Dr. Death, the Real Sherlock Holmes, and 8 Other Prolific Forensic Scientists
Forensic science is a hot topic these days, what with numerous television shows—from “Bones” on FOX to “Dexter” on Showtime to the various “CSI” spinoffs—glamorizing this oftentimes less than glamorous work. What many people don't realize is that forensic science has been around for a very long time, since before the days of Hollywood. Back in the 1800s and 1900s, scientists like Joseph Bell (the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes) and Edmond Locard (a fingerprinting guru) were pioneering the use of forensic science techniques. Read on to learn more about the top 10 most famous forensic scientists, many of whom are still alive and making waves in the scientific world at this very moment.
1. Henry C. Lee
Born: 1938
Profession: Criminologist
Henry Lee is perhaps the most well-known contemporary forensic scientist. Lee has assisted in the investigations of more than 6,000 criminal cases, including such famous cases as the headline-grabbing murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey; the war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia; the review of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the suicide of Vince Foster, President Bill Clinton's former White House attorney; and the murder of expecting mother Laci Peterson. Lee was also asked by Robert Shapiro, one of O.J. Simpson's defense attorneys, to review the physical evidence relating to Simpson's murder trial. Lee currently serves as chief emeritus of the Connecticut State Police , and as a faculty member at the University of New Haven, where he established the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice & Forensic Sciences, and the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science.
2. Dr. Michael Baden
Born: 1934
Profession: Forensic Pathologist
Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner for New York City, is well-known for his investigation of high-profile criminal cases and for his role as host of the HBO series “Autopsy”. Baden has served as an expert witness and leading/consulting pathologist for numerous cases, including the investigation into the death of actor John Belushi; the examination of the remains of Czar Nicholas II, the last Russian monarch; the murder trial of O.J. Simpson; and the autopsies of the victims of the TWA Flight 800 disaster, which occurred in 1996. Recently, Baden performed a second autopsy on 1970s television icon and “Kill Bill” star David Carradine, ruling the actor's death an accident and not a suicide. Baden runs a private forensic pathology consulting practice, and he serves as co-director of the New York State Police Medico Legal Investigation Unit.
3. Dr. Cyril Wecht
Born: 1931
Profession: Forensic Pathologist
Since 1962, Dr. Cyril Wecht has served as a medical-legal and forensic pathology consultant. For many years, Wecht was a prominent figure in the media, appearing on nationally syndicated programs to discuss forensic science issues. He has been interviewed about his criticism of the Warren Commission's findings regarding President John F. Kennedy's assassination; his testimony during the O.J. Simpson murder trial; and his consultation during the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, about which he also wrote a book, “Who Killed Jonbenet Ramsey?” In recent years, however, Wecht has retreated from the spotlight after being hit with corruption charges stemming from his time as the Allegheny County coroner in Pennsylvania. In 2006, Wecht was accused of using county workers and equipment for his private pathology business, and was charged with 81 counts of fraud and theft. Half of these charges were dropped, and the remaining charges were rendered mute by the declaration of a mistrial. Wecht remains active as a forensic science consultant, professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and author.
4. Clea Koff
Born: 1972
Profession: Forensic Anthropologist
In 1996, Clea Koff—then a 23-year-old forensic anthropology graduate student—was selected by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal to join 15 other scientists on a journey to Rwanda in order to unearth physical evidence of war crimes. For four years, Koff kept a journal about her investigation of mass graves in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. In 2004, Koff published “The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist's Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo,” which detailed her experiences and the fallout from the evidence she helped to collect. Nowadays, Koff lives in Los Angeles, where she founded the Missing Persons Identification Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that offers free investigation services to the family and friends of missing persons in the United States.
