forensic science seminar

THE SPIDER-MAN BANDIT & THE ARTIFICIAL HUMAN HEAD: BREAKTHROUGHS IN CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

Richard Schave

0 1.3k

The Los Angeles Visionaries Association, Esotouric and Professor Donald Johnson invite you to the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into the history and practice of forensic science in Southern California, in support of new research coming out of the Criminalistics Department.

Join us for an afternoon exploring cold case investigations and cutting edge advances in forensic science.

Presentation One – Building A Better Human Head

Professor David Raymond will discuss the development of a human head surrogate for blood spatter dynamics research, which is a joint project of his Applied Injury Biomechanics Lab and the CSULA Criminalistics Department.

Dr. Raymond will explain the engineering behind crafting a surrogate human head which responds to injury just like a real one, and how this helps in the forensic investigation of crime scenes. He will also host an interactive blood spatter lab demonstration, using a human head surrogate and a variety of destructive tools.

Presentation Two –Breaking a 44-Year Old Cold Case

Criminalist and historian Meiling Cabral presents on the 1972 murder of Helen Meyler, solved after four decades through the use of DNA technology.

BACKGROUND: On the morning of Sunday, August 27, 1972, the body of 78-year-old woman was discovered. A recent widow, Helen Meyler lived alone in her second-floor mid-Wilshire apartment. The victim was found by her daughter and son-in-law, when they arrived to pick her up for church. She was lying on her back in bed with her nightgown pulled up around her waist. Blankets covered her body and a pillow covered her face. The victim had several visible wounds to the right side of her head. A metal and glass candelabra lay on the unoccupied, adjacent bed. Pieces of broken metal and glass were scattered on her bed, the floor and underneath both beds. There was blood spatter on the wall behind the beds. There were no signs of forced entry into the apartment. The bedroom sliding glass window was open, and the screen had been removed and was lying on the floor below. The apartment had been ransacked. On August 28, the Deputy Medical Examiner of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head. The murder remained unsolved.

In 2014, LAPD detectives assigned to the Cold Case Homicide Unit began reviewing a large backlog of unsolved cases, hoping to utilize DNA to solve them. In July 2014, LAPD Detectives re-opened the case of victim Meyler. A DNA case consultation was arranged with the Serology DNA Unit of the LAPD Forensic Science Division. Of the remaining evidence still in Property Division was a blanket taken from the victim’s bed, semen was detected and a cutting was taken for DNA analysis.

An unknown male DNA profile was obtained from the sperm fraction and was uploaded to The Combined DNA Index System, (CODIS). On September 21, 2014, a CODIS hit was obtained. In January 2015, LAPD Detectives obtained a reference sample from the putative perpetrator for the CODIS confirmation. The DNA profile obtained from the sperm fraction of the cutting from the blue and white blanket matched the reference sample. After 44 years, the identity of the murderer was revealed.

Harold Holman, now 70, was found guilty in July of the first degree murder of Helen Meyler. The jury of nine women and three men returned the verdict shortly after closing arguments concluded. He was sentenced to life in prison.

At the time his DNA was linked to the murder of Helen Meyler, Holman was 34 years into serving a 45-year sentence for a double murder and a string of high-rise residential burglaries in the 1970s. He scaled the outside of tall buildings using suction cups and night vision goggles, these weird access methods earning him the nickname “Spider-Man.”

Presenter Meiling Cabral is Editorial Secretary of the California Association of Criminalists, and a criminalist for the LAPD. Meiling combines a practicing forensic scientist’s experience and an historian’s passion for reconstructing the past.

forensic science seminar

RITUALS: SACRED AND PROFANE

Richard Schave

0 1.3k

Join us for an afternoon exploring the outer reaches of spirituality and crime, through case histories of unusual religious rituals that might be crimes, or just look that way.
Presentation #1 – Notes from Dr. Bea Yorker’s Casebook.

