Murder Solved By…A Mushroom?

Murder solved by a mushroom

Toss out the confessions, fingerprints, tire tracks, and DNA. After all, who needs them when you have perfectly good fungi just waiting to join you on the witness stand. That’s right, mushrooms and other fungi have taken their place in the world of crime-solving. In fact, investigators can use macroscopic and microscopic fungi to help determine time of death (TOD), the time since a body was placed in a particular location, and if the body has been moved since death.

In 2002, the bodies of two young girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, were found lying in the woods near Lakenheath, Suffolk (UK). Without a clue to go on police called in forensic botanist Patricia Wiltshire, a former archaeologist, to see if she could “dig up” any evidence.

Patricia Wiltshire

Wiltshire agreed to help and traveled to the scene where she examined the foliage in the area where the girl’s bodies had been discovered. She noticed something a bit unusual with a group of stinging nettles growing in a ditch.

Stinging nettle plant

A closer look revealed the sprouting of new sideshoots on the nettles, something that only occurs when that particular plant has been damaged by trampling, or other such disturbances. Not only did Wiltshire’s find indicate that someone had walked there, the new shoots have a very specific growth rate—13 days at that particular stage. Therefore, Wiltshire was able to provide police with a time-line. The bodies of the girls had been dumped in the woods 13-and-a-half days earlier, which was when the girls were last seen.

When police finally located a suspect, Ian Huntley, Wiltshire was also able to positively match pollen found on his shoes and in his car to the type in the ditch where the bodies were found.

Connecting plant material and soil to the scene of the crime and to the murderer is nothing new. I once worked a murder in the 80’s where the only clues I had were two small pieces of dried, grayish mud found in the floorboard of a suspect’s car. Long story short, the mud matched the soil found only on a particular riverbank. The clumps of mud also contained a few seeds from plants also found only in that particular area. Guess what? Yep, the mud and seeds were from the area where the murder victim had been discovered.

Remember, fungi (trace evidence) grows just about anywhere, such as stone, leather goods, plastic, lumber and other wood, tile, brick, and concrete.  In fact, approximately 50-100 different species of fungi can be found in a single soil sample. So, the clues are there for the harvesting, and plenty of them. Someone just needs to do it. After all, a good investigator is a creative investigator.

 

 

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Following A Dream: An Alaska Adventure

Following a dream: Alaska

 

A dream inspired by a book. A fantasy adventure that’s lived inside your mind for three decades. Would you have what it takes to leave your home, your friends, your family, and all your belongings to trek to a remote area in Alaska? Could you live in a one-room cabin with no electricity, no running water, and the only bathroom is an outhouse? Lets see if I can further entice you. Temperatures in this beautiful corner of the world dip to -40F and your source of meat for the winter is whatever you manage to shoot and kill, such as moose and caribou. Oh, and to top it off, for heat, you must split wood and haul it to the wood-burning barrel inside your cabin. And, in exchange for your accommodations you must care for 60 sled dogs—water, feeding (which includes chopping frozen salmon with a hatchet), making sure their houses are insulated with plenty of straw, play time and exercise (at least two teams must run each day), and giving the dogs lots of love. Of course, all this takes place outdoors!

Sound a little too rugged for you? Yeah, me too. But not so for our friend, Monica, who purchased a ton of winter gear, packed her bags, and left everything behind, including sunny California, to follow her lifelong dream of a Great Alaskan Adventure. So, as time and internet allow, she’s keeping us posted via photos and a written journal of her activities while working as a dog handler for a very well-known, champion Iditarod race team (we’ll feature the team next week). And believe me, it’s exciting. Cold, but very exciting.

*All images are the property of Monica Palme and may not be used or reproduced without her expressed written permission.

 

 

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of these brave officers.

Officer Fred Thornton, 50

Charlotte-Mecklenburg North Carolina Police Department

February 25, 2011 – Officer Fred Thornton was killed when a distraction grenade (flash bang) accidentally discharged after returning home from a SWAT call. He is survived by his wife and four children.

Park Ranger Julie Weir, 39

United States Department of the Interior – National Park Service

February 24, 2011 – Ranger Julie Weir was killed in a traffic crash during a heavy snow storm.

Deputy Sheriff Shandon Wright, 29

Pierce County Washington Sheriff’s Department

March 3, 2011 – Deputy Shandon Wright died from complications following surgery to repair an injury sustained in an assault a day earlier. He is survived by his wife and two-year-old daughter.

