Tag:

Forensic Science

Mercer
Police & Fire
COLD CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech COLD CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech
Cold CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech UPDATE: Leroy Julious had planned on whipping up a celebratory dinner after cashing a bonus check from his cook's job at The College of New Jersey when his brutally beaten body was found in a gravel lot across the street from his Ewing home. Julious's murder went unsolved for 16 years -- until authorities announced that technological advances and a shared mission among various agencies and law enforcement forensic experts cracked the cold case. Breyon Goodman, 36, of Trenton, and Jason Howard, 41, of Providence, R.I. killed Julious during a robbery near his Ewing home on May 9, 2008, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Cecil
News
Predator Who Targeted Woman 21 Years Ago Gets Life For 'Unimaginable' Rape In MD: Prosecutors Predator Who Targeted Woman 21 Years Ago Gets Life For 'Unimaginable' Rape In MD: Prosecutors
Predator Who Targeted Woman 21 Years Ago Gets Life For 'Unimaginable' Rape In MD: Prosecutors More than two decades after a 20-year-old woman was found raped and dropped unconscious in a ditch off the side of I-95 in Cecil County, justice has been served. Harford County resident Bryant Nakia White, 48, of Edgewood, was sentenced to multiple life sentences for the 2002 attack of a woman whose body was left on the side of the interstate off of Frenchtown Road near Port Deposit, prosecutors announced. Investigators said that at approximately 4 a.m. on April 6, 2002, a truck driver noticed the body of a woman - whose name has not been released "due to the nature of the crimes committed”…

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by Zak Failla
Delaware
Police & Fire
COLD CASE: Pastor Nabbed For Delco Homicide Of 8-Year-Old Gretchen Harrington COLD CASE: Pastor Nabbed For Delco Homicide Of 8-Year-Old Gretchen Harrington
Cold CASE: Pastor Nabbed For Delco Homicide Of 8-Year-Old Gretchen Harrington Nearly 50 years after 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington was found dead in a Pennsylvania forest, police say they've arrested the man who killed her.  David Zandstra, now 83 years old, originally a pastor from New Jersey but most recently of Marietta, Georgia, is charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping a minor, and related counts, said District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer's Office in a release on Monday, July 24.  “The murder of Gretchen Harrington has haunted members of law enforcement since that terrible day in August 1975," the DA said.  "The families of victims often say that their live…

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by Mac Bullock
Fort Lee
Police & Fire
DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say
DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say Looks like he might not have thought things through. A would-be Palisades Park bank robber from the Bronx was foiled by a composed teller, his own hastiness and forensic science, authorities said on Tuesday, June 20. Daqwaun D. Ralls, a 30-year-old self-employed DJ known as "DJ SonDae," already had a criminal past when he walked into the Shinhan Bank America branch on Broad Avenue on May 31. According to Palisades Park Police Lt. George Beck, Ralls handed the teller a note that said: "No dye packs." It also came with a warning that Ralls had gasoline in a bottle, along with a lighter and …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Burlington
Police & Fire
Bank Robber Convicted On Beer Bottle Fingerprint In Pemberton Bank Robber Convicted On Beer Bottle Fingerprint In Pemberton
Bank Robber Convicted On Beer Bottle Fingerprint In Pemberton A fingerprint on a Corona Light beer bottle helped convict a man of robbery in South Jersey, authorities said. Cortney Bell, 38, of Browns Mills was convicted by a jury on Tuesday, Jan. 31,  according to Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw. The investigation began the morning of July 23, 2019, after officers from the Pemberton Borough Police Department and troopers from the New Jersey State Police were called to the TD Bank on Elizabeth Street for a report of a robbery. Upon arrival, employees and customers indicated a man came into the bank wearing a hooded sweatshir…