Dr. Yorker will share some intriguing cases of uncommon religious rituals that have been investigated as crimes by Southland police departments. These include Folk Healing practices that have been mistaken for ritualistic or standard child abuse: Caida de Mollera (a series of maneuvers on an infant who may have a bulging Fontanelle that can be mistaken for shaken baby syndrome) and other Curanderismo (cultural healing practices) that have been reported as abuse by outsiders unfamiliar with their context. Another practice is Gua Sha, a Vietnamese treatment in which an oiled coin is vigorously rubbed over the torso to reduce fever; this leaves a pattern of skin discoloration that is distressing to ER and clinic personnel. Other healing techniques which can result in abuse reports include moxibustion (smoldering herbs on the abdomen) and cupping (creating blood spots with suction cups). While these treatments may leave marks, most cause no trauma or lasting harm. This is contrasted with a more extreme cultural practice, female circumcision, which has been declared to be child abuse by the World Health Organization and which sometimes results in prosecutions. Dr. Yorker’s presentation, illustrated with numerous examples from her own research, will include a lively discussion about cultural practices and our own comfort level with Western medical treatments that could be interpreted as barbaric in a different context.

Dr. Beatrice Yorker is the Former Dean of the College of Health and Human Services Cal State LA (CSULA).

Presentation #2: Dr. Elizabeth Miller on Ritual Use of Human Remains

Dr. Miller will discuss examples of the ritual use of human remains in Palo Mayombe and Santa Muerte) rituals that have been investigated in Los Angeles County. (There will be no examples of Santeria cases, because Santeria practitioners don’t use human bones.). Then she’ll branch out to Mexico, to explore one of the most notorious examples of the ritual use of human remains, the 1989 torture-murder of Texas pre-med student Mark Kilroy, kidnapped in Matamoros while celebrating Spring Break. The investigation into Kilroy’s disappearance uncovered the existence of a Palo Mayombe cult that had committed numerous murders for protection of their drug dealing activities.

Dr. Elizabeth Miller has been a faculty member in the Anthropology Dept. at CSULA since 1997. Her research interests include: forensic anthropology, particularly determination of postmortem interval; paleopathology; Contact studies; and repatriation issues.

forensic science seminar

MURDER WILL OUT: THE SECRET WORLD OF TRACE EVIDENCE

Richard Schave

0 1.2k

Join us as the people who worked the cases share a fascinating journey through the investigations and prosecutions.

Taking its name from Perry Mason, the popular mid-20th century television series where such dramatic reversals occurred, in court proceedings, a “Perry Mason moment” is said to have occurred whenever information is unexpectedly introduced into the record. It changes the perception of the proceedings greatly and can influence the outcome. Often it takes the form of a witness’s answer to a question, but it can sometimes come in the form of new evidence.
Because of modern discovery requirements, Perry Mason moments are rare in actual American court proceedings. Both sides are largely aware of what the other plans to introduce as evidence, and lawyers largely prefer not to ask witnesses questions when they do not have a good idea what the response will be.

Two cases will be presented, both with Perry Mason Moments, both with bloodstain pattern interpretations, both from the multiple perspectives of the lab scientist-investigating detectives-prosecutors, both illustrating the upmost in prosecutorial ethics when those Perry Mason moments occurred.

Presentation #1: “How The DNA Database Brought Christina Burmeister’s Killers To Justice” with retired LASD Detective Sgt. Joe Purcell, LASD Homicide Bureau Detective Deputy Phil Guzman, the prosecuting Deputy District Attorney John Monaghan (Assistant Head Deputy of the Pomona Branch), and retired LASD Senior Criminalist Lynne Herold.

This presentation brings together a detective, forensic scientist and prosecuting attorney for a multi-dimensional journey into the investigation and prosecution of Christina Burmeister’s murderer, a case that hinged upon the 2004 passage of Proposition 69, the DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act. This law requires felons to submit DNA to a statewide database.