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ATF Special Agent Richard McMahan: The Coming War

ATF Special Agent Richard McMahan: The Coming War

ATF Special Agent Rick McMahan has investigated extremist militias, violent street gangs as well as outlaw motorcycle gangs. In addition, he’s a firearms instructor and has served as an on-the-job trainer for new agents. In his free time, Rick enjoys writing, and he’s had short stories appear in anthologies such as Techno Noire, Low Down & Derby and the Mystery Writers of America’s Death Do Us Part edited by Harlan Coben.

The Coming War (Or THE CARTEL WARS)


There’s a war going on that threatens the security of the United States. I’m talking about a place where–

Organized terrorist groups target and kill military and police force members in their country.

Organized terrorist groups kill journalists, politicians and even citizens who dare oppose them.

Organized terrorist groups target and kill other organized terrorist groups in the same country.

Organized terrorist groups slaughtering each in masses and dumping the holes.

In four years, this war has claimed almost 30,000 lives, including the lives of over 2,000 police and military members.

Is this Iraq?

No.

Afghanistan?

No.

I’m talking about Mexico. Welcome to the realities to the drug cartel violence south of our borers. In 2006, President Felipe Caldiron began a concentrated effort to root out drug organizations which have permeated the very fabric of Mexico. Of course, these organizations moving tons of illicit drugs through Mexico have no desire to “go quietly.” These groups, including a cartel group (Los Zetas) which originally was an anti-narcotics enforcement military group (yup trained by American military and police), have responded with an ever escalating campaign of violence and terrorism.

In fact, I bet most people read those four lines I wrote at the first and thought of Iraq or Afghanistan, but these are all things happening in Mexico. Whether it’s a group of gunmen using military hardware and training to ambush police and soldiers or beheading people and dumping their bodies, the cartels and terrorists are using the same tactics with similar goals—bending citizenry and political system to their wills. In 2010, Mexican drug cartels even took another play from the Middle-Eastern terrorist play book and used car bombs.

Here’s the difference between the violence in Afghanistan/Iraq and in Mexico—part of the Mexican violence is spilling over here in the United States. Not in some abstract way, or inspiring like minded people homegrown groups, but the cartels themselves have taken to operating in the United States. For instance, Phoenix Arizona is now in second place as the kidnapping capitol of the world. In 2009, a United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) report stated that there were 267 reported kidnappings in the Phoenix area. That’s close to 1 kidnapping a day. And that’s the reported kidnappings. The majority of kidnapping victims are parties of the drug trade, either because the victim hasn’t paid a debt or other criminals decide to rob the drug dealer for money or drug—either way the victim of the kidnapping is not likely to report the crime. Try to imagine how many more unreported kidnappings there are, two times. Three times. What number?

Mind boggling.

The drug war is even affecting how people in the United States travel. So porous are American borders and so rampant is the violence along the southwest border by drug gangs, that I’ve heard that there are official signs by government/law enforcement posted on roads. These signs warn travelers not to go farther south for fear of their safety. Almost like, “enter at your own risk” signs. Stray rounds from bullets zip across Mexico into American border towns from gun battles so fierce that they are akin to military combat like American troops are fighting in the Afghanistan.

Even violence against American law enforcement seems to be on the rise. Though, we can’t say how many assaults to law enforcement can be linked to Mexican drug cartels, there is one interesting exception, in my opinion. In the 2010 USDOJ/NDIC report on US Southwest Border Smuggling and Violence, the report cited that violence against US Border Patrol agents rose 46% from FY2006 to FY2008. The author of the report implies the assaults may be related to illegal immigrants and human trafficking. I don’t buy that. I’ve never worked the Southwest border, but I’ve spoken to many people who have worked as Border Patrol agents in the southwest. Universally, they’ve all noted how compliant illegal immigrants are when caught. It’s almost like a game of tag. You touch them and they stop. They’re compliant. They may run, but once a Border Agent “lays on” they comply.

So, why would assaults against Border Patrol agents rise?

Well, here’s my thought— what if you’re someone smuggling drugs across the border? First of all, you know if you’re caught with the drugs you’re carrying you’ll face a lengthy prison sentence in America. More importantly, you, and probably your family will be held accountable for the load of drugs you’re carrying. I don’t know of any drug cartels that take IOUs or have payment plans. Other than a shallow grave.

So if you’re part of a criminal drug cartel, and you are already in the life of crime where violence is your accepted norm, even violence against law enforcement, pulling the trigger against a cop is easy. Remember the statement at the first—-10,000 victims in this war in four years. In those four years 2,000 were Mexican military and police officers killed.

