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Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files: Five Famous Cases

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Dr. Lee's book begins with the well-known Scott Peterson and Elizabeth Smart cases. He details all the evidence collected (and sometimes not collected), and takes readers from the crime to the trial. Unfortunately, forensic evidence did not play a role in either case. In Scott Peterson's case, Dr. Lee concluded that it wasn't the evidence that did Peterson in - rather his post-disappearance actions and court attitude. On the other hand, it was interesting to not that the original jury foreman was removed (reason unknown) - since he was both an attorney and an M.D. the jury might have been led to a greater focus on the inconclusive evidence and the verdict turned out differently.

As for Elizabeth Smart's nine-month disappearance, the case seemed to have been solved in spite of the Salt Lake City Police. Elizabeth's younger sister (in the same room when the kidnapping took place) was convinced that the man police suspected was not the one, identified the correct individual, and helped in the drawing of his portrait - thus, leading to Elizabeth's safe return. (The kidnapper and his wife were judged mentally incompetent for trial; nonetheless, they had brainwashed Elizabeth so much that she did not try to escape, and originally denied that she was the one everyone was looking for.)

The third case involved an individual whose wife was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. While Dr. Lee was called as a witness for the defense, it was not enough to overcome the eerie fact that the defendant's first wife had similarly died, and that her injuries seemed to great for having simply fallen part-way down the stairs.

The fourth case was quite straight-forward - an arson, followed by the murder of a key witness, and the fifth, while rather salacious, was also not that challenging.

It's allright, but a little bland and dry. Not a whole lot of details at time. Had to 'force' myself to read on during some chapters. Really don't feel like I learned anything new about the Peterson or Smart cases or about forensics in general.

Brad

Dr. Henry Lee has worked on over 6,000 cases in his years as a forensic scientist. In this book, he details some of the work he performed during what are arguably the most high-profile cases of the last 20 years as well as a couple lesser-known cases.

The first cases, Scott Peterson and Elizabeth Smart are cases that almost everyone in America and even outside the country has at least some knowledge. Dr. Lee brings into more detail the investigation, from a forensic point of view, of the two cases. He highlights not only the forensic work, but the prinicpal of basic police investigation; secure the crime scene. In the Smart case in particular, there is a tremendous amount of scene contamination and in the Scott Petersen case you see how some evidence was not properly catalogued and the problems those missteps led to in court.

The third case, that of Michael Peterson is one that is very familiar to me, since it took place in North Carolina, but may not be as well-known as the first two investigations. It involved the death of Kathleen Peterson, the wife of Michael Peterson, who was found dead at the bottom of a set of stairs in their home one night. Michael claimed she had fallen after several glasses of wine and some prescription drugs, but the District Attorney believed he killed her, especially after learning his first wife also died from a fall on a stair case in Germany, where they were living at the time.

In this case Dr. Lee is actually called to testify, which gives us a glimpse, not only into the science but the art of forensics. Many folks are well-trained and can performing the myriad tests and evaluations that can be made on hair, fiber, and blood evidence taken at a crime scene. One of the Dr. Lee's strengths, is in his ability to explain the information gleaned from the sometimes scant evidence and what is shows in easily understood terms.

The final two cases were not ones I was familiar with at all, having not been heavily covered by the media and not local to my area. They are nowhere near as complicated or questionable as the previous cases, but still give Dr. Lee a chance to explain more of the processes involved in forensics to the reader. One case, in particular, which started with the intentional burning of the Salisbury, MD Town Hall, opens one up to the aspects of a fire investigation and the special techniques required to determine if the fire was set or an accident.

One of the best parts of the book is when Dr. Lee stops the narrative to explain, to some degree, the science behind the particular evidence he is discussing. There is a good overview of blood spatter evidence and what is can mean. There is also a short discussion on what can occur during a fire and how that leads investigators to determine the origin of the blaze, the most important clue in an arson investigation. These overviews are by no means complete, but they do let you see just how much information can be gathered from a few drops of blood.

If you are looking for a book that delves deeply into the science behind forensics, visit Amazon.com and pick out one of the many criminal text books now available online. Dr. Henry Lee's Five Famous Cases does not purport to give you an in-depth knowledge of how forensic works.

What is does do, and I think handles well, is give you a glimpse into the real world of forensics. A place where answers don't come out of a printer in 20 minutes, where DNA does not eliminate all but the suspect, and where even the best police sometimes make mistakes. Five Famous Cases is essentially a book that lets you see why forensics is so important, but that even with all the modern science of blood spatter evidence, carpet samples, and shoe imprints, there is still a good deal of old-fasioned detective work that still has to be done in order for a case to be won.

Dr. Lee is one of the foremost forensic criminology researchers in the world, having worked on over 6,000 cases and participated in many high-level trails with his evidence, so DR. HENRY LEE'S FORENSIC FILES is a long-overdue focus on his famous works and methods. Beginning with the latest headliner Scott Peterson trial, Dr. Lee focuses on how he investigated the physical evidence in the case, then moves on to the Elizabeth Smart abduction and other notable cases. Chapters survey how physical evidence is reconstructed and applied to the case in this intriguing true crime survey.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch