The Lindbergh Kidnapping

The Lindbergh Kidnapping
-On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator, was kidnapped, and although a ransom of $50,000 was paid, the child was never returned. His body was discovered in May just a few miles from his home. Tracking the circulation of the bills used in the ransom payment, authorities were led to Bruno Hauptmann, who was found with over $14,000 of the money in his garage. While Hauptmann claimed that the money belonged to a friend, key testimony from handwriting analysts matched his writing to that on the ransom notes. Additional forensic research connected the wood in Hauptmann’s attic to the wood used in the make-shift ladder that the kidnappers built to reach the child’s bedroom window. Hauptmann was convicted and executed in 1936.
The Night Stalker

Between June 1984 and August 1985, a Southern California serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker broke into victims’ houses as they slept and attacked, murdering 13 and assaulting numerous others. With citizens on high alert, an observant teenager noticed a suspicious vehicle driving through his neighborhood on the night of August 24, 1985. He wrote down the license plate and notified police. It just so happened that the Night Stalker’s latest attack took place that night in that area, so police tracked down the car. It had been abandoned, but police found a key piece of evidence inside: a fingerprint. Using new computer system, investigators quickly matched the print to 25-year-old Richard Ramirez and plastered his image in the media. Within a week, Ramirez was recognized and captured by local citizens. He was sentenced to death and currently sits in prison on death row.

The Howard Hughes Hoax
-In 1970, authors Clifford Irving and Richard Suskind concocted a scheme to forge an autobiography of notoriously eccentric and reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Assuming that Hughes would never come out from hiding to denounce the book, they felt that their plan was fool-proof. Irving went to publisher McGraw-Hill claiming that Hughes had approached him to write his life story and that he was willing to correspond with only the author. As proof, Irving produced forged letters that he claimed were from Hughes. McGraw-Hill agreed, paying $765,000 for the right to publish the book. When word of the book was made public, however, Hughes contacted reporters to denounce it as false. Not wishing to appear in public, the billionaire would talk to reporters only via telephone. Thus, a “spectographic voiceprint analysis,” measuring tone, pitch and volume, was conducted to determine if the speaker was indeed Howard Hughes. Although a handwriting expert had previously been fooled by the notes that Irving had forged, the voice analyst correctly identified the speaker as Hughes. Irving was exposed and confessed before the book was published. He spent 17 months in prison, while Suskind spent five. Irving later wrote a book about the scheme, The Hoax, which became a major motion picture in 2008.
Jeffrey MacDonald
-Early in the morning of February 17, 1970, the family of Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald was attacked, leaving the doctor’s pregnant wife and two young daughters dead from multiple stab wounds. MacDonald himself was injured by what he claimed to be four suspects, but he survived with only minor wounds. Doubt was immediately cast on the doctor’s story, based on the physical evidence on the scene that suggested that he was the killer. However, the Army dropped the case because of the poor quality of the investigative techniques. Several years later, though, MacDonald was brought to trial in a civilian court. Key evidence was provided by a forensic scientist who testified that the doctor’s pajama top, which he claimed to have used to ward off the killers, had 48 smooth, clean holes too smooth for such a volatile attack. Furthermore, the scientist noted that if the top was folded, the 48 holes could easily have been created by 21 thrusts the exact number of times that MacDonald’s wife had been stabbed. The holes even matched the pattern of her wounds, suggesting that the pajama top had been laid on her before during the stabbing and not used in self-defense by the doctor. This crime scene reconstruction was crucial in MacDonald’s conviction in 1979. He was sentenced to life in prison for the three murders.

Locard’s theory-Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, and it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it can diminish its value."
Locard’s example of theory-An example of the Locard Exchange Principle in a crime is if someone is strangled to death and you find a suspect with the victim's skin cells under his nails. The case is then solved. The Locard Exchange Principle helped with this case because it shows that during the contact of the victim and the murderer (during contact of two surfaces), the skin cells were left on the murderer's nails (transfer of evidence is created).
Divisions in a job: materials in a lab:
Forensic chemistry Trace evidence analysis
Forensic geology Fingerprinting and DNA identification
Forensic serology Evaluation of body fluids
Forensic toxicology Compound determination, such as drugs or other hazardous chemicals

Divisions in the lab
Forensic Accounting
Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Engineering
Computer Forensics
Forensic Psychology

Websites listed
1. Dojmt.gov/crime
2. forensiclaboratories.com
3. Forensiclaboratories.com/careers
4. www.all-about-forensic-science.com/famous-forensic-cases
5. www.thisblogrules.com/2011/08/forensic-science
6. www.criminaljusticeschools.org/...famous-cases...forensics
7. Forensicdnaexperts.com/forensic-dna-cases
8. momentumblog.bcm.edu/2014/09/05/making-forensic-analysis
9. psychology.SmarterSchooling.com
10. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_science