The Mexican drug cartels are here in the United States. Their drugs are here. There people are here, and their mindset of violence is not far behind.

Note: I originally write this in late November 2010 when Lee was asking me if I had anything else to do as a guest blog. I put the article away, intending to edit it. The holidays came and I still hadn’t done the edit. In light of recent events, it would seem that I’m right. Mexican violence is here.

On December 14, 2010, US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed by a gang targeting illegals. Agent Terry was shot by a criminal wielding an AK-47.

On February 15, 2011, while working in Mexico, US ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata and his ICE partner were shot by Cartel members in an ambush. Special Agent Zapata was killed and his partner wounded.

The Cartel Wars are here.

*Agent McMahan is a featured presenter at the 2011 Writers’ Police Academy.

 

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Southland: Failure Drill – A Review

Southland: Failure Drill

“To protect and serve, that’s the LAPD’s motto. But as most cops’ll tell you, sometimes you’re lucky if you can just survive.”

You know, having lived the life of a police officer I’m always looking at the details in “cop” shows. But I’m especially interested because I’m a writer, and because so many other writers turn to me for answers to their police and forensic questions. Well, I’ve put Southland under the microscope for the past two seasons and what I’ve found is a very well–written, well-researched show with a cast that’s truly devoted to “getting it right.”

But there’s another aspect of this show that sets it apart from any other TV show, ever. And that’s the actor’s devotion to their fans. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a more approachable and generous group of people. They take time out of their busy schedules to respond to questions on the various social networking sites, and they even participate in live chats with fans. I was even invited to join Shawn Hatosy and C. Thomas Howell in answering fan questions on a Southland chat last week. And Michael Cudlitz is a supporter of the Writers’ Police Academy. They’re simply good folks who crank out excellent episodes each and every week.

Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get on with the review…

Failure Drill – Two shots (double tap) to the chest, and then one round to the head.

Addiction is tough. Living as an addict who wears a badge and carries a gun is pure hell. An actor who has the job of portraying a cop who’s dealing with his addiction, without help and support, has an extremely tough job. Well, that’s what Michael Cudlitz has to look forward to each and every week. And he does it quite well.

Cooper has tried to kick his addiction to pain pills, but his bad back along with the demons in head inside won’t let him. This week he turned to a dealer again to re-up his supply of his much-needed opiates. But he takes far too many and the effect is not very flattering. Actually, the near overdose level of medication in his system clouded his judgment and could have placed his co-workers, especially Ben, in danger. That is, if Cooper could stay awake long enough to do something even more stupid than working the streets with an ailing back while under the influence of narcotics.

Ben plays a good role as a rookie who’s torn between trying to do a good job, being a good cop, and serving as babysitter to a whacked-out training officer. Ben gets emotional when he sees Cooper avoiding his duties to favor his back. He’s also upset at the fact his FTO is zonked out of his mind while on duty, which forces Ben to shoulder a ton of responsibility.

– Ben and Cooper respond to a burglary call. Ben interviews the witness who promptly says the crook broke in and stole her uterus.  Seem silly? Not to every single cop out there. Right guys? I couldn’t begin to tell you how many of those calls are answered each and every day. I’ve responded to many similar complaints, such as “Elvis broke in and is living in my refrigerator behind the milk,” “A UFO stole my cows,” “Archie Bunker is God and he talks to me through my TV, and “I’m secretly married to Hillary Clinton, but she’s mad at me right now. Could you please make her come home? She’s not answering my calls.” Anyway, this was a great scene. A real taste of what patrol officers deal with on a daily basis.

– Ben leads a community meeting on car seat use and safety. He’s never done it before, but with Cooper in La-La land he has no choice. Another good scene. Cops are asked to speak to groups like this all the time.

– Lydia and Josie catch a call where a husband killed his wife and their son witnesses the crime. The boy defends his father, fearing that he and his siblings will be separated if the father is arrested. So, the two detectives spend quite a bit of time trying to help the kids, and trying to get the father to own up to the murder. Happens all the time, and it’s sometimes quite heartbreaking to have to turn kids over to social workers. That’s why many cops do everything they can possibly do to help the kids before resorting to that step. By the way, these two actors were outstanding this week.

– During the interview at the police station, the killer (the husband) asks for an attorney, So  Lydia and Josie stop the questioning and walk out of the interview room. That’s how it works. Once someone asks for a lawyer the questioning must cease.

