On 5 October 2007 - Gordon Shetler, Student writer of Michigan State University MSU Today reported “Insects exonerate murder suspect after 48 years”.
He said it took nearly 50 years, but bugs brought justice to Steven Truscott. One of Canada’s most notorious murder cases was overturned last month, thanks in part to the testimony of a Michigan State forensic entomologist whose creed is “bugs don’t lie.”
Entomology professor Richard Merritt testified for seven hours about the incorruptible witnesses that did not testify in the 1959 murder trial of Truscott – common flies.
The appeal overturned the murder conviction of Truscott, then 14. He was convicted of murdering his 12-year-old schoolmate Lynne Harper in Ontario. He gave her a ride on his bike to a county road. After dropping her off, he said he saw her get into a car.
The girl went missing, and her body was found by authorities two days later. Truscott was quickly convicted in a controversial trial and sentenced to hang. In the resulting public outcry, his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He served 10 years of his sentence before being released on parole to live a life in the shadow of sus****on under an assumed name.
Long before Lynne’s body was found by the search party, flies found it. When there is a death, it only takes a few minutes for insects to find the victim. Merritt is one of a handful of board-certified forensic entomologists who use their knowledge of insects at crime scenes to provide evidence. His specialty is using insects to determine the time of a death. They are a natural stopwatch because, he said, “insects don’t lie. They grow at a constant rate based on temperature.” So determining how big the fly larvae have grown is an accurate measurement for how long a person has been dead.
Normally, insect samples are collected, measured and identified to calculate an accurate time of death, but this murder happened almost five decades ago. As a result, the physical evidence was not available for analysis. Instead, evidence was in detailed reports and old photographs taken during the original investigation.
The original investigating doctor and entomologist “made measurements and identified the specimens accurately, but forensic science was still a young science,” said Merritt. “And, they didn’t know how to use the data.”
Merritt; Ryan Kimbirauskas, a doctoral student at MSU; and Sherah VanLaerhoven, forensic entomologist and chairperson of forensic science at the University of Windsor, examined the old data and came to a new conclusion. “The insects were the right size. She was killed after dark. “Truscott could not have done it,” according to Merritt. The timeline created by the investigators was wrong. Truscott could not have killed Lynne Harper because he was at home when she died, Merritt said.
Merritt, chairperson of MSU’s entomology department, has been working in the field for more than 20 years. He recently served as chairperson of the American Board of Forensic Entomology. His main research focus is on immature aquatic insects. He is currently researching the ecology of Buruli Ulcer, an emerging disease in Africa.
Merritt said the Truscott murder case was one of the hardest cases he has ever testified at, but that he was relieved when he heard the verdict. “I feel so bad for this guy,” he said.
odkaz
Truscott vdačí za svoju rehabilitáciu práve insektu, presnejšie larvám. ) tento hmyz sa vyskytuje v roznych formách po celom svete a často pomáha riešit zločiny [ okrem inych metód samozrejme] forenzná entomológia
odkaz sa povazuje stále za najspolahlivejšiu metódu na určovanie úmrtia. najmä v prípadoch ked je telo nájdené po 48 hodinách. ešte na upresnenie ohladom článku , - dospely hmyz sa ziví všetkym moznym od potravín obsahujúcich cukor az po rozne exkréty . ich larvy však potrebujú potravu bohatú na bielkoviny . ktoré nájdu v telach mrtvych zivočíchov . a kedze disponujú dobrych čuchovymi orgánmi, dokázu zachytit najskoršie procesy rozkladu v mrtvom tele - organizme . a ak je to správne počasie sú zvyčajne prvym hmyzom ktory kolonizuje čerstvé zdochliny . [ a tym samozrejme patria medzi najdolezitejšie organizmy ktoré spracovávajú v prírode mršiny a vracajú ich do hmotného cyklu zeme.
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