Blood, Bullets, and Bones Read online

Glossary

  accused a person formally charged with a crime

  acquittal a court decision to declare a defendant not guilty

  alibi proof that a suspect couldn’t have committed a crime due to having been seen in a different location

  anarchist a person who supports the end of government rule

  appeal a formal argument asking a higher court to reverse a decision made by a lower court

  arsenic a poisonous element

  autopsy the examination of a body to determine the cause of death

  AWOL an acronym for “absent without official leave”; fleeing when there is a legal obligation to stay

  ballistics the science of how a bullet travels through the gun barrel, air, and target

  Bertillonage a historical system of identifying criminals by taking various body measurements; also called the Bertillon system

  bite mark analysis the now largely debunked science of matching a bite mark to a suspect’s teeth

  blood type the classification of a person’s blood, based on the types of antigens and antibodies present

  boardinghouse a residence in which bedrooms are rented and living spaces are shared among renters

  bootlegger during Prohibition, a person who mass-produced, transported, distributed, or sold alcohol

  cadaver a dead body, usually being held for the purpose of autopsy

  caliber the diameter (in hundredths of an inch) of a gun barrel

  carbon monoxide a poisonous gas released when fuels such as gas, charcoal, or wood are burned in an unventilated area

  clandestine grave a site where a dead body is hidden

  CODIS the acronym for “Combined DNA Index System,” the FBI’s database of suspects’ DNA

  cold case an unsolved investigation that is put on hold until new leads or resources are available

  coroner an official who investigates violent or unexplained deaths

  corpse a dead body

  corpus delicti literally, “body of the crime”; in legal terms, proof that a crime occurred

  criminal profiling an investigation strategy in which a criminal’s thought and behavior patterns are considered

  crowner the British official charged with seizing the property of criminals for the crown

  cyanide a plant-based poison

  defendant in a criminal case, the person charged with the crime

  defensive wound an injury suffered in the course of fighting an attacker

  DNA deoxyribonucleic acid, a collection of chemical compounds (adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine) that, together, form instructions for an organism to build and operate itself

  DNA testing a process by which various sequences of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine are compiled, creating a DNA profile that can be compared to other profiles

  evidence items or information that tell how a crime occurred

  exhume to remove a body from its grave

  expert witness a person who draws on knowledge of a particular subject to testify at a trial

  false confession a suspect’s admission of a crime he or she did not commit

  FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation, the law enforcement agency in America that handles federal crimes and domestic security issues

  fingernail scrapings material found under a victim’s or suspect’s fingernails

  forensic anthropologist a scientist who studies the skeletal remains of victims as part of criminal investigations

  forensic entomologist a scientist who studies insect evidence in criminal investigations

  forensic pathologist a scientist who studies the corpses of victims to gather evidence for criminal investigations

  forensic science the use of science to solve crimes

  gauge in ballistics, a measurement that inversely relates to the barrel size of a shotgun

  hit man a person hired to kill someone

  homicide the killing of one person by another person

  hung jury a jury that is unable to reach a consensus after deliberation

  jury a group of laypeople in a legal case who weigh evidence and make a decision

  luminol a chemical used to detect the presence of blood

  medical examiner a medically trained official who investigates violent or unexplained deaths

  Miranda rights the warning police officers are required to give a person taken into custody, basically stating that a suspect has the right to remain silent and be represented by an attorney

  mistrial a court trial that ends before a verdict is reached, due to unusual circumstances or a hung jury

  mitochondrial DNA DNA inherited from the mother and located outside the cell nucleus

  morgue a place where bodies are stored and, in some cases, autopsied

  motive a person’s reason for committing a crime

  no-body case a murder case in which the victim’s body is not found

  philter potion

  postmortem after death

  Prohibition the Constitutional amendment, enacted in 1920 and repealed in 1933, forbidding the mass production, transportation, and distribution of alcohol

  prosecutor an attorney who represents the community in seeking the conviction of a defendant in a criminal case; the prosecutor’s office may be that of the district attorney, the state’s attorney, or the attorney general—different states and communities use varying terminology

