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Overview
Truly a legend in his own time, Dr. Henry C. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest forensic scientist in the world. He gained widespread public recognition through his testimony in the televised O. J. Simpson trial. Since that time he has helped with the Jon Benet Ramsey case and the investigations of mass murder in Croatia.
This book will take the reader through the entire investigative process of five murder cases, with Dr. Lee as the tour guide. The cases include:
the O. J. Simpson case, in which Dr. Lee's analysis of the blood evidence at the crime scene revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department had missed several blood drops on the back of Nicole Simpson, a footprint belonging to a second possible assailant, and the physical improbability of Mr. Simpson's climbing a fence to return to his home.
the "woodchipper murder," in which an Eastern Airlines pilot murdered his wife and then put her body through a woodchipper in an attempt to dispose of the remains.
the Mathison murder, in which a veteran Hawaiian police sergeant claimed to have accidentally run over his wife after she fled the family van during a dispute.
the Ed Sherman murder, in which a college English professor attempted to disguise the time of his wife's death by turning up the air conditioning unit in their house and then using the alibi that he was away from the home sailing on the day the crime allegedly took place.
the McArthur murder, in which a police sergeant shot and killed his wife, but then tried to make it appear that she had accidentally killed herself.
In each case, Dr. Lee presents in scientific detail how he investigated the murders, analyzed the evidence, and used techniques that played a critical role in bringing criminals to justice. He discusses how the criminalist examines blood spatter evidence and uses blood identification, DNA analysis, and other forensic technologies developed in the world's best laboratories. This is a fascinating insider's look by a world-renowned expert into the pursuit of justice in some of the most grisly criminal cases of recent times.
Synopsis
AS SEEN ON ABC NEWS' 20/20, LARRY KING LIVE, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, AND MORE
"True-crime buffs will snap this up." -Booklist
"Doubly appealing for murder-mystery lovers. It digs deeply into real-life killings, and it offers an expert's firsthand look at forensics." -Dallas Morning News
"Attention to storytelling reveals the characters behind the cases . . . essential reading." -Publishers Weekly
"Lee's skill at interpreting crime scenes shines on every page. His admonitions concerning the preserving of crime scene integrity should be included in every textbook description of investigative procedure." -American Scientist
"Merges travelogue with autopsy report . . . the scientific bits add a framework seldom found in true-crime books. . . . while horror is [Lee's] stock in trade, he shares it with readers in a warmly personal way that keeps the shivers down while revealing the evil that men do." -ForeWord
"There's no one quite like Henry Lee. When others see random items and information, Dr. Lee sees patterns of evidence. He is our modern day Sherlock Holmes..." -Alan M. Dershowitz, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
"A 'must read' from the world's greatest criminalist. Dr. Lee leads us on an investigative journey to justice in five sensational murder cases." -Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.
Truly a legend in his own time, Dr. Henry C. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest forensic scientist in the world. He gained widespread public recognition through his testimony in the televised O. J. Simpson trial. Since that time he has helped with the Jon Benet Ramsey case and the investigations of mass murder in Croatia.
This book will take the reader through the entire investigative process of five murder cases, with Dr. Lee as the tour guide. The cases include: the O. J. Simpson case, in which Dr. Lee's analysis of the blood evidence at the crime scene revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department had missed several blood drops on the back of Nicole Simpson, a footprint belonging to a second possible assailant, and the physical improbability of Mr. Simpson's climbing a fence to return to his home; the "woodchipper murder," in which an Eastern Airlines pilot murdered his wife and then put her body through a woodchipper in an attempt to dispose of the remains; the Mathison murder, in which a veteran Hawaiian police sergeant claimed to have accidentally run over his wife after she fled the family van during a dispute; the Ed Sherman murder, in which a college English professor attempted to disguise the time of his wife's death by turning up the air conditioning unit in their house and then using the alibi that he was away from the home sailing on the day the crime allegedly took place; and the McArthur murder, in which a police sergeant shot and killed his wife, but then tried to make it appear that she had accidentally killed herself.
In each case, Dr. Lee presents in scientific detail how he investigated the murders, analyzed the evidence, and used techniques that played a critical role in bringing criminals to justice. He discusses how the criminalist examines blood spatter evidence and uses blood identification, DNA analysis, and other forensic technologies developed in the world's best laboratories. This is a fascinating insider's look by a world-renowned expert into the pursuit of justice in some of the most grisly criminal cases of recent times.
Dr. Henry C. Lee (Branford, CT), chair and professor of forensic science at the University of New Haven and chief emeritus in the Department of Public Safety in Meriden, CT, is a lifetime distinguished member of the International Association of Identification and a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He is the author (with Jerry Labriola, MD) of Famous Crimes Revisited, The Budapest Connection, and Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files, and (with Thomas W. O'Neil) Cracking Cases and Cracking More Cases, among other works. Dr. Lee was formerly on Court TV's Trace Evidence (now TruTV). He has also been a special news analyst on TruTV and a frequent guest on Larry King Live, the Nancy Grace Show, Fox TV shows, and numerous other national television programs.
Publishers Weekly
In the tradition of Alphonse Bertillon and Lee's close friend and contemporary Michael Baden (author of the recent Dead Reckoning), the latest from renowned forensic criminologist Lee (Henry Lee's Crime Scene Handbook) takes readers through the steps of the investigative process of five homicide cases. Lee exposes the methodologies of crafty killers an air conditioner cranked up to disguise a victim's time of death, a shooting concealed as a suicide, a corpus delecti (literally, "the body of the crime") destroyed via a woodchipper in four of the five investigations; in the fifth, he revisits the mangled O.J. Simpson inquiry. Lee takes his responsibility to the scientific method seriously (which comes through in somewhat cold storytelling) and does not hesitate to place blame where he feels it's due. Justifying his work for the defense in the O.J. Simpson case, Lee criticizes the LAPD investigation as being compromised by bumbled procedure, cross-contamination and the mishandling of crucial blood evidence. Each of the cases considered here not only provides a rousing tale of forensic work, but also details the practical techniques such as bloodstain pattern analysis, crime scene photography and latent fingerprint detection through the use of alkyl-2-cyanoacrylate (Super Glue). If Lee's material has an element of the slapdash, it's probably for good reason after all, he's been a consultant to over 300 law enforcement agencies and is the editor of seven peer-reviewed journals. But attention to storytelling reveals the characters behind the cases, and supports Lee's assertion that "no one person... is responsible for the guilty being found out and successfully prosecuted." B&w photos throughout; color insert not seen by PW. (Apr.) Forecast: The true-crime crowd will consider this essential reading, and with a segment scheduled on ABC TV's 20/20, it may reach a broader audience. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.