Genetical Essay: The Murder Of Kirk Bloodsworth

On June 9th, 1959, a 14 year old boy named Steven Truscott was seen giving 12 year old Lynne Harper a ride on his bike, not knowing that he would be accused and found guilty of sexually assaulting and strangling her to death. For the next 50 years he would seek justice for being wrongfully imprisoned and finally get it. Steven Truscott was a popular and athletic teenage boy who lived with both his parents and his three siblings in the Ontario town of Clinton. Lynne Harper was a girl who also lived with both of her parents as well as her younger brother, whose life ended shortly.

For Iowa Lakes Criminal Justice class Introduction to Corrections I read the book Bloodsworth By Tim Junkin for my book report. The book follows the story of a man named Kirk Bloodsworth. Bloodsworth was convicted and charged for the murder and rape of a nine-year-old girl in 1984. He was sentenced to death for those charges in Maryland and gas chamber was the execution put fourth. During his whole time in prison Kirk Bloodsworth said he was innocent. He researched everyday he could and read law book after law book. He researched about DNA testing something that was very new to the time, and he searched for a lawyer that would take on his case after he had been incarcerated for over nine years. DNA testing would become very beneficial to him.

A man by the name of Darryl Hunt was apprehended at the age of 19. He was charged and convicted of a murder that he did not commit in the year of 1984 in North Carolina. During the trial, the testing of DNA results proved the innocence of Mr. Hunt in 1994, however it took an additional 10 years of legal appeals to free him. The death of Deborah Sykes, a 25 year old copy editor at a local newspaper, whom was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death is what Mr. Hunt was accused of doing. Until this day this crime still touches many including Mr. Hunt.

A failure in the justice system had taken place. Kirk Bloodsworth was the first person to be exonerated based off of DNA evidence. During the course of the investigation it was shown the detectives should not have allowed the two boys to be together during the creation of the suspects sketch. The prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence, namely evidence of other suspects; albeit, the suspects were not involved in the murders, they could have helped sway the jury decision. Allowing witnesses to see images of Bloodsworth prior to a line-up also proved detrimental. Inept defense lawyers allowing for the absence of alibi witnesses also weakened his efforts. Detective Capal had wrongly testified about Bloodsworth’s afore knowledge of the murder

Marieb stated (435), DNA fingerprinting can prove that a suspect was actually at the scene of a crime and establishes innocence.” Before the evolution of DNA fingerprinting, persecuting attorney and our judicial system depended on many aspects of reliable sources to convict a criminal. They depended on the eyewitnesses who were likely to recant on their statements, tampered evidence, and bias jurors. Presently, DNA fingerprinting have aided in exonerating hundreds of cases including Ray Krone, also known as The Snaggle Tooth Killer. He was exculpated by DNA evidence after he served 10 years and was facing the death penalty for a crime he didn’t commit. He was wrongly convicted of murder and the circumstantial evidence at the time was the bite marks they found on the victim’s body resembled his teeth. DNA revealed Kenneth Phillips was the culprit. He was the 100th inmate vindicated through DNA from death row since 1976. Even though, this is a fascinating process. It is not a perfect system. Similarly, fingerprints were used in the past, yet the current progression speaks for

Since the accused killer, Chanel Lewis, picture has been released, social media has been in a 50/50 split. One side confused by the appearance of the man as he seems “off” to some, and the other side screaming “DNA does not lie!” A trail has not yet been put through for the case as of yet, but it would be a shame if years on the end results in many of the other ones in the system.

On July 28th of 1984, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, a 22-year-old college student and another woman was both brutally raped at knife point. During the attack, Thompson was attentive of her attacker’s appearance and anything else notable so if she survived the attack, she could assure the rapist would be caught and punished (prosecuted). Within a few days of the attack, the Burlington Police Department of North Carolina had determined a suspect through the composite Thompson made and arrested Ronald J. Cotton on August 1, of 1984. Thompson was able to identify Cotton under photo identification and then successfully chose him again in the physical line-up. The second victim, however did not chose Cotton in either of the lineups.

" On July 29, 1994, seven year old Megan Kanka, from Hamilton Township, New Jersey, was walking home after playing at a friends house. She had almost reached her front door when Jesse Timmendequas, 33, a landscaper who had lived across the street for a year invited her over to pet his new puppy ( Richard 1 )." " When Megan followed him inside, he led her to an upstairs bedroom, strangled her unconscious with his belt, raped her and then asphyxiated her to death with a plastic bag. Timmendequas then placed Megan’s body in a tool box, drove it in his pick-up truck to a near-by soccer field and dumped her body in some bushes ( Jerome 1 )." This, and the tragic murder of Amanda Wengert, was how the name was developed. But in my paper I did not discuss the murder and raping of Amanda Wengert.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the development of DNA analysis technology has revolutionised the field of forensic science within the criminal justice system. As the refinement of procedures and technology continues, even minute samples of biological material (including blood, saliva, semen and skin cells) are able to be analysed and used to link or acquit perpetrators of crimes. (Whitney, R n.d.)

Technology in the late 60’s was insufficient to collect DNA samples from suspects, however, in 1998 Riverside Police collected skin samples from their only remaining suspect in the case. The results of these tests have not been released to the public.

In March of 1985, Bloodsworth was sentenced to death. Through it all Bloodsworth maintained his innocence and in 1993 with the help of a new technique used to test for DNA, Bloodsworth got his chance to prove he was innocent. Bloodsworth became the first person ever to be exonerated from death row by DNA evidence. (Jain, 2001) In one

This appeal evolved out of a 2006 rape case that occurred in Harford county Maryland. More than two years after the incident the victim identified Glenn Joseph Raynor, hereby known as petitioner, as a possible suspect. After departing a voluntary police interview in which petitioner ultimately declined a request for his DNA to be collected for comparison. Investigators collected DNA on swabs from the armrest of his chair. DNA analysis revealed a match from samples collected at the crime scene. After further investigation petitioner was charged and convicted of first-degree rape and related offenses.

Randall Woodfield, a handsome athlete with perverted sexual intentions, murdered multiple women despite his healthy upbringing; however, after a publicized investigation and a trial with a biased jury, he was eventually sentenced, proving that justice can be served even for celebrities who can be evil As there is in all criminal cases, controversy of the case is always evident. Randall Woodfield was named the “I-5 Killer” and he was given this name because of a variety of crimes that occurred on the I-5 Highway, running from Washington to California, that he was involved in. A question that is still up for debate is why he killed.

In McClure, Weisburd and Wilson (2008) summary article arguing that in addition to bench science, field experimentation involving forensic methods is key to assess the utility of various methods to solve crimes. The study reflected that there is a need for more research into many aspects of forensic science, criticizing the strength of scientific evidence that’s collected at a crime scene and interpretations of most forensic methods while omitting DNA testing. McClure et al’s (2008) explains that in sexual cases and homicides, the presence of DNA evidence actually increased the likelihood of prosecution and a conviction. According to the article “…the case of convictions, the odds-ratio for the presence of DNA evidence was 33.1 for sexual offenses and 23.1 for homicides” (McClure et al., 2008). Subsequently, the research shows that there was a consistent gradual decline in the national homicide rates that began in the 1900s and continued through into the 21st century. The decline of homicides in the US has dropped by from more than 90% in the 1960s to 62% in 2003. Even though this significant drop has occurred during the introduction of the new DNA testing

The police officer used as a witness claimed he had seen the couple. This example also demonstrates another point that journalists should be aware of, to ensure their witnesses are prepared to give evidence. It is often the case that their account of events stands for more than the defendants ie. the journalist.