. The shooter could be seen on [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Ballistics, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Police, Victim, Virginia, VT Police Officer Deriek Crouse, Witnesses