  racketeering making money through illegal business activities

  rape kit a collection of materials used to gather evidence from a victim in a sexual assault crime

  recant to formally withdraw a statement or belief

  remand in a court case, to send a case to a lower court for further action

  rifling the spiral grooves inside the barrel of a firearm

  Scotland Yard a metonym for the headquarters of the London Metro Police, and the police force itself

  secretor a person whose blood type is expressed in other bodily fluids

  serial killer as defined by the FBI, one who murders two or more people, with the incidents happening at separate times

  serology the study of blood

  staging the alteration of a crime scene in order to confuse investigators

  stay of execution an official order to delay the death penalty of a prisoner

  strychnine a plant-derived poison

  suspect a person believed to be guilty of a crime

  Tommy gun a Thompson submachine gun

  touch DNA a small sample of DNA, often left behind when a suspect touches something

  tour man in the past, the term used to describe the medical examiner who visited the crime scene

  toxicology the study of the effects of drugs and poisons on a body

  trace evidence small amounts of material transferred from the perpetrator to the crime scene, or vice versa, in the process of a crime

  ultimate issue the question upon which a verdict hinges

  verdict a decision by a judge or jury in a court case

  victim a person hurt in a crime, accident, or other action

  victimology the study of factors that put a crime victim at risk

  witness a person who testifies during a trial about first-hand or expert knowledge

  workhouse in UK history, a building in which the poor worked and lived

  Notes

  Abbreviated citations have been used for some sources. Full information for these sources can be found in the Bibliography.

  Chapter 1: A Whiff of Garlic: The First Poison Tests

  1. Heinzelman and Wiseman, eds., Representing Women, 317.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Heslop, Murderous Women, 61.

  4. Ibid., 60.

  5. Livingston, Arsenic and Clam Chowder: Murder in Gilded Age New York, 5.

  6. Ibid., 6.

  7. Ibid., 7.

  8. Fowler, Deaths on Pleasant Street, 39.

  9. “More Swopes Died by Being Poisoned,” Oregonian (Portland, OR), February 13, 1910, http://oregonnews.
uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1910-02-13/ed-1/seq-6/.

  10. “Swope Poison Case Must Be Retried,” New York Times, April 12, 1911, http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9403EFDE1031E233A25751C1A9629C946096D6CF.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Benedetta Faedi Duramy, “Women and Poisons in 17th Century France,” Chicago-Kent Law Review 87:2 (April 2012): 353, http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3837&context=cklawreview.

  Chapter 2: Bodies of Evidence: Autopsies and the Rise of Medical Examiners

  1. Stratmoen, Murder, Mayhem, and Mystery, 51.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid., 168.

  4. David Leafe, “Solved: How the Brides in the Bath Died at the Hands of Their Ruthless Womanising Husband,” Daily Mail (London), April 22, 2010, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1267913/Solved-How-brides-bath-died-hands-ruthless-womaniser.html.

  5. Kate Colquhoun, review of The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath, by Jane Robins, Telegraph (London), June 7, 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/7801091/The-Magnificent-Spilsbury-and-the-Case-of-the-Brides-in-the-Bath-by-Jane-Robins-review.html.

  6. Burney and Pemberton, “Bruised Witness,” under “Spillsbury’s Spell and Thorne’s Martyrdom.”

  7. Ibid., under “Introduction.”

  8. Ibid.

  9. Marten, The Doctor Looks at Murder, 274.

  10. “Six Deaths Result from Arsenic Pie,” New York Times, August 2, 1922, http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940DEFD71239EF3ABC4A53DFBE668389639EDE.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Marten, The Doctor Looks at Murder, 176.

  13. Ibid., 177.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ibid.

  Chapter 3: Elementary, My Dear Watson: The First Detectives

  1. Vidocq, Memoirs of Vidocq, 31.

  2. “Scotland Yard to Use Women Sleuths,” Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun, (AP), August 18, 1933, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19330818&id=CM0gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2WoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3932,3334279.

  3. Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, 6.