– Cooper’s drugs were doing a lot of his talking last night, but the scene where he broke a window in the elderly man’s car to make him stop driving away, well, that’s how it’s done when lives are in danger, or when a criminal suspect refuses to get out of a car. Some cops (EMS workers, too) carry a centerpunch for breaking car windows. The officer presses the pencil-thin tool against the glass, pushes a button and, CRACK, the glass shatters. Much easier than swinging a PR-24 (the side-handle baton that Cooper used) 10 or 12 times at the car window before it ever gives way.

– Ben sucks it up and confronts Cooper about his drug problem. Cooper responds with his usual denial, “My back. It’s bad this morning.” Typical addict who has about one flush left before he swirls out of sight at the bottom of the bowl.

And now for the stuff that the edge of your seats are made for…the for real, shots-fired call.

Lydia and Josie find themselves in the middle of a commercial building with a crazed man armed with a a fully automatic weapon. To make matter worse the building is full of scared, running, screaming civilians. And the gunman has already shot and killed a few people. People flood the exits, running for their lives.

But Lydia and Josie thread their way through the mob and enter the building, heading straight into the gunfire. And that, my friends, is what separates cops from the average person. They head straight into danger, without fear.

The two detectives systematically begin searching the building while trying to help the civilians to safety. The gunman fires several rounds in the direction of the officers who immediately return fire. Josie catches a face full of glass shrapnel and has to retreat. But Lydia goes back inside to take care of business. And now’s the time to mention the brilliant directing and killer camera work that makes this show what it is. This scene was good in many ways, but was truly brilliant in one. Perhaps only the people in this world who’ve ever been involved in a shooting would have noticed the sudden calm, quiet, and slowing of time that happened when Lydia saw the gunman approaching.

And when she shot the man with the double tap to the chest I almost found myself telling her, “To the head. Shoot him in the head. He’s wearing a vest.” I knew what was going to happen, but I was that caught up in the scene. I think I was even holding my breath for a moment.

*By the way, this scenario should have been very familiar to those of you who participated in the FATS training at the 2010 Writers’ Police Academy!

I’ve been in a similar situation, so I knew what the characters were supposed to be showing as emotion, and they did, especially Lydia. Great, great job, guys. This goes for the rest of the cast, too. Including poor Sammy who had to suck it up and ask Tammy’s boyfriend for help unloading a swing set for the future Little Sammy. That was a huge step for anyone, and Shawn Hatosy, as usual, used his facial expressions to deliver a few unwritten lines of dialog.

I can’t wait for next week, but I also hate to see Tuesday night arrive since it’s the season-ender. If you love the show please let the powers-to-be at TNT know. Also, there’s a fan chat session Thursday night at 9pm (EST) at http://www.southlandtvfans.com/chat You never know which of the stars may show up. See you there.

 

 

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Castle: Countdown – A Review

Castle: Countdown

What can be said about this episode of Castle? Well, not a lot by me. There was very little police procedure to screw up. And Castle has completely taken over all investigations, solving every single case that comes along. Seems that Beckett and crew have suddenly become so incompetent that they have to rely on the investigative skills of a mystery writer to save New York from the evil-doers. So that makes it difficult to evaluate the police procedure since he’s not a cop. Therefore, my role this week was easy, and brief. But Melanie’s going first again so I’ll turn things over to her. Melanie…

Melanie Atkins

Well, last week Lee wasn’t pleased with the show, and I was. I don’t know what he thinks this week, at least not yet, but this time I’m not a happy camper. Marlowe turned the tables on us, and I don’t like it.

Yes, I enjoyed the freezer scenes, the theory building, and the search for the bomb. All of that had a bit of a “movie” feel. Not bad.

But seriously…what in the name of everything holy is Kate still doing with Josh? Okay, sure. He’s a doctor. I thought he might play a part after they were rescued from the cooler, if his plane didn’t take off for Haiti… but I also thought Kate would kick him to the curb after that. I mean, seriously! Is she blind? Can’t she see that Rick loves her?

I have hope, though, that she might eventually get a clue, as evidenced by these points:

• The way Rick looked at Kate when she went to Josh after they talked near the ambulance. He was stunned. Sucker-punched. Had the wind knocked out of his sails. Use whatever cliché you want – it hurt.

• The brokenhearted look he gave her after he sent Alexis and Martha to the Hamptons. He wasn’t just thinking about them; he was also picturing her with Josh and thinking that he’d never have a chance with her.

