Category
Interesting Cases
Returning the Stolen
Argentina is probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think of dictatorships, yet the “Dirty War” of the late 1970s killed 10,000–30,000 citizens in an a...
Autosomal and Y-STR Analysis of Degraded DNA from 120-Year-Old Skeletal Remains
Angie Ambers of the Institute of Applied Genetics (UNTHSC) describes how she processes skeletal remains to determine an individual’s identity, and how she identified a Confe...
Catching a Serial Killer
“Is your life just like CSI?” That is the prevailing question I get asked when someone learns of my occupation as Deputy Sheriff Criminalist for the Contra Costa County (C...
From Death Row to Exoneration Thanks to DNA
Kirk Bloodsworth, the first person in the United States to be freed by post-conviction DNA testing, recounts his story of how he was convicted of a brutal murder, and subseque...
Staging a Canine Crime Scene to Teach Forensics Concepts
Sara Katsanis explains how she and her colleagues developed a mock wrongful convictions canine crime scene to teach forensics concepts to a middle school student. ...
Autosomal and Y-STR Analysis of Degraded DNA from the 120-Year-Old Skeletal Remains of Ezekiel Harper
I have been involved in skeletal remains work for many years. I am fascinated with bones and their ability to survive for such long periods of time in harsh conditions, and I ...
Identifying 140 Year-Old Remains Using Massively Parallel DNA Sequencing
The goal of forensic DNA testing of human skeletal remains is identification of the unknown individual. A variety of genetic markers can be used to achieve identification, inc...
The Living Disappeared
Submitted by: Alexa Barrett Last summer, an unprecedented number of unaccompanied children were crossing the U.S./Mexican border. The number of children c...
An Interview with Susan Mustafa
Susan Mustafa, true crime author, describes how DNA testing in Louisiana was impacted by serial killings and her process for writing. TRANSCRIPT: My name is Susan D Mus...