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by Jon Craig
Dauphin
Obituaries
I-83 Driver Involved In Crash In Harrisburg Found Dead On Island In Lancaster Near 1 Year Later I-83 Driver Involved In Crash In Harrisburg Found Dead On Island In Lancaster Near 1 Year Later
I-83 Driver Involved In Crash In Harrisburg Found Dead On Island In Lancaster Near 1 Year Later A crash on Interstate 83, a missing Harrisburg man, and a skeleton found on an island in Lancaster nearly a year later, are all linked together authorities announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5.  Stephen Salazar had been involved in a crash in the northbound lanes of I-83 near the 2nd Street Exit on Dec. 23, 2021, at approximately 5:30 p.m., according to Lower Paxton Township police.  The Township police issued a missing person alert on Dec. 29 at 6:45 p.m., but the 61-year-old was never heard from again.  Salazar was described as a White man who was approximately 5'8" tall, heavy …

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by Jillian Pikora
Southwest Dutchess
Police & Fire
Headless Body Found In Travel Trunk Decades Ago In Fishkill ID'd As Woman Reported Missing Headless Body Found In Travel Trunk Decades Ago In Fishkill ID'd As Woman Reported Missing
Headless Body Found In Travel Trunk Decades Ago In Fishkill ID'd As Woman Reported Missing Forty-two years after a New York woman’s mutilated body was found discarded in a travel trunk near a dumpster at a Hudson Valley apartment complex, investigators have finally made a positive identification. New York State Police identified the victim as Anna L. Papalardo-Blake, of New York City. She was 44 years old at the time. Papalardo-Blake’s headless body was discovered in Dutchess County in March 1980 at the Hudson View Apartments in the town of Fishkill. Both of her hands had also been removed, according to police. The Dutchess County Medical Examiner concluded that she had been ki…

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by Michael Mashburn
North Orange
Police & Fire
Police Reopen Cold Case Of Hair Stylist Fatally Beaten At Salon In Town Of Newburgh Police Reopen Cold Case Of Hair Stylist Fatally Beaten At Salon In Town Of Newburgh
Police Reopen Cold Case Of Hair Stylist Fatally Beaten At Salon In Town Of Newburgh New York State Police are renewing efforts to solve the 18-year-old murder of a Hudson Valley hair stylist and mother of two killed inside her salon. Orange County resident Yvonne Torch was found dead on the morning of June 9, 2004 inside of His and Hers Salon on SR-9W in the Town of Newburgh, according to police. Investigators said the 31-year-old owner and operator had been brutally beaten to death. Torch’s husband of 13 years, Pierre, told NBC’s Dateline that police initially considered him a suspect in the killing but eventually ruled him out after three weeks of “sheer hell.” Despite…

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by Michael Mashburn
Teaneck
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: More Remains Found In Teaneck Homeowner's Yard, No Foul Play Suspected Prosecutor: More Remains Found In Teaneck Homeowner's Yard, No Foul Play Suspected
Prosecutor: More Remains Found In Teaneck Homeowner's Yard, No Foul Play Suspected Authorities said "no foul play" was suspected in the discovery of human skeletal remains in the front yard of a Teaneck home. "At this time, no foul play is suspected and the current homeowners are not implicated in any way as to how the bones came to be on their property," Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said early Thursday afternoon.     The owner, 38, "is getting construction done on his home and the contractors found the remains" during excavation work on Wednesday, a neighbor told Daily Voice. His since-deceased parents had lived at the Van Arsdale Place home at …

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by Jerry DeMarco
White Plains
Police & Fire
Westchester County Police Add Cutting-Edge Fingerprint Technology Westchester County Police Add Cutting-Edge Fingerprint Technology
Westchester County Police Add Cutting-Edge Fingerprint Technology Westchester County Police unveiled new technology that enables it to lift fingerprints from a wide range of materials that previously yielded little to no useable fingerprint evidence. Known as vacuum metal deposition (VMD), the technology allows detectives to retrieve fingerprints from multiple items including fired ammunition, plastic bags, flexible plastic packaging, thermal paper, fabrics, wood, and paper money. The VMD technology is also successful at obtaining fingerprint evidence from items that were submerged in water or exposed to high temperatures – conditions that generally des…

