Case #1: 1977 Murder of James Anagnos Victims: James Anagnos Suspects: Frank Wright How hair played a role in solving the case: The hair of Frank Wright was found clenched in the victim, James Anagnos, hand due to an earlier conflict between the two. Case #2: The murder of Elizabeth Ballard Victims: Elizabeth Ballard Suspects: Two unnamed men How hair played a role in solving the case: Follicles of both victims dogs were found at the initial place of the murder, directly linking them to the death. Case #3: The Disappearance of Melissa Brannen Victims: Melissa Brannen Suspects: Caleb Hughes How fibers played a role in solving the case: The fibers found in the backseat of Hughes car were similar to those on the outfit
Before the sun had broken on June 6th, 1996 Darlie Routier (26) of Rowlett Texas was pleading with the dispatch operator for immediate help. In this almost 6 minute long call (in which the police get there in 3 minutes and about 45 seconds in) Mrs. Routier seems to be in complete shock, as she begs the operator to quickly send police. However, in between brief periods of hysterical breathing and unintelligible sobs she soberly remarks how she picked up the suspected murder weapon and this could have tainted any fingerprints that were there before. It was her attitude that landed her in the media’s glare, however it was the evidence in this case, all circumstantial, that landed her on Texas’s Death Row. In this paper I aim to highlight and elaborate
A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial By Suzanne Lebsock ((New York: W.W. Norton, 2003) Suzanne Lebsock is a historic author that enjoys digging into the past events of the American South. When Suzanne finds something interesting she dives into the history of the event and creates a historic fiction novel, that includes her own ideas and historical facts. Suzanne Lebsock has created more works of art like, “Visible Women: New Essays on American Activism”, “A Share of Honour”, “The Free Women of Petersburg: Status and Culture in a Southern Town”, and finally, “A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial”. “A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial” takes place in Lunenburg, Virginia in the year of 1895, where a white woman,
They DNA tested all the blood and objects around the crime scene. Her body was covered in blood, but not enough evidence of the murderer at all. Although there was one piece of hair that was not Jane's, the investigators could not find out who it was. Brian Shahan was in charge of the whole investigation. There was a lot of DNA evidence around the crime scene, but there was no way to see whose DNA and footprints were there at that time in the world.
In September of 1961, a woman from District of Columbia had an intruder break into her apartment. While the invader of the home was there, they had taken her wallet, and also raped the woman. During the investigation of the crime, the police had found some latent fingerprints in the apartment. The police then established and processed the prints. The prints were then connected back to 16 year old Morris A. Kent.
The samples from one victim were too deteriorated to be conclusive, but the samples from the other victim’s vaginal swab and underwear were subjected to PCR based DNA testing and it showed no match to Richard Cotton. At the request of the defense, the results were sent to the State Bureau of Investigation’s DNA database, containing the DNA patterns of convicted felons in North Carolina prisons. The DNA proved to be a match for the convict who earlier confessed that he was the one who actually committed the
A woman named Esther Carlson was arrested for the murder of an elder man for his money after poisoning him. “According to one press report, investigators examining a trunk in her room found, lying at the bottom, a picture of Belle Gunness with three of her children. Ms. Carlson died in jail before she could stand trial, and before any connection between her and Belle Gunness could be confirmed. However, two former LaPorte residents, then living in Los Angeles, were allowed to view her body at the morgue and are said to have come away convinced that the body they saw there was that of Belle Gunness” (Marimen et al., 2008, p. 97).
When major things happen in a community, it makes people look at life in ways they never thought they had to. When a white woman by the name of Lucy Jane Pollard was brutally murdered with an ax on a hazing June afternoon in 1895, it opened the door to chaos for rustic Virginia. Prize-winning writer Suzanne Lebsock’s A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial, finds a way to organize it’s way through the craziness. This book takes on questions posed all throughout out southern history head on in regards to race, gender, class and sex in addition to life for Southerners. There are twists and turns that make this story complicated, in turn making readers wish that Lucy Jane Pollard made it through to tell the story herself.
A look at the evidence of the murder case proves
In Suzanne Lebsock’s A Murder in Virginia, 2003, the judicial proceedings of a court case are depicted after a women, Lucy Pollard, was found brutally slain in her own backyard. Most would think this to be a simple illustration of a murder trial, but this case comes with a twist. The twist is that the murder took place in rural Virginia in 1895. This is a time period that is characterized as post Reconstruction but before the implementation of the Jim Crow Laws. Being a Confederate state shortly after the Civil War, one would believe that race relations in Virginia would be extremely tumultuous, but this case just happens to fall in a small window of time in which relationships were surprisingly harmonious.
The impact of Tim’s case was also felt on a national and even international level, as it shed light on the importance of using accurate and scientific evidence in the legal system and the need to reform the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions. Tim’s story has inspired many other cases to be re-opened and re-examined, leading to the exoneration of several other innocent individuals. Overall, the case of Tim Cole has had a profound impact on the criminal justice system and has helped to bring about important changes in the use of DNA
Jim Crow laws were a set of state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the United States from the late 1800s to the mid-1960s. Virginia, like other southern states, enacted Jim Crow Laws which led to widespread discrimination against African Americans. The consequences of these laws included lynchings, violence and deep-seated social inequality. We see examples of this in "A Murder in Virginia", a hard hitting book by Suzanne Lebsock, which follows the murder of Lucy Pollard, and the accusations made against African Americans.
Murders that are left unsolved leaves family members puzzled and wondering. It is important that we solve murders so we can stop the victim from doing it again. I already know a bit about DNA evidence from my KWL chart crime research, but I would need to learn more about its specific application in cold cases. In my preliminary research, I learned that DNA has helped solve many cold cases over the years. There have been cases where decades-old evidence was retested with updated technology and resulted in identifying the victimizer.
Every day forensic investigators use tactics just like the ones that were discussed throughout the paper. It’s more than just looking for an admission of guilt, and interrogating potential suspects until they
This DNA sample was tested to determine if the DNA left on Mary Sullivan was a match. This proved to not be a match. This shows some suspicion to the final verdict of the