  4. Ibid., 10.

  5. Ibid., 20.

  6. Ibid., 25.

  7. Liebow, Dr. Joe Bell, 4.

  Chapter 4: Not without a Trace: The Introduction of Crime Scene Evidence

  1. Gross, Criminal Investigation, 2–3.

  2. Dunphy and Cummins, Remarkable Trials of All Countries, 404.

  3. Bell, Encyclopedia of Forensic Science, 234.

  4. Thorwald, Crime and Science, 254.

  5. Ibid., 255.

  6. Ibid., 268.

  7. David J. Krajicek, “Snagged by a Cord in Killing of Novelist,” New York Daily News, October 31, 2009, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/snagged-cord-killing-novelist-article-1.418391.

  Chapter 5: Fingerprints Are Forever: Early Fingerprint Evidence

  1. Henry Faulds, “On the Skin-Furrows of the Hand.” Nature 22, 605-605 (28 October 1880) | www.nature.com/nature/journal/v22/n574/abs/022605a0.html

  2. H. O. Thompson, “Schwartz, Slayer, Suicide, Led Double Life; To Women He Was Harold Warren, War Hero,” Independent (St. Petersburg, FL), August 11, 1925, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19250811&id=fOFPAAAAIBAJ&sjid= h1QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1594,6864764&hl=en.

  3. Associated Press, “Man Who Faked Death Caught; Ends His Life,” Southeast Missourian, August 10, 1925, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19250810&id=KXdFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N8cMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4904,952091&hl=en.

  4. Nickell and Fischer, Crime Science, 136.

  Chapter 6: Bang! Bang! You’re Dead: The Birth of Firearm Analysis

  1. Jim Fisher, “The Stielow Firearms Identification Case,” January 7, 2008, http://jimfisher.edinboro.edu/forensics/stielow.html.

  2. Nickell and Fischer, Crime Science, 103.

  3. Frankfurter, “The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti.”

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Doug Linder, “Sacco-Vanzetti.”

  9. Ibid.

  10. Jim Fisher, “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in the History of Forensic Ballistics,” Jim Fisher True Crime (blog), February 14, 2015, http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-st-valentines-day-massacre-in.html.

  11. Marten, The Doctor Looks at Murder, 198.

  12. “Crowley Indicted Quickly for Murder; Girl Aids the State,” New York Times, May 9, 1931.

  13. “Police Slayer Captured in Gun and Tear Gas Siege; 10,000 Watch in W. 90th St.,” New York Times, May 8, 1931.

  14. Ibid.

  15. “Crowley Dies Blaming Girl for Execution,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 2, 1932, http://bklyn.newspapers.com/newspage/57286602/.

  16. Kate Wells, “New Chapter in Bizarre Detroit Murder Case,” Here & Now (WBUR Boston), radio transcript, August 13, 2013, http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/08/13/detroit-murder-case.

  17. Marten, The Doctor Looks at Murder, 266.

  18. Ibid., 267.

  Chapter 7: Blood Is Thicker: The First Blood Pattern Cases

  1. Thorwald, Crime and Science, 130.

  2. Ibid., 130–131.

  3. Ibid., 131.

  4. Linder, “Dr. Sam Sheppard Trials.”

  5. Ibid.

  6. “Why Isn’t Sam Sheppard in Jail?” The Cleveland Press.

  7. State v. Sheppard, 6269–70.

  8. Ibid., 6272–73.

  9. Linder, “Dr. Sam Sheppard Trials.”

  10. Ibid.

  11. McCrary and Ramsland, The Unknown Darkness, 275.

  12. Ragle, Crime Scene, 211.

  13. Associated Press, “Ex-Dancer Booked in Mansion Slaying,” Tuscaloosa (AL) News, January 6, 1964, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19640106&id=nSUeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_ZoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6155,613664&hl=en

  14. Thorwald, Crime and Science, 226.

  15. Ibid., 228.

  16. Ibid., 229.

  Chapter 8: Grave Matters: Hidden Bodies

  1. Zugibe and Carroll, Dissecting Death, 19.

  Chapter 10: To Catch a Killer: Criminal Profilers

  1. Evans and Skinner, Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 98.

  2. Ibid., 184.

  3. Ibid., 192.

  4. Ibid., 187–188.

  5. Ibid., 360.

  6. Ibid., 361.

  7. Ibid., 361–362.

  8. “The Silence of the Lambs,” The Real Story, Smithsonian Channel, May 2, 2010.