On August 17, 2001, Christina Burmeister, 20, left her Cerritos home to attend a Cal Poly Pomona frat party. Before arriving, she was kidnapped, and her ATM card used at a bank. Burmeister was then driven up Highway 39 in Azusa Canyon, where her throat was slashed. Her body was found in her abandoned pickup truck, along with an abandoned plastic cigar tip, from which DNA evidence was extracted.

In 2005, James Winslow Dixon, a felon who had been released from prison in 1993, was tied to the crime through DNA evidence. He and several compatriots were then charged with the murder of Christina Burmeister.

Bloodstain patterns found at the scene were able to provide information about what happened during the murder and determine who was telling the truth: the three compatriots of the defendant who gave statements in an effort to avoid the death penalty, or the defense expert’s bloodstain pattern interpretation.

Presentation #2 the People vs Kyle Christopher Jacobs (aka “Why you should never feel bad about your housekeeping skills”) presented by retired Senior Criminalist Lynne Herold and the prosecuting Deputy District Attorney T. D. Pham.

The victim (a friend of the defendant) died of a single shot gun wound to the head, a large metal mallet lay near his body in the driveway of the defendant’s house. Was this a murder or, as the defendant claimed, a case of self-defense? What happens when a witness spontaneously testifies that the large metal mallet was first seen in a position other than depicted in the crime scene photographs?

forensic science seminar

DETECTIVE’S CASEBOOK: L.A. BOMBING & THE MAKING OF A SERIAL KILLER

Richard Schave

0 1.4k

Join us in the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into the history and practice of forensic science in Los Angeles, in support of new research coming out of the Criminalistics Department.

Presentation #1: L.A. Bombing with Mike Digby

Presenter Mike Digby recently retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after 34 years of law enforcement service and six years in the US Army. For the last 17 years, he was assigned as an FBI-certified bomb technician/detective on the LASD Arson-Explosives Detail. Mike has a wealth of international experience in the bomb disposal world; having conducted counter-IED training in Thailand, Israel, Germany, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Poland.

His first book, “L.A. Bombing,” is scheduled for publication in Spring 2016. He wrote it to answer that age-old question, “there’s bombings in L.A?”

Today’s talk focuses on a couple of interesting, yet less-publicized, bombings that have occurred in Los Angeles.

Presentation #2: The Making of a Serial Killer: The Corey King
Arson Murder Investigations with Ed Nordskog

In the spring of 2008, an unknown suspect entered the home of a 91-year-old grandmother in Altadena. The woman was later found beaten and stabbed to death, with her home set on fire. Six months later and eighty miles away, fire fighters responded to a structure fire in Lancaster. After the fire was extinguished, the bodies of a mother and three daughters were found strewn about the home. They had each been savagely attacked and beaten and stabbed to death before the fires.

LA Sheriffs Homicide and Arson detectives linked an 18-year-old male to both scenes using forensics, criminal profiling, and pure luck.

Join the investigation as we take this profile in front of a Death Penalty jury. It is truly an inside look at a developing maniac serial killer, and how he was caught before more innocents could be victimized.

ABOUT ED NORDSKOG: Ed Nordskog is an active arson/bomb detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He has been a detective since 1990, working specifically in the arson and explosives world since 1997. He has conducted over sixteen hundred fire investigations and as of this writing has personally arrested and interviewed over 250 persons who were convicted of fire setting and related crimes. He has testified in court as a recognized expert in this field on over fifty-five occasions. He has been consulted by prosecuting attorneys on death penalty cases involving arson and murder on three occasions. He has been personally involved in over twenty serial arson investigations. The author has a master’s degree in emergency services management and is certified as a fire investigator by the California State Fire Marshal and the California Conference of Arson Investigators. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Arson Investigation Course, the ATF Advanced Arson Investigation Course, the Forensic Fire Death Investigation Course, and numerous other arson investigation courses. He is involved in course development and teaches fire scene investigation, major arson case investigation, serial arson investigation, and arson murder/fire death investigation. He is a course developer and instructor for the state of California’s Arson and Explosives Investigation Course. He is an instructor for the state of California’s Homicide Investigator’s Course. In 2004, the author was named Arson Investigator of the Year by the International Association of Arson Investigators and Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the International Association of Special Investigations Units; both of these awards are for his work as the lead investigator on a massive arson for hire scheme, involving fifty-five burned properties. He has received over eighty-five commendations, awards, and medals throughout his law enforcement career related to successful criminal investigations. He is author of the books ‘Torchered’ Minds: Case Histories of Notorious Serial Arsonists and Fire Raisers, Freaks and Fiends—Obsessive Arsonists in the California Foothills.

