NEW: The Green River Killer murdered 49 known victims in the nearly two decades that he evaded capture. But the key evidence that led to his confession was on his very first victim – and a crime lab missed it.
. It pressured Ridgway into confessing to 48 murders and leading detectives to four previously undiscovered bodies in exchange for sparing him the death penalty.
Trace evidence expert Skip Palenik first heard about the Green River murders in 1985 while training forensic scientists in Seattle.Jeff Baird, the retired King County senior deputy prosecutor who led the prosecution of Ridgway and ultimately brought Palenik into the case, said in a recent interview he’d never heard about Palenik’s visit to the crime lab in the 1980s or knew the paint spheres could’ve been found then.
Sisters of Patricia Yellow Robe, Ridgway’s last known victim, said the revelations are upsetting but mean little now. After four more bodies were found dumped in and along the Green River within a month, the King County sheriff assembled a task force to track down a serial killer. But with the volumes of evidence, the staffing constraints and the workload of other cases statewide, crime lab officials had to choose what evidence to analyze, said Cwiklik, the lab’s trace evidence supervisor at the time., which “usually would have been the most fruitful,” Cwiklik said in a recent interview.
The same year, Palenik, the renowned trace evidence expert, learned about the case. Palenik, then a senior researcher at the Chicago-based McCrone Research Institute — a leader in microanalysis — taught workshops around the country. He’d just finished teaching a basic forensic microscopy course at the crime lab in Seattle when George Ishii, then the director, told him about the Green River murders, Palenik said in a recent interview.
In hindsight, Cwiklik said, the crime lab should have shifted its focus from hairs and fibers and turned to analyzing smaller particles in the trace evidence recovered from the dumpsites. Jensen, who dedicated most of his career to the case, was stunned to learn recently from an NBC News reporter that the capability to detect the paint spheres that linked Ridgway to some of the victims had existed years earlier.
Jensen’s list of the killer’s suspected victims grew to nearly 90, including dozens of homeless or drug-addicted girls and women who’d disappeared or were dumped in remote places across western Washington.When Patricia Yellow Robe’s body was found in bushes outside a wrecking yard south of Seattle in 1998, she wasn’t considered a victim of the killer. The medical examiner ruled her death an accidental overdose.
With the new technology, scientists were finally able to match DNA from Ridgway’s saliva to sperm recovered from two victims found in the river in 1982 and another victim from a dumpsite in 1983. So Palenik decided to change tactics: vacuuming the dust from the suspect's and the victims’ clothing and analyzing the tiny particles under a microscope equipped with an infrared device used to detect colors and compositions of substances.
Some of the victims’ clothing had “dozens and dozens of these spray-paint spheres” in blue, green, red, orange and white, Palenik said. “And that’s just not normal.” It indicated the spheres came from a source that widely used DuPont Imron and in various colors, he said.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
Tiny College Overtaken by DeSantis Scraps Diversity Efforts During Fiery MeetingThe school, New College of Florida, is known as one of the top public liberal art schools in the country, and also as a safe haven for LBGTQ+ students in the state.
Baca lebih lajut »
Montana predator tried to lure young girls to start ‘incest family’Gary Lee Hodges, 72, of Bigfork, was sentenced on Feb. 24 to 27 years behind bars.
Baca lebih lajut »
Players love the 49ers but can't stand their tiny tubsThe 49ers believe Jed York will invest in some bigger tubs and pools.
Baca lebih lajut »
104 Tiny Tattoo Ideas That Are Perfectly MinimalistThese are so cute.
Baca lebih lajut »
Researchers are using sound-waves and holograms to instantly mold tiny 3D shapes | EngadgetAcoustic assembly could offer a strong alternative to bioprinting and rapid prototyping..
Baca lebih lajut »
Kim Kardashian sizzles in tiny bikini in new shower photos as fans go wildKim Kardashian set the internet on fire with a series of new bikini photos posted to her Instagram. The mother of four posed seductively in an outdoor shower.
Baca lebih lajut »