 |
|
Jeffrey McDonald
Case
|
| In 1970 I was sent to Ft. Bragg, North
Carolina, to testify at a court-martial. While I was there, Colette
McDonald and her two daughters were murdered in the family's apartment
on post. When I had completed my testimony I joined a team sent from
the US Army Crime Laboratory (then located at Ft. Gordon, Georgia) to process
the crime scene. Working with CID agent Bill Ivory, I processed the
kitchen, the hallway from the living room to the master bedroom and the
younger daughter's bedroom. CPT Jeffrey McDonald claimed to have
struggled with 'hippy' intruders at the entrance to the hallway.
The intruders supposedly stabbed McDonald in the chest during this struggle;
however, I found no traces of blood on the floor. There was also
a pile of children clothes neatly piled on the hallway floor where this
struggle took place. Nine years later Jeffrey McDonald was convicted
of the murders of his wife and two children. The book Fatal Vision
and the TV mini-series of the same name are based on this case. The
Crime
Library web page on this case is reasonably accurate but does contain
some errors (e.g. Franz Grebner [sic] was not one of the investigators,
he was head of the CID field office at Ft. Bragg). |
|
Exhumation of Jesse
James
|
| At the
request of Prof. James E. Starrs I examined microscopically hairs removed
from a swatch of desiccated soft tissue, which was recovered in 1979 during
excavations of the original James grave site on the James family farm outside
of Kearney, Missouri. Persons who had corresponded with Prof. Starrs
alleged that the hairs were not human but rather were from some domestic
animal such as a horse or cow. As may be seen in the first two photomicrographs
the hairs have a human type scale
pattern and medullary
index. The third photomicrograph shows one of a number of scissors
cut ends. The microscopic features overall are consistent with
human head hair from a person of Caucasian population ancestry. The
fourth photomicrograph shows an abrupt color change near the root of one
hair which is consistent with dyeing.
Jesse James was known on occasion to color his hair (presumably for purposes
of disguise). The last photomicrograph shows a characteristic putrefaction
band near the root of one of the hairs. Such bands are frequently
seen in hairs removed from putrefying remains. |
|
Investigation of
the Death of Dale Earnhart
|
| In 2001 I participated in the investigation
of the death of race driver Dale Earnhart. My report (with my photographs
of Earnhart's restraint system) may be found on the NASCAR
web site. |