Books, Education, forensic science seminar, History, LAVA Exclusives, Nature, Talks, Technology

V is for Vice: Eight Decades of Sin & Scandal, from the Sunset Strip to Beverly Hills

Donald Johnson

0 3.3k

To buy a ticket for this event click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Presentation #1: V is for Vice

Mike Fratantoni, an LASD Jailer who sits on the board of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Museum and is organizing the new exhibition space in the Hall of Justice, makes a return engagement with a fascinating presentation on the unwritten history of vice in West Hollywood and corruption in law enforcement.

In 1940, West Hollywood madam Lee Francis was arrested on a morals charge, her first. Media coverage of the subsequent trial exposed the thriving trade in sin along the Sunset Strip, and had southland husbands quaking in their socks. But the papers never printed the name of one prostitute arrested in the “House of Francis” raid: LaVonne Weaver, soon-to-be wife of gang kingpin Mickey Cohen. For decades, mob historians have chased down rumors that “dance instructor” Lavonne was actually a “working girl.” Wonder no more, as in a LAVA exclusive, LaVonne Weaver’s mugshot will be unveiled. Lee Francis had a reputation, but madam Brenda Allen was an underworld superstar, as famous for her wardrobe and high-powered social connections as she was for the services available at her hillside brothel. Her 1948 arrest and subsequent Grand Jury investigation revealed deep veins of corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department.

Presentation #2: Beverly Hills Confidential

Clark Fogg, the lead forensics investigator at the Beverly Hills Police Department, and investigative journalist Barbara Schroeder share the sensational crimes and scandals of the glamorous city of Beverly Hills, as chronicled in their book “Beverly Hills Confidential: A Century of Stars, Scandals and Murders.”

Hot Lead and Hot Leads: Forensic Firearm / Gang Communication Analysis forensic science seminar

Donald Johnson

1 1.7k

To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Presentation #1: The Secrets of Forensic Firearm Analysis with Forensic Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Michael I. Kelley

For our first talk, join Michael I. Kelley, who works with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department as a trainer in the Firearm Identification unit, and who previously presented on his crime scene reconstruction of Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan, for an in-depth presentation on law enforcement techniques for analyzing projectiles and weapons from criminal investigations.

In this introduction to the science of forensic firearm analysis, illustrated with real crime scene photographs and casework, Mike will cover:

Examination of ammunition.
Microscopic comparisons of fired bullets, cartridge cases and toolmarks.
Distance Determination.
Serial number restorations.
Physical fracture matches.
The Cross Fire (IBIS) System
Toolmark identification

Presentation #2: Murder Behind Bars with LASD Team Leader and educator Nick Guskos

For our second talk, join LASD Team Leader and educator Nick Guskos, co-author of the 2013 textbook Criminal Investigation: An Illustrated Case Study Approach, for an insightful presentation inside the hidden world of gang communication. Nick takes us deep within the investigation into a case of a murder which occurred inside the walls of the Los Angeles County Jail. You’ll follow along as the case unfolds and is eventually solved through intelligence gathering. Intelligence gathering is the key to understanding all complex criminal organizations, including terrorism. This latter area is the topic of Nick’s doctoral dissertation, and will be covered at the conclusion of his talk.

By the afternoon’s conclusion, attendees will have a deeper understanding of the real work that’s done in the field by forensic investigators, and the tools and techniques used to interpret physical evidence and analyze intelligence for the benefit of investigating officers and juries.

