Problems with DNA results & DNA tutorials

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by fr brown, Oct 11, 2010.

  1. Learnin

    Learnin Member

    I think that gives us enough to say that there could have been a major problem trying to trace contamination if it game from the morgue.
     
  2. Learnin

    Learnin Member

    Point well taken.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2011
  3. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Thanks for the info and source, cynic.

    DeeDee, that was J.T. Colfax who stole those morgue log pages. He and ACR became cyber friends and he told that story online, as well as shared some of his experiences living in Boulder during the nutzo time after JBR's murder. I believe his DNA was tested, though he doesn't specifically state that, but he was a suspect for a time and did end up spending time in jail.

    He also illustrates the loose standards of the morgue and Dr. Meyers at the time when he writes about the stored brains he encountered. Yes, he is eccentric, I might add.

    ACR has links on her JB case page, so I found this for a quick rehash from Colfax:

    http://ode2colfax.tripod.com/05221997morguelogtheft.htm
     
  4. cynic

    cynic Member

    He was swabbed for DNA, and he's definitely colorful.

    James Thompson, known to his friends as J. T. Colfax, worked for M&M Transport in Denver. His job was to pick up cadavers and deliver them to funeral homes. On April 28, he went to pick up a body from the morgue at Boulder Community Hospital. The cadaver was having its eyes removed for donation to an eye bank, and Colfax was told to come back later.
    At around 1:00 A.M., Colfax went back to the morgue, just to hang out. On a whim, he leafed through the log book, came to the month of December, and tore out the pages with an entry about JonBenét. Later that morning, he photocopied the log pages, wrote “All in a Night’s Work†on the copies, and mailed them to friends in New York and California.
    That afternoon, low on cash, Colfax tried to shoplift a photo-finishing order he had placed at Safeway Photo Processing. He was arrested. The police looked at the evidence—twenty-seven photos—and discovered that the pictures were of cadavers. Colfax found himself in a police car en route to the Denver PD. Which one of those people had he murdered, the cops wanted to know. None, Colfax said, he just liked to photograph dead people. Did you murder JonBenét Ramsey? No, he said, he had been in Vancouver, Canada, on December 26, at the Royal Hotel on Granville Street. One officer shouted that he was a pervert.
    Two days later Colfax made bail, was given a court date, and became an item in the Denver papers. Mike O’Keeffe, a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, was told by a friend of Colfax’s about the morgue log pages. O’Keeffe passed the information on to his colleague Charlie Brennan, who was covering the Ramsey case. Brennan in turn called the morgue to inquire about the log pages, not mentioning Colfax’s name. That afternoon, when the pages were discovered missing, the sheriff was called. Until then, no one had noticed they were gone.
    Meanwhile Colfax, who was becoming a minor media celebrity, confessed to the press that he’d stolen some morgue log pages containing JonBenét’s entry—as a souvenir. When the Boulder police heard Colfax’s tale, they assigned Detective Ron Gosage to pay him a visit.
    It was raining when Gosage arrived at Colfax’s Denver apartment. The log pages from the morgue were lying on the floor. Within minutes he was arrested. On the way to Boulder, Gosage chatted with Colfax.
    …
    Colfax understood he was a suspect. Later that afternoon he was formally interviewed. The police asked him to describe the morgue. It was orange, he said—no, it was governmental green or gray—****, he couldn’t remember the color. Then they got around to JonBenét’s death. Did you know the Ramseys in Boulder? In Denver? Colfax said he’d lived in Atlanta but that he didn’t know Patsy Ramsey. Gosage grilled him for two hours. Then Colfax gave the detective the hair evidence he requested.
    Gosage cut his hand pulling hair samples from Colfax’s head. While Colfax completed his handwriting samples, the detective sat there wringing his hands while blood flowed from between his fingers. Next, Colfax’s inner cheek was swabbed for a DNA sample. Then he was booked for criminal mischief and theft. Bond was set at $1,000.
    Two months later, Colfax still had not been sentenced for stealing the morgue log pages. He was out on bail. One morning he visited Alli Krupski at the offices of the Daily Camera and told her she’d look good as a dead body. He’d been drinking. Then he walked 2 miles to the Ramseys’ house. Along the way, two tourists stopped and asked him where Patsy Ramsey lived. “I think it’s up here,†he said, motioning them to follow him. When they arrived, the tourists took his picture in front of the house. Then he walked down to University Hill and tried to call Gosage through 911. Believing that the police were after him, he wanted to meet the detective. After he left the message, he walked back to the Ramseys’ house. At around 11:30 P.M., he considered breaking in and spending the night but then decided against it. Better to write the Ramseys a note.
    “If you hadn’t killed your f*****g baby,†Colfax wrote, “this wouldn’t have happened.†He stuffed the note and some pages from a paperback book, Interview with the Vampire, into the front door mail slot, took a matchbook, printed Gosage’s name on it, and set fire to the paper. He watched it scorch the inside wall from a nearby window, hoping that because it was made of brick, the house wouldn’t burn down.
    The next morning he called Gosage again. This time he confessed to trying to burn down the Ramseys’ house, which the police knew nothing about. Within an hour he was arrested. Six months later, on January 16, 1998, Colfax was sentenced to twenty-four months’ probation for first-degree arson, a class-three felony. For stealing the morgue log pages, he was sentenced to two years in the county jail, with no credit for the seven months he had sat in jail after turning himself in for the arson. By then, Lou Smit and Trip DeMuth had interviewed him several times. Colfax’s alibi for December 26 checked out.


    Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Lawrence Schiller, pages 373 - 376
     
  5. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Thanks again, cynic. You're a virtual encyclopedia of this case!
    :sleuth:

    Um...cynic...no one has mentioned anything about damage to your reputation, hanging out in low places...Guttahs, for example?:computer:

    Psst! Tricia! I think we best kidnap this person now! Treat cynic well, best cardboard box we got here in the Guttah! But never, ever let this treasure get away! :foshizzle
     
  6. cynic

    cynic Member

    It’s a risk, but I just had to see how the other half lives. :D
    You’re too kind. :blush: One request, please make sure it’s the box with air holes, you know, NOT the “special” box for Lin Wood. :wood:
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2011
  7. Sabrina

    Sabrina Member

    A little Tidbit I found Today

    http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202495389852&rss=SFB
    Lin Wood Leaves Bryan Cave to Launch Small Firm
    Wood, with Bryan Cave senior associate Stacey G. Evans and Katherine V. Hernacki, launched Wood, Hernacki & Evans on May 9
    Meredith Hobbs All Articles

    Fulton County Daily Report
    May 27, 2011
    Twitterdel.icio.us DiggRedditGoogle BookmarksNewsvineLinkedInMixxStumbleupon
    PrintShareEmailReprints & PermissionsPost a Comment
    Atlanta attorney L. Lin Wood Jr.
    image: Catherine Lovett/Fulton County Daily Report
    L. Lin Wood Jr. is returning to his small-firm roots after becoming the first celebrity plaintiffs lawyer for Powell Goldstein, now Bryan Cave, five years ago.

    He and Stacey G. Evans, a senior associate at Bryan Cave, left to launch Wood, Hernacki & Evans on May 9. Joining them is Katherine V. Hernacki, who was Wood's associate at his own firm and then Bryan Cave before starting a solo plaintiffs' practice last year.

    Wood said he left Bryan Cave to handle a big whistleblower case that would have posed conflicts at the 1,000-lawyer firm. He is joining qui tam lawyers Marlan B. Wilbanks and Ty M. Bridges on a suit alleging fraud against DaVita Inc., the largest kidney dialysis chain in the U.S., which Wilbanks said could potentially be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Blah,blah,blah
     
  8. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    :rolling: Ha ha, Cynic, not everyone KNOWS about our special Lin Wood box! Who told you? That Guttah gossip, KK? Sheesh. And after I gave her the best dregs of my Boone's Farm!
     
  9. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    Thanks for posting, Sabrina.

    As always, Lin Wood shows up where he can get the most MONEY! Filing frivolous lawsuits for the Ramseys can't compare with shaking down a corporation for big moolah!
     
  10. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Oh, no, t'weren't me, matey! I never let gossip slip...ask Tricia! :runaway:

    Hey there, Sabrina. Thanks for the news on Wood. Always looking for the big money, that one. I always think of Woody when I watch the movie Michael Clayton. Not in the Clayton part, either...more in the corporate lawyer/shill hiring the hit man role. :deal:
     
  11. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member


    LOL How true, how true.

    But in all fairness, he is supporting four or five ex-wives and various children. Think of the psychiatry bills alone.... :violin:
     
  12. cynic

    cynic Member

    More problems at the morgue...

    Mystery DNA on Teoh belonged to another dead man
    By Debra Chong
    SHAH ALAM, Oct. 2, 2009

    A government scientist today identified one of the DNA profiles found on Teoh Beng Hock’s blazer and belt as belonging to another man who had been autopsied in the same hospital and on the same day.
    Dr Seah Lay Hong, who returned to the witness box this morning, told the coroner’s court investigating Teoh’s death that the mystery DNA labelled “Male 1†came from M. Gopala, a road accident victim.
    She added that the other male DNA profile was still unknown.
    Dr Seah had checked it against the DNA of a second man who was autopsied on the same table after Gopala on July 17.
    L. Jeganathan, who had also died in a road accident, did not match the second male DNA profile found on Teoh’s belt.
    Dr Seah explained that Gopala’s DNA had most likely been transferred onto Teoh’s jacket because the autopsy table was not sterilised. The theory was first mooted by Dr Khairul Aznam Ibrahim, who was one of two pathologists to perform Teoh’s autopsy.
    Former forensic doctor Dr K. Saravanan, who had carried out the autopsies of both men at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang in the morning before Teoh was autopsied, also supported the theory.
    Dr Saravanan, who was transferred to the hospital’s Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) section two days ago, told the court that the autopsy table is usually cleaned only with water.
    The table would be sterilised with chemicals only if the body brought in contained infectious diseases.
    He did not know when the table was last sterilised.
    In reply to the magistrate’s question, Dr Saravanan said it was possible that DNA traces from autopsies before July 17 had been left behind as well.

    The 30-year-old political secretary to state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was mysteriously found dead on a 5th-floor landing outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Selangor office at Plaza Masalam here on July 16, after being questioned overnight into claims his boss abused state money.
    His family and employer claim foul play was involved.
    http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/...ery-DNA-on-Teoh-belonged-to-another-dead-man/
     
  13. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Oh, thanks, cynic. As has been said, DNA is a double-edged sword in LE.

    I've been watching the Anthony trial and some "mystery" DNA in that case--