5. Dr. Joseph Bell
Born: 1837
Died: 1911
Profession: Forensic Pathologist
In the late 1800s, Dr. Joseph Bell was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Medical School in the UK. During the course of his forensics career, Bell worked at the Royal Infirmary and gained fame for the emphasis he placed on observation, a tactic adopted by modern forensic scientists. For example, stories have been recounted many times of how Bell gathered the tiniest bits of information, such as how many calluses appeared on a person's hands, to develop his understanding of that individual (e.g. where the person worked and whether or not he or she performed manual labor). Bell's knack for observing minute details inspired one of his students, famous author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Between 1887 and 1928, Doyle used Bell as his inspiration for the infamous Sherlock Holmes, a fictional super sleuth whose exploits and adventures were chronicled in a series of short stories and novels.
6. Dr. Edmond Locard
Born: 1877
Died: 1966
Profession: Criminalist
Dr. Edmond Locard is best known for his articulation of the most basic forensic science principle, known as the principle of exchange, which basically states: “Every contact leaves a trace.” He also developed 12 matching points for fingerprint identification, and wrote the seven-volume “Traité de Criminalistique”, which was published between 1931 and 1935 and is still read by many forensic scientists. Locard was particularly influential in the realm of criminalistics in France. In the early 1900s, for instance, Locard established the world's first official police crime laboratory in Lyon, France.
7. William Maples
Born: 1937
Died: 1997
Profession: Forensic Anthropologist
William R. Maples, a former professor at the University of Florida and one-time curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History, assisted in the identification of human remains in more than 1,000 cases during his illustrious career. A few of the high-profile cases he worked on included identifying the remains of Joseph Merrick (known as the Elephant Man); Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro; and Czar Nicholas II and his family, who were killed in 1918. Maples also worked with the New York State Police Forensic Sciences Unit, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory.
8. Dr. Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan
Born: 1955
Profession: Forensic Pathologist
Spiky-haired forensic superstar Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan is often referred to as Dr. Death in Thailand, where she has become a household name during her 30-plus years as a forensic pathologist. Rojanasunan has pioneered the use of DNA evidence to solve crimes in Thailand, where police officers often rely on confessions that are allegedly coerced. In 2002, she set up the Central Institute of Forensic Science for independent investigations. She is frequently at odds with some of the most powerful people in Thailand—from organized crime members to government officials—who do not appreciate her numerous investigations into possible human rights violations. According to some sources, Rojanasunan has examined more than 10,000 corpses during her career, hundreds of them belonging to people who were killed in the tragic tsunami that hit southern Thailand in 2004.
9. Sir Alec Jeffreys
Born: 1950
Profession: Geneticist
Sir Alec Jeffreys is often referred to as the “father of DNA evidence.” In 1984, he accidentally invented genetic fingerprinting, a means of identifying individuals based on their DNA. This discovery revolutionized all types of forensic science investigations, from murders and rapes to paternity disputes and immigration cases. Four years after Jeffreys stumbled upon genetic fingerprinting, it was used for the first time to catch a criminal, and the process has only proliferated since then. Jeffreys, currently a geneticist and professor at the University of Leicester in the UK, was knighted in 1994.
10. William Bass
Born: 1928
Profession: Forensic Anthropologist
William Bass is world-renowned for his research on human decomposition and human osteology. He began his professional career at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and eventually made his way to the University of Tennessee, where he founded the university's Anthropology Research Facility. In 1994, author Patricia Cornwell used the facility (and Bass's work there) as inspiration for her crime novel, “The Body Farm”. Bass is now a professor, an author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications, and he has co-written (under the pseudonym Jefferson Bass) four novels about the Body Farm and two works of nonfiction.
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Article Resources:
Alec Jeffreys: The ‘Father of DNA Evidence'
Cyril H. Wecht
Dr. Henry Lee
Jefferson Bass
Missing Persons Identification Resource Center (MPID)
The Bone Woman
The Joseph Bell Centre
William Maples
Maples Center for Forensic Medicine
The Huffington Post
Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
TruthOut
Modern Microscopy
ScienceWatch
The Guardian
Times Online
BusinessWeek: Dr. Porntip Rojanasunan
BusinessWeek: Fight For The Death In Thailand
Asia One
The New York Times: Thai Doctor Fashions a Life Working Among the Dead
The New York Times: On Death's Trail
