Investigating Innocence
Conviction integrity units, which investigate innocence claims, have popped up in recent years in major metropolitan areas such as Dallas, New York, and Chicago.
"[5] One of the organization's most prominent cases was the exoneration of David Camm,[6] a former Indiana state trooper who was wrongfully convicted of the murders of his wife and two children.
Clutter simulated how the actual killer, Charles Boney, infamously known as the "Shoe Bandit" who had been released from prison a few weeks before the murders after serving nearly a decade for holding women at gunpoint, braced his left hand leaving a palm print on the outside of Kim Camm's Ford Bronco as he knelt on the floorboard and extended his right hand to fire the gun that killed five-year-old Jill, and her brother Brad, age 7.
His wife and two children were last seen leaving swim practice and heading home around 7:00 p.m., which was about the same time David arrived at the Georgetown Community Church to play basketball.
There were eight small stains of blood that were mistakenly interpreted as high velocity impact spatter by a crime scene photographer who had no formal training or experience in bloodstain pattern analysis.
Clutter suggested if her client was charged, the first suspect that fit the MO was a serial killer, Tommy Lynn Sells, who targeted children after his release from prison in 1997, the year Joel was murdered.
MacDonell was also sued for slander for calling Englert among other things "a forensic whore", "liar-for-hire", "a very smooth charlatan" and "The Bin Laden of Bloodstains".
Police and prosecutors ignored a sweatshirt found at the scene that had been purchased from the Indiana Department of Corrections that had the moniker "BACKBONE" written in black ink on the inside collar.
Another key piece of forensic evidence is Kim Camm's DNA that was found on the shirt sleeve of the sweatshirt, consistent with Boney's arm around her neck and coming into contact with her mouth.
When police discovered Boney's palm print on the outside passenger door of Kim Camm's Ford Bronco a few weeks later, he changed his story again.
[9] Darlie Routier[10] was accused and convicted of the murders of her two children based solely on controversial forensic evidence known as bloodstain pattern analysis.
Camm, a ten-year veteran of the Indiana State Police, was acquitted and set free on October 24, 2013, after spending 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
A reconstruction of the crime scene, including a palm print and DNA, proved that the murder of his wife and two children was committed by a career criminal who was motivated by shoe fetish.
Bevel interpreted eight tiny dots of blood on Camm's t-shirt and concluded these were created by high velocity impact spatter from having fired the gun that killed his family.
Bloodstain scientists Terry Laber and Bart Epstein, who assisted with the defense of David Camm, were hired by Darlie Routier's public defenders.
Darlie Routier, however, remains on death row in Texas, awaiting execution based on the same bloodstain interpretation evidence that convicted Julie Rea.
(Source: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, The National Academies Press, Washington DC (2009), pp.
[17] The investigation of Bill Clutter was featured on Crime Watch Daily, which triggered the recantation of Melissa DeBoer, who was seven years old and left for dead when she witnessed the murder of her mother.
[22] Clutter was among a handful of private investigators and lawyers who were credited by Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn for helping to abolish the death penalty in Illinois.
Multiple witnesses observed a suspicious young white male lurking in the employee parking lot around the time Melisa exited the store.
His conviction hinged on the testimony of Donald "Goose" Johnston, an alcoholic and intellectually disabled person who falsely confessed to the crime and later identified McMillen as the killer in a plea deal that resulted in Johnson serving less than seven years in prison.
After several years without a clear suspect, Jamie Snow was arrested and improperly charged by police and prosecutors willing to convict him by any means necessary, even after passing a polygraph exam.
Only at the trial, 10 years after the fact, did the "star witness" speak of Snow's eyes being "unforgettable", yet he had seen Jamie in numerous close up photos and the in person line-up not long after the incident occurred.
A passing motorist stopped to render assistance to Christopher Vaughn, who was found walking along frontage road of Interstate 55 south of Joliet.
This is a form of memory loss caused when a person witnesses a traumatic event like watching his entire family die in an automobile crash and being the sole survivor, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Academy of Psychiatric Association.
A forensic pathologist retained as an expert witness for the prosecutor later described Kimberly Vaughn's injuries as consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was deposed prior to trial.
More than a year after he was arrested, the Food and Drug Administration issued an alert in Dec. of 2008, warning that patients taking the prescription medication Topamax had a statistically significant risk of suicidal ideation and behavior.
A week before her death, Kimberly Vaughn reported experiencing symptoms that the FDA would later identify as early warning signs of adverse side effects from the medication.
A seminar called "Side-effects: Homicidal and Suicidal Behavior Influenced by Prescription Medications" was presented on February 18, 2013, at Chicago-Kent College of Law from 1-3 p.m., featuring Dr. David Healy.
[30] Clutter's work on the Christopher Vaughn case was featured on a 12-part podcast by I Heart Radio called Murder in Illinois,[31] and in an episode of Dr.
