The Casebook of Forensic Detection by Colin Evans

Author:Colin Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2016-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

“Organized” Killer

Curiously enough, despite the appalling nature of the attack, the Tallahassee crime scene displayed an eerie neatness and was completely devoid of fingerprints. According to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, serial killers tend to fall into two categories: organized and disorganized. The latter kill without any consideration of the consequences, often littering the crime scene with clues. Organized killers, as the term implies, are far more calculating and go to quite extraordinary lengths to conceal their involvement. Unsurprisingly, this category of killer normally poses the greater problem for crime investigators. Yet in this instance, such precautions actually assisted the prosecution.

When William Gunter, the Leon County sheriff’s department crime scene specialist, visited Bundy’s Tallahassee apartment soon after his arrest, he routinely dusted the place for fingerprints. After a few minutes, he was puzzled. No matter where he searched—on closet doors, shelves, bedposts, handles, even an overhead lightbulb—he could not find a single print. As he testified later, “The room had been wiped clean.” Such precautions, typical of the organized killer, only heightened suspicion against Bundy. After all, what kind of person lives in a fingerprint-free environment?

But this was conjecture. The prosecution needed solid evidence linking Bundy to the Chi Omega killings. Their best hope lay with the bite marks on Lisa Levy’s left buttock. When Bundy refused to provide impressions of his teeth, a search warrant was issued, authorizing detectives to obtain the examples by force if necessary. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, Bundy acquiesced. Coral Gables dentist Dr. Richard Souviron began by taking frontal color photographs of Bundy’s uneven upper and lower teeth and gums. Then, using a mirror, he obtained a reverse-image photograph of the inside surface of the teeth. Next, Bundy was told to bite into a malleable compound and remain motionless for a few minutes. After a while the compound set, forming a permanent mold. Souviron finally took individual wax impressions of each tooth. By pouring sculpting material into these molds, he was able to make precise stone casts of Bundy’s teeth.

After much legal wrangling (Bundy had originally accepted a plea bargain, only to change his mind), his trial for the FSU killings opened in Miami on June 25, 1979.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.