Forensic Sciences: Medical Detectives Part 3

When a baby and a truck driver both died of extreme liver damage on the same day, terrified doctors believed they had a mysterious epidemic on their hands. In this program, epidemiologist Renea Kimbrough studies the pathology of the victims’ apparent disease, revealing a toxicological explanation that leads to a criminal verdict: homicide by dimethylnitrosamine—a jet fuel additive, a known carcinogen, and, in high doses, a deadly poison. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When a prostitute went to the police after being assaulted by Roger Kibbe, they were confronted with significant circumstantial evidence that implicated him in a string of rape/murders. In this program, criminalist Faye Springer applies the Locard Exchange Principle by microscopically examining thousands of bits of physical evidence related to the most recent victim, Darcie Frankenpohl. The incriminating connections she made between Darcie, Kibbe, and his car proved conclusive. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

In this program, forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Charney, medical examiner Dr. Mary Case, and other police experts use facial reconstruction and other forensic techniques to identify bones, clothing, and hair found in the woods as the remains of Bun Chee Nyhuis. They were also able to determine the true source of her fatal skull fracture, causing the charge against her husband of accidental death to be changed to murder. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

On December 7, 1993, Rose Larner disappeared—almost. After two years of being under suspicion for her death, her killers confessed their crime, sending the police on a scavenger hunt to retrieve minute quantities of incinerated bone from locations along a 100-mile stretch of highway and a single drop of blood from the scene of the murder. This program demonstrates the tenacity required to obtain physical evidence to confirm a confession and obtain a conviction. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

The mail-bomb deaths of judge Bob Vance and attorney Robert Robinson triggered one of the largest investigations in FBI history. This program demonstrates the combined expertise of the FBI’s units specializing in explosives; hair and fiber, materials, and elemental analysis; chemistry; behavioral sciences; and fingerprinting. After studying the evidence, interviewing 6,000 people, and examining more than one million documents, the investigators identified the culprit. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When both daughters of Paula and Robert Sims were found dead after allegedly being kidnapped—one in 1986 and the other in 1989—the coincidence was simply too striking. In this program, medical examiner Dr. Mary Case and other specialists use autopsy results and forensic pathology to re-create the crime and to refute Paula’s alibi, conclusively linking her to her second daughter’s death. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When Martin Dillon was killed in the Pocono Mountains by Dr. Stephen Scher’s rifle, authorities accepted the story of a hunting accident. However, when Scher later married Dillon’s widow, the case was reopened. In this program, forensic reconstructionist Warren Stewart Bennett and FBI experts use ballistics and blood spatter to re-create the incident, while pathologist Isadore Mihalakis confirms their findings through an autopsy, leading to a new verdict: murder. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When Patricia and David Stallings’ baby, Ryan, died in the hospital of what seemed to be ethylene glycol poisoning, Patricia was charged with murder. While awaiting trial, she gave birth to son David, who soon began to sicken like Ryan. David was diagnosed with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), a rare genetic disorder that causes overproduction of propylene glycol. A professor confirmed the similarity of the two glycols, a doctor retested Ryan's blood and found that he did have MMA, and Patricia's attorney searched for an expert who would support the theory of death by MMA alone--but none could be found. Patricia Stallings was convicted. However, in 1991 the Stallings' case aired on Unsolved Mysteries, attracting the attention of Dr. William Sly. His research, along with that of genetics expert Dr. Piero Rinaldo, proved that Ryan was toxin-free and Patricia was innocent--and that it might have been the initial treatment for antifreeze poisoning that cost Ryan his life. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

Soon after a woman mysteriously disappeared from her home, police uncovered evidence of foul play. In this program, luminol testing, RFLP-DNA analysis, and fingerprinting enhanced by "amido black" direct investigators to the suspect—and an ultraviolet microscopic investigation of a wig hair leads to a charge of murder. This case is unique in Maryland law enforcement because a conviction was secured through physical evidence before the body had been recovered. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When Virginia resident Edward Honaker, a known troublemaker, was identified in a lineup as a rapist, he was charged with and subsequently convicted of the crime. Although a single hair nominally linked Honaker to the victim, his alibi, vasectomy, and other mitigating information raised doubts about his guilt. Centurion Ministries, an organization dedicated to reviewing claims of innocence by convicts, had the case reopened. DNA tests, which did not exist at the time of Honaker's trial, were performed on the meager traces of semen from the attack. The results of PCR and DQ alpha tests, along with DNA profiles of Honaker, the victim's fiance, and another boyfriend, ruled out all three. Edward Honaker was released from prison after serving ten years, and the crime remains unsolved. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When a nine-year-old girl disappeared, a massive search turned up only her damaged pink bicycle. In this program, FBI Special Agent Jim Corby and Agent Dennis Ward use electron microscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatograph mass spectrometry to reveal a two-way transfer of paint and nickel between the girl’s bike and an abductor’s car bumper. This trial was the first in the U.S. to be televised from start to finish. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)

When the baby daughter of Jim and Tanya Reid began suffering from sleep apnea, doctors were puzzled. At each occurrence her mother calmly resuscitated her--until February 7, 1984, when Morgan died, apparently of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In 1985, when the Reids' new son began having sleep apnea complicated by seizures, a suspicious health-care worker noted inconsistencies between Tanya's narrative, the baby's condition, and the pathologies involved. Medical experts reviewed the cases and suspected Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. When Morgan's autopsy records were reopened, X-rays showed brain damage consistent with being shaken violently, perhaps to induce unconsciousness. That evidence, combined with the fact that Tanya, as a teenage babysitter, had been hailed as a heroine for resuscitating a child who suddenly stopped breathing, led to a change in the ruling on Morgan's death from SIDS to murder. (Instructional DVD 26 minutes)