Pam Fodrill Case Study

The popular television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigations has been on the air for 12 years, and it has brought forth the behind-the-scenes actions of criminal investigations, even if its portrayals are not always scientifically accurate. This has caused an interest in the forensic sciences that has led most people to a skewed view of how a criminal investigation actually works. The reality of a criminal investigation is that it is generally more tedious and difficult than the theory of criminal investigation would have you believe. By examining the forensic and investigative procedures of the case of Pamela Foddrill, it is apparent that the theory of criminal investigation was not representative of the procedures concerning examination of the body, but that it was demonstrative of much of the investigatory steps taken by police, like search warrants. On August 18th, 1995, 44-year-old Pamela Foddrill disappeared from the town of Linton, Indiana. Pamela went to buy some groceries at the local IGA and was abducted: her body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag near Russellville, Illinois four months later. Roughly four years later, five individuals were held responsible for their part in the abduction, rape, and murder of Pamela Foddrill: Roger Long, John Redman, Jerry Russell Sr., Wanda Hubbell, and Plynia Fowler. Long, Redman, and Russell are serving life sentences, while Fowler pled out to 14 years and Hubbell pled out to 20 years of incarceration. The forensic aspect of the Pamela Foddrill case made the differences between the theory and the reality of criminal investigation very apparent. When Foddrill’s body was found in December of 1995, the cause of death was originally ruled as violent trauma, indicated by the “broken and splintered nasal bones and fractures to her neck” (Course 69). A few years later, forensic pathologist Scott Wagner said that Foddrill’s injuries, while harmful, were probably not fatal, and the cause of death was changed to blunt force

Cited: Course Reader: Criminal Justice P320 Section 15630. Spring ed. 2012. Print. Lyman, Michael D. Criminal Investigation: The Art and the Science. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.