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This essay reviews the 18 year-old cold case of Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch, a 17 year-old prostitute who died from head wounds in 1995 along the Provo River, Utah. It evaluates the type of forensic science technology used - touch DNA and M-Vac wet vacuum – before going on to look at how this new technology was used in the case. This essay explores the role forensic science and DNA analysis played in solving the case, leading police to the killer Joseph Michael Simpson, a convicted felon who was on parole at the time of the murder.
Krystal Beslanowitch was found murdered on December 15 1995 by two ranchers along the banks of Provo River, two miles north of Midway, Utah. Deputy Todd Bonner from Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office was the first police officer on the scene. It was reported Beslanowitch died due to severe head trauma – she was struck 8 or 9 times with large rocks, crushing her skull and face. She was found naked, face down in a pool of fresh blood on a bed of granite rocks; no clothing was found in the area. Beslanowitch disappeared around 2 am, Friday from west North Temple in Salt Lake city, Utah after telling her boyfriend she was going to the convenient store. He reported her missing two days later after he became worried she had not returned. She had worked as a prostitute since she was 12 years old and moved to Salk Lake city five months earlier. She had a history of drug abuse and run-ins with the law and had previously given birth to a child that was taken away from her. An autopsy revealed she was killed more than 14 hours after she left her boyfriend (Spokesman, 1995).
After a few years and several dead-end leads, the case went cold. For 11 years Bonner refused to forget about the case. In 2006, the case was re...
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...igators a lot about a perpetrator it can not tell them his name, where he lives or if he has a previous criminal record. While DNA profiling is not the only forensic tool available, DNA testing technology and improved databases are inspiring investigators and law enforcement agencies to re-open cases that were previously considered unsolvable.
Forensic science has paved the way to a new world of technological advancements in solving crime, through DNA analysis, new technology such as M-Vac, improving systems such as CODIS and other investigative methods. As forensic science technology advances, the chance of an individual being able to commit a crime and walk away free without leaving any trace of evidence will lessen. While forensic science has its limitations, it can be the only way to provide an accurate account of what actually occurred at some crime scenes.
On August 23, 1980 in Conroe, Texas, is 40 miles north of Houston, a 16-year-old girl, Cheryl Fergeson, disappeared while searching for a women’s restroom at Conroe High School (Gores, 1991). Cheryl was the manager of the Bellville High girls’ volleyball team visiting Conroe High School for a preseason scrimmage. Later that day while searching for the girl two janitors, Clarence Brandley who is black, and Henry Peace who is white, found the girl’s body hidden under some scenery flats in the loft above the auditorium stage. Cheryl has been raped and strangled to death. Clarence and Henry were interrogated and made to sign statements. The two janitors were then taken to the hospital and made to give sperm, blood, and hair samples from their head
On August 3, 1979, a female was assaulted and raped in her apartment. Victor Burnette, 19 years old, was brought in as a suspect and the female said that he was the perpetrator. Burnette was convicted based on pubic hairs found at the scene. He spent seven years in prison and was released on parole in ’87. Two decades later, Burnette asked to have his case reworked using DNA analysis and was found to be not guilty. The serologist who worked his case was Mary Jane Burton. By the time Burnette cleared his name, at least five other people had been exonerated from their convictions due to Burton’s evidence. (“Victor”) Hair analysis has been a part of forensic science since the beginning. However, some have begun to question the reliability of
The murder of JonBenet Ramsey has become one of the nation's notorious unsolved murder mysteries. A wide range of crime scene investigators and police officials have searched for clues for JonBenet's killer, but countless authorities have already considered this murder to be one of the most inexplicable cold-cases in America. As the world marks the twenty first year anniversary of the tragic event with still no standing suspects, an abundance of evidence proven through research points to one suspect in particular.
Nowadays, DNA is a crucial component of a crime scene investigation, used to both to identify perpetrators from crime scenes and to determine a suspect’s guilt or innocence (Butler, 2005). The method of constructing a distinctive “fingerprint” from an individual’s DNA was first described by Alec Jeffreys in 1985. He discovered regions of repetitions of nucleotides inherent in DNA strands that differed from person to person (now known as variable number of tandem repeats, or VNTRs), and developed a technique to adjust the length variation into a definitive identity marker (Butler, 2005). Since then, DNA fingerprinting has been refined to be an indispensible source of evidence, expanded into multiple methods befitting different types of DNA samples. One of the more controversial practices of DNA forensics is familial DNA searching, which takes partial, rather than exact, matches between crime scene DNA and DNA stored in a public database as possible leads for further examination and information about the suspect. Using familial DNA searching for investigative purposes is a reliable and advantageous method to convict criminals.
In the town, of West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight year old boys (Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch) went missing May fourth, the following day they were found bruised, mutilated, hogtied, and stripped of their clothes with signs of rape present due to the dilation of the anus. The body of Byers was found submerged in the creek about 60 yards south of Interstate 55(Crime scene or dump site?). The other two bodies was located exactly five feet in both directions of Byers body. (It was determined that Moore and Branch both died from multiple traumatic injuries to the head, torso, and extremities with drowning; while, Byers died of the multiple traumatic i...
Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.
The next victim that shows the same modus operandi is Annie Chapman. On September 8, 1888 Chapman’s body was found on a walkway leading to a stable yard. Chapman was between the ages of 45-47, was a widow, and a prostitute. She was found to have tuberculos...
Another discrepancy between actual forensics and how it is portrayed in the media is the availability of information in databases. There is only a small percentage of the entire population’s fingerprints or DNA samples stored within databases such as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This makes finding a match between a DNA sample or fingerprint difficult, as a match would only be found if the person’s information was already stored within the database. If there is no match previously stored in a database, the fingerprint or DNA sample could be potentially rendered useless within a trial. Typically, in order to perform an analysis, investigators must already have a suspect in mind and request a DNA or fingerprint sample from him or her. If the suspect does not want to provide one however, the sample collected as evidence may not count as valid. The CSI effect creates an idealized image that all crimes can be solved with a hair or drop of blood, but this is not always the case in real life.
Forensic psychology is a continually adapting sphere. It is hard to have one solid definition for the field, as there are so many aspects that interlock. Within each attribute of the forensic psychology has roles and responsibilities to sustain. The rapid growth and emerging importance of this field volumes of information will be developed in the next decade.
According to the FBI’s NDIS Statistics, CODIS has produced over 120,300 hits assisting in more than 117,800 investigations as of June 2010 (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2010). All states collect DNA from convicted felony offenders, but many have passed bills t...
Forensic evidence can provide just outcomes in criminal matters. However, it is not yet an exact science as it can be flawed. It can be misrepresented through the reliability of the evidence, through nonstandard guidelines, and through public perception. Forensic science can be dangerously faulty without focus on the ‘science’ aspect. It can at times be just matching patterns based on an individual’s interpretations. This can lead to a miscarriage of justice and forever alter a person’s life due to a perceived “grey area” (Merritt C, 2010) resulting in a loss of confidence in the reliability of forensic evidence.
This case started on July 25, 1984, with the death of a nine year old girl by the name of Dawn Hamilton. The story plays out as follows: Dawn approached two boys and an adult male that were fishing at a pond in a wooded area near Golden Ring Mall in eastern Baltimore, Maryland. Dawn asked the boys to help her find her cousin, they declined the adult male however agreed to help her look. This was the last time anyone saw Hamilton alive. Hamilton’s body was found to have been raped, strangled and beaten with a rock. The police collected a boot print at the scene and DNA that was found in Hamilton’s underwear. The police also relied on the witness testimonies and line-ups, which in this case was the photo array. With the five eye witness testimonies and a tip the believed to be suspect was found. Kirk Noble Bloodsworth a prior U.S. Marine with no prior criminal record was taken into custody and charged with intentional first degree murder, sexual assault and rape. Bloodsworth was basically convicted on the eye witness testimonies. The state requested the death penalty. Bloodsworth was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. (BLOODSWORTH v. STATE, 1988)
Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.
Forensic science has now been recognized as an important part of the law enforcement team to help solve crimes and cold cases. The advances in technology are being used each day and we must continue to strive to develop better advances in this field. The recent discovery of using DNA in criminal cases has helped not only positively identify the suspect, but it has helped exonerate hundreds of innocent individuals. “With new advances in police technology and computer science, crime scene investigation and forensic science will only become more precise as we head into the future.” (Roufa, 2017) Forensic science and evidence helps law enforcement officials solve crimes through the collection, preservation and analysis of evidence. By having a mobile crime laboratory, the scene gets processed quicker and more efficiently. Forensic science will only grow in the future to be a benefit for the criminal justice
“The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...