Just Science

In episode seven of the Case Studies season, Just Science sat down with John Vanderkolk and Marcus Montooth of the Indiana State Police to discuss erroneous identification and the Lana Canen case.

In 2005, Lana Canen was convicted as an accomplice for the robbery and murder of 94-year-old Helen Sailor. After serving eight years, her conviction was overturned, and she was released from prison. John Vanderfolk and Marcus Montooth were working for the Indiana State Police at the time that her conviction was being overturned. Listen along as they discuss the need for updated training, the value of technical review, and the wrongful conviction of Lana Canen in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode six of the Case Studies season, Just Science sat down with Karen Oswald, Senior Evidence Specialist with the Suffolk County Police Department in New York, to discuss methods for identifying fingers and hands captured in evidentiary photos.

As cellphone and camera technologies continue to improve, so does the quality of the images they produce. Most people today carry smartphones at all times, therefore more criminals are incriminating themselves with the photos they take. While investigating a case, Karen Oswald saw an opportunity to use pictures from a suspect’s cell phone as a tool for identifying his hands and proving his guilt.

Listen along as she discusses techniques for identifying prints captured in evidentiary photos and the challenges associated with the process in this episode of Just Science.

Some content in this podcast may be considered sensitive and may evoke emotional responses, or may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode five of the Case Studies season, Just Science sat down with Rockne Harmon, forensic consultant and former senior deputy district attorney for Alameda County in California, to talk about familial DNA searching and the case of the Grim Sleeper Serial Killer.

From the mid 80s to 2007, Lonnie David Franklin Jr, otherwise known as the Grim Sleeper, was responsible for at least 10 murders in California. Although he started killing in the 1980s, large gaps of time between murders and underutilized DNA evidence left at the crime scenes made it exceptionally difficult to find a suspect.

Franklin was arrested in 2010 after investigators used familial DNA searching to connect DNA recovered at multiple crime scenes to one of Franklin's relatives. Rockne Harmon was instrumental in convincing the California Department of Justice to implement familial DNA searching in cold cases, ultimately leading to the arrest of the Grim Sleeper and many other offenders. Listen along as he discusses familial DNA searching and the case of the Grim Sleeper in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode four of the Case Studies Season, Just Science sat down with forensic consultant, author, and instructor Brian Dalrymple to discuss his research and impact on the field of latent print identification. In 1977, a team of researchers developed a method for detecting fingerprints by examining inherent fluorescence using an argon ion laser. This new technology revolutionized the field of latent print identification. Brian Dalrymple was an original member of that research team, but his career did not stop there. He has completed approximately 100 examinations of murder victims for fingerprint evidence, authored several journal articles and books, and contributed to the widespread adoption of lasers used for detection. Listen along as he discusses the origins of his research and methods for examining bodies for fingerprints in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode three of the Case Studies Season, Just Science sat down with Heather Conner, Latent Print Unit Technical Leader in Mesa Police Department’s Forensic Services, about the investigation of a grisly murder in Arizona.

In June of 2008, Travis Alexander was found dead in the bathroom of his home. His killer, ex-girlfriend Jodi Arias (air ias), was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Heather Conner and her team used a variety of forensic disciplines to piece together the crime scene and affirm the conviction. Listen along as she discusses her journey in forensics, the investigation of the murder of Travis Alexander, and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to crime scene analysis in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode two, Just Science sat down with Erin Sims, Forensic Lab Manager at the Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department, about bloodstain pattern evidence in forensic investigations.

Not all crime scenes will have bloodstains. But when they are present, analysts can use them to help determine the types of activities or mechanisms that produced them. Erin Sims believes that bloodstain patterns can tell the unknown story behind a crime. Listen along as she discusses the application of bloodstain pattern analysis and how it fits into the larger puzzle of crime scene investigation in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the Case Studies season opener, we sat down with Mitchell Pilkington, crime scene manager at Layton City Police Department in Utah, to discuss psychopathy and criminal behavior.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In this Forensic Science Week special episode, Just Science interviews Brett Williams, the CEO of Verogen, about the GEDmatch database, how it can be used by law enforcement to perform forensic genealogy searches for investigative leads, and the short- and long-term plans Verogen has for the widely used database and related services.

Verogen is a spin-off of the Illumina corporation and has grown to be an innovator in the realm of forensic genomic technologies. Since their inception, Verogen has evolved from forensic applications to focus on biometrics-based human identification, as a whole. Following this vision, in December of 2019 Verogen acquired GEDmatch, a crowd-sourced database used by millions of genealogy enthusiasts to trace their family trees, but more recently it has been adopted by law enforcement to aid in cold case investigations.

Listen along with our guest host, Donia Slack, as she and Brett Williams discuss the impact that genetic genealogy and GEDmatch have had on the criminal justice system in this episode of Just Science.

This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode eight, Just Science interviews Dr. Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar from Purdue University about the impact of disturbing media on forensic professionals.

Repeated exposure to violent and graphic media can have long-term negative effects on digital forensic examiners. Dr. Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar is researching the connection between disturbing media and the examiners who analyze it every day. Listen along as she discusses digital forensic examiners and the impact of disturbing media in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode seven, Just Science interviews Dr. Catalin Grigoras and Cole Whitecotton from the National Center for Media Forensics about deepfakes.

Deepfakes are a form of synthetic media that replaces an existing image with someone else’s likeness. While relatively new, deepfake technology has grown in sophistication over the last few years. In some cases, the synthetic image is almost indiscernible from the person that it is imitating, which can create a lot of problems for forensic analysts. Dr. Catalin Grigoras and Cole Whitecotton are working to understand and combat deepfakes. Listen along as they discuss the capability, implications, and the future of deepfake technology in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.