Books, Education, forensic science seminar, History, LAVA Exclusives, Nature, Talks, Technology

Where There’s Smoke forensic science seminar

Donald Johnson

0 2.1k

To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Join us in the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into the history of forensic science in Los Angeles, in support of new research coming out of the Criminalistics Department. We are delighted to announce a return engagement by LAVA favorite Ed Nordskog, Senior Arson Investigator for the LASD and author of “‘Torchered’ Minds: Case Histories of Notorious Serial Arsonists“ and “Fire Raisers, Freaks and Fiends: Obsessive Arsonists in the California Foothills.” Ed will present in detail on how two of his most fascinating recent investigations were solved. Case #1: St John Vianney Catholic Church arson, Hacienda Heights. In April 2011, a brazen arsonist entered the church sanctuary and carefully ensured its destruction. Two priests sleeping in the attached building narrowly escaped with their lives. You’ll marvel at the two-year, multi-agency investigation, the bizarre suspect and how toilet paper became the key to breaking the case. Case #2: Marijuana Shop Fires. Beginning in 2009, black street gangs began firebombing marijuana dispensaries throughout the Los Angeles basin, with a large number occurring in Hollywood and West Hollywood. Watch as the facts fall into place through the recently concluded four-year investigation, resulting in the convictions of 11 conspirators and a surprising ring leader.

By the end of Ed’s presentation, attendees will have gained familiarity with the real-world experience of a top arson investigator, and with the shadow worlds inhabited by two very different types of arsonist. Copies of Ed Nordskog’s books will be available for purchase during the program.

Books, Education, forensic science seminar, History, LAVA Exclusives, Nature, Talks, Technology

Don’t Turn Your Back: Real L.A. Murders from the Dawn of Forensic Science

Donald Johnson

0 1.6k

To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Presenters:

Mike Fratantoni, an LASD Deputy who sits on the board of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Museum, makes a return engagement to the crime lab to present two fascinating and complex cases which will explore the development of forensic investigation.

Meiling Cabral is Chair of the California Association of Criminalists’ Historical Committee, and a forensic investigator for the LAPD. Meiling combines a practicing forensic scientist’s experience and an historian’s passion for reconstructing the past. For each of Deputy Fratantoni’s case presentations, she will provide a “Then & Now” forensic overview, highlighting technological breakthroughs, methodological changes and how the cases have influenced the development of modern forensic investigation.

Case One: Poor Little Louise Peete

In 1920, a homeless Louise Peete turned her romantic attentions towards elderly mining executive Jacob Denton, and moved into his house off Wilshire Boulevard. In May, Denton disappeared. When his friends called, Louise claimed that Denton had gone into hiding after being disfigured in a sword fight. For months, she lived and entertained in Denton’s mansion, until the police agreed to search the house. Denton’s murdered body was discovered buried in the basement, but Louise Peete had flown the coop. Captured and tried, she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in San Quentin. She served eighteen years, and was once again homeless. Good-hearted Margaret Logan offered Louise a position as paid companion and housekeeper. Five years later, Margaret vanished. Her body was discovered in the backyard of her Pacific Palisades home. Thanks to the forensic evidence gathered and interpreted by Ray Pinker, LAPD chemist and future director of the CSULA Criminalistics Department, Louise was found guilty of murder and executed in the California gas chamber in 1947.

Case Two: The End of Charlie Crawford

Charlie “The Gray Wolf” Crawford and newspaper editor Hebert Spencer were shot, Spencer fatally, in Crawford’s Hollywood office on May 20, 1931. The investigation and trials that followed are the stuff of Los Angeles legend. Crawford was a racketeer who was in with the crooked “City Hall Crowd” during Prohibition. He died in a hospital ward muttering with his last breath that he’d take the name of his killer to his grave. Forensic investigators in the LAPD went to work seeking the answer. Before they found it, David Clark, a former Assistant District Attorney and candidate for a municipal judgeship, walked into the Hall of Justice and confessed. Homicide detectives were incredulous, and the forensic investigation continued. The first trial resulted in a mistrial, the second in acquittal. In his presentation, Deputy Frantantoni will walk us through the landmark forensic analysis and pull back the curtains on this rich and fascinating period of Los Angeles history, and a story so twisted, no less a noir master than Raymond Chandler fictionalized it.