  9. Ibid.

  10. McCrary and Ramsland, Unknown Darkness, 137.

  11. William Hermann, “Temple Massacre Has Had Lasting Impact.” Arizona Republic, August 14, 2011, http://archive.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/20110814buddhist-temple-murders-west-valley-impact.html.

  Chapter 11: One in a Trillion: The Dawn of DNA Evidence

  1. Chris Harvey, in discussion with the author, November 2014.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Hilary Hurd Anyaso, “Savory Files Court Documents as Proof of Innocence,” Northwestern University News, January 22, 2015, www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/01/savory-files-court-documents-as-proof-of-innocence.html.

  4. People of the State of New York v. Roy A. Brown, 4.

  5. Ibid.

  6. “National Academy of Sciences Urges Comprehensive Reform of U.S. Forensic Sciences,” Innocence Project, January 18, 2009, www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/press-releases/national-academy-of-sciences-urges-comprehensive-reform-of-u-s-forensic-sciences.

  7. People of the State of New York v. Roy A. Brown, 7.

  Bibliography

  Primary Sources

  Adams, Charles F. Murder by the Bay: Historic Homicide in and about the City of San Francisco. Sanger, CA: Quill Driver Books, 2005.

  Associated Press. “Man Who Faked Death Caught; Ends His Life.” Southeast Missourian, August 10, 1925. www.news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19250810&id=KXdFAAAAIBAJ&sjid= N8cMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4904,952091&hl=en.

  Bostrom, Ka
rl. “Dr. Gettler Takes Tiny Clues and Solves Big Murder Cases.” New York Post, April 25, 1936. www.fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2011/New%20York%20Evening%20Post/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Post%201936%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Post%201936%20Grayscale%20-%202724.pdf.

  Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “Crowley Dies Blaming Girl for Execution.” January 2, 1932. www.bklyn.newspapers.com/newspage/57286602.

  Chicago Daily Tribune. “Suicide Reveals Killing and Hoax to Grab $100,000.” August 10, 1925. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1925/08/10/page/3/article/suicide-reveals-killing-and-hoax-to-grab-100-000.

  Douglas, John, and Mark Olshaker. Mind Hunter. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.

  Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2011.

  Dunphy, Thomas, and Thomas J. Cummins. Remarkable Trials of All Countries: Particularly of the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and France; with Notes and Speeches of Counsel Containing Thrilling Narratives of Fact from the Court Room, also Historical Reminiscences of Wonderful Events. New York: Diossy & Company, 1870.

  Eckert, William. “Medicolegal Investigation in New York City.” The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 4:1 (March 1983). http://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Abstract/1983/03000/Medicolegal_investigation_in_New_York_City_.5.aspx.

  Erzinçlioǧlu, Dr. Zakaria. Maggots, Murder, and Men: Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.

  Evans, Stewart P., and Keith Skinner. The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000.

  Frankfurter, Felix. “The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti.” The Atlantic, March 1927. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1927/03/the-case-of-sacco-and-vanzetti/306625/?single_page=true.

  Glassie, Henry Haywood, and Wilfred M. Barton. “A Notice of the New Method of Distinguishing Human from Other Blood Stains.” Washington Law Reporter 29 (1901): 384–85. www.books.google.com/books?id=Q9QZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA385&dq= human+blood+test+rabbit+serum&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GJtcVbjcFsKZyATBmYDwDQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=human%20blood%20test%20rabbit%20serum&f=false.

  Gross, Hans. Criminal Investigation: A Practical Handbook for Magistrates, Police Officers, and Lawyers. Translated and adapted to Indian Colonial Practice by John Adam and John Collyer Adam. Egmore, India: A. Krishnamachari, 1906. https://archive.org/details/criminalinvestig00grosuoft.