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by Kathy Reakes
South Passaic
Police & Fire
Passaic Police Captain Selected For Prestigious FBI Training Passaic Police Captain Selected For Prestigious FBI Training
Passaic Police Captain Selected For Prestigious FBI Training A Passaic police captain will soon begin a prestigious FBI training class. Capt. Gabriel Guzman is the city’s first police officer in 20 years to be accepted into the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. Less than one-half of 1% of police officers worldwide are ever invited to the specialized 10-week program, which is designed to enhance the physical and mental capabilities of ranking officers. Participation is by invitation-only and is awarded through a nomination process. Courses included law, behavioral science, forensic science, terrorism, leadership de…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mount Pleasant
News
Undocumented Immigrant Sentenced For Murder Of Northern Westchester Socialite Undocumented Immigrant Sentenced For Murder Of Northern Westchester Socialite
Undocumented Immigrant Sentenced For Murder Of Northern Westchester Socialite An undocumented immigrant and former employer of Northern Westchester socialite Lois Elizabeth Colley has been sentenced for her 2015 murder at the family's estate. Esdras Marroquin Gomez, an ex-day laborer also known as “Victor,” was sentenced on Thursday, June 13, in Westchester County Court, to 22 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year. On Nov. 9, 2015, at approximately 5 p.m., a farmworker found Colley’s body lying in a pool of blood in her home’a laundry room after she had been bludgeoned to death at the family's North Salem farm. West…

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by Zak Failla
Armonk
Police & Fire
Skeletal Remains Found In Northern Westchester, State Police Say Skeletal Remains Found In Northern Westchester, State Police Say
Skeletal Remains Found In Northern Westchester, State Police Say New York State Police and the Buchanan Police Department are investigating the discovery of skeletal remains. Investigators announced a property owner discovered a bone specimen that appeared to be human, police said. According to police, the initial investigation by New York State Police and the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office have tentatively identified the bones as a pig in origin. The final identification is pending the results of DNA testing, police noted. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.

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by Zak Failla
Ridgewood
Police & Fire
Tree Planters Joke Of Finding Gold In Ridgewood Yard -- Find Skull Instead Tree Planters Joke Of Finding Gold In Ridgewood Yard -- Find Skull Instead
Tree Planters Joke Of Finding Gold In Ridgewood Yard -- Find Skull Instead Landscaping contractor Alex Kaplan and his crew had just been joking about finding a million dollars or gold bullion while planting trees in a Ridgewood homeowner’s backyard last week when one of the diggers suddenly shouted: “Cabesa!” More precisely: A human skull. “We were on the seventh tree when one of the workers yelled,” the owner of Hillsdale-based Kaplan Landscaping said. “We were talking about a million dollars or gold bullion, and we found a skull instead." They immediately called police to the Spencer Street home. Forensic scientists will need to determine the skull’s age,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgewood
Police & Fire
Skullduggery Or Nothing Nefarious? Human Skull Found In Ridgewood Backyard Skullduggery Or Nothing Nefarious? Human Skull Found In Ridgewood Backyard
Skullduggery Or Nothing Nefarious? Human Skull Found In Ridgewood Backyard Authorities in Ridgewood have a mystery on their hands -- or, rather, in them -- in the shape of a human skull found by landscapers in the backyard of a local home. The workers called police earlier this week after finding the skull on Spencer Place, Police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke said. Forensic scientists will need to determine its age, which looks to be at least 10 years "and could be closer to 100," Luthcke said. How it got there no one knows, but there doesn't initially seem to be any signs of foul play, the chief said. "There are many theories on what could have happe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Southwest Dutchess
Police & Fire
Town Of Poughkeepsie Captain Graduates From FBI Academy Town Of Poughkeepsie Captain Graduates From FBI Academy
Town Of Poughkeepsie Captain Graduates From FBI Academy Town of Poughkeepsie Capt. Kevin Faber recently graduated from the FBI National Academy's 270th session, according to Chief Ronald J. Spero. The 11-week session included 222 law enforcement executives from 49 states, 20 countries, three military organizations, and four federal civil organizations. The academy is a professional course of study for law enforcement managers and provides programs on every from intelligence theory, terrorism, forensic science to health and fitness, communications and behavioral science. It also serves to improve law enforcement standards and gives participants …

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by Kathy Reakes