• The way Kate watched Rick as he built theory with Fallon while they were searching for the bomb. I’m convince that her heart wants him, but her head won’t let her admit it because he’s Rick Castle.

• They almost died together – again – after they found the bomb, and they shared a delicious hug afterwards. Sure, they were celebrating being alive, but it was sweet nonetheless. They’ve shared so much together. Surely something should click soon.

• During their celebration over beers at the precinct, Esposito said, “You guys don’t know how lucky you are.” And Rick looked at Kate and said, “Actually, I do.” That look says it all. He’s in love with her. Everybody in the room picked up on it… except, apparently, Kate. Or maybe she just ignored it because she’s scared.

• Before Josh (the ass) showed up at the end, Rick was about to ask Kate out… or something. Maybe he wanted her to go for a drink. We’ll never know, because he apparently saw Josh arrive and changed what he was going to say – a mirror image of what happened in last year’s season finale when Kate changed what she was going to say (telling Rick she’d go to the Hamptons with him) when Gina showed up.) And yes, this hurt just as much. Aarrgghh!!

• Josh took Kate in his arms, but she was looking at Rick as he walked away — even though he kept his eyes averted and never looked at her again. I guess seeing them together was just too hard to take.

So yes, I still have hope. But this hurts almost as much as watching A Deadly Game at the end of last season. I hope Marlowe will take pity on us shippers and ditch Dr. Motorcycle Boy at the first opportunity. I’m ready to buy him a ticket to Haiti myself.

Melanie…This episode actually made me miss Lanie Parish. Why? Because it was a snooze fest for me. Boring. Boring. Boring. Your hero, Marlowe, seems to have let us down this time. And, as I said in the opening paragraph, there wasn’y a lot of police procedure involved in this hour of…whatever it was. But…

I think the DHS agent was written as a hard-nosed guy that we were supposed to dislike. But I didn’t. Actually, he ended up playing a decent part. I just wish he’d have just that ***hole in the interrogation room. At least that might have provided a teeny bit of tension in what was supposed to be a nail-biter of an episode.

– DHS agent tells the captain to get him a list of all the significant events going on in the city. What? Where is he from, Happyland, Idaho? They’re in New York City for goodness sake. The task of listing every event going on there would be like having Lanie Parish say something intelligent about forensics…not happening.

– How about how Ryan and Esposito found Beckett and Castle? In a city the size of New York, those two searched places they thought Beckett and Castle would go (yeah, right), and then they saw her car, went inside the right building, saw a light in the storage container, and voilà, there were the two human popsicles. How could they see a light in a container that was sealed tightly enough to be used as a freezer? It would have been much more believable had a patrol officer found the car while doing what they do…patrolling.

– Why was Josh working from an ambulance? Isn’t he a doctor…a miracle worker? Wouldn’t the paramedics who actually would work there be the right people to treat the sick and injured in the field? And…even if Josh did need the extra money, what are the chances that he’d be in that ambulance, in that part of the city, responding to that call?

– Beckett tells her crew that patrol units located the crook’s missing cell phone in a dumpster. Yeah, that could happen. In a city the size of New York, how many dumpsters do you think they’d have to search to find a tiny cell phone? It would be difficult to search one dumpster and be lucky enough to find a phone under all the garbage. Besides, did every single patrol officer stop what they were doing to paw through dumpsters?

– I quickly grew weary of Castle pointing out every single clue and case-solving aspect, including the ID theft of the soldier. For a split second there, the DHS agent and Beckett and crew looked like the Three Stooges while Castle explained how the ID theft would have occurred, and why. Something a rookie would have known two days BEFORE entering a police academy.

– And then there’s the scene where everyone chases the bad guy down the street. Well, they catch the guy, draw their weapons, and begin yelling the usual, “Hands up!” sort of commands. BUT, the suspect was standing directly between Beckett and the DHS guy, who were both pointing the pistols at the slimebag’s chest. Can you say CROSSFIRE? Had either, or both of them fired their weapon(s) there was a good chance the round(s) could have passed through the bad guy’s body, killing both him and Beckeet and DHS guy. Not to mention that Castle was standing next to the suspect AND an innocent civilian looky-loo stood just to Beckett’s right.

– And pulling out ALL the wires from the bomb? I’m not even going to address that nonsense.

Needless to say, I didn’t like this episode. Not at all. The cast is far better than the writing of this one. When the show ended, my wife made a comment that summed it up nicely. She said, “After that, it would be difficult for future episodes to ‘underdo’ this one.”

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