forensic science seminar, LAVA Exclusives, Talks

Matricide and Filicide: When Family Ties Strangle

Donald Johnson

0 2.0k

Join us in the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into two shocking and complicated crime scenes, presented by the criminalists and investigators who were on the scene.

Lecture One focuses on a 1995 double murder at Universal City Walk. Join us as Beverly Kerr, lead forensic investigator on the case, walks us through her investigation, from the initial rooftop crime scene to the side of the Hollywood Freeway miles away, where the incident continued. The presentation will focus on the forensic techniques used in analyzing the scenes, and the landmark use of DNA evidence presented in court during the trial.

About the case: On Mother’s Day, 1995, Paul Carasi had dinner with his mother Doris Carasi, his ex-girlfriend Sonia Salinas, and the ex-couple’s young son. On returning to the Universal City Walk parking structure, Paul Carasi claimed that the adults were attacked by unknown assailants. Both women were stabbed to death, but Paul Carasi suffered only minor wounds and was apparently knocked unconscious. Minutes later, Paul Carasi’s girlfriend Donna Kay called CHP from the side of the Hollywood Freeway. She claimed she had been stabbed by a robber on the road. Her wounds, too, were relatively minor. What was it about the DNA evidence in the parking lot and on the side of the Hollywood Freeway that revealed to investigators what had really happened at Universal City Walk, and made this case suitable for a death penalty charge? You’ll get the answers in today’s in-depth presentation.

In Lecture Two, Professor Don Johnson is back at front of the classroom after a year’s hiatus, presenting one of his classic crime scene walkthroughs. Join Professor Johnson as he shares his experiences as the on-scene investigator in a troubling and complicated homicide investigation. Illustrated with graphic photographs, Professor Johnson’s presentation takes you to the crime scene and puts you inside the head of first responders and investigators.

About the case: This incident involves a young woman who concealed her pregnancy from friends and family, delivered her baby at home, and disposed of the child. When the infant’s body was found in a neighboring yard, mauled by a dog, her secret was exposed. But did the mother kill her baby before abandoning it, was it born dead, or was it a victim of a dog attack? What was the significance of the strange tool discovered in the mother’s family bathroom? And how do forensic scientists prove parentage of a child whose father is unknown, and whose mother is only suspected? You’ll learn the answers to these and many other questions in this graphic and compelling homicide investigation.

forensic science seminar, LAVA Exclusives, Talks

Insights in Criminal Investigation and the Secret World of Street Gangs with Nick Guskos

Donald Johnson

0 2.0k

Visionary Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, invites you to participate in a special four-hour event at LA’s regional crime laboratory, on the campus of Cal State LA. Space is very limited and pre-reservation required for this unprecedented opportunity to tour the crime lab, learn from working forensic investigators and educators, and discover the real art and science of crime scene investigation.

Join us for our latest crime lab seminar with LASD Team Leader and educator Nick Guskos, co-author of the 2013 text book Criminal Investigation: An Illustrated Case Study Approach. Nick’s first talk with be an overview of theories of forensic investigation. The tools used to analyze equivocal death scenes will be illustrated through several of Nick’s crime investigations. The hands-on workshops, led by Professor Johnson and his graduate students, will focus on blood spatter evidence and entry wounds. For his second talk, Nick will draw on his significant personal experience while delving into the complexities of gang-related crime investigations, including the unique social and scientific tools that law enforcement officers use to solve these cases.

By the afternoon’s conclusion, attendees will have a deeper understanding of the real work that’s done in the field by forensic investigators, and the tools and techniques used to interpret crime scenes for the benefit of investigating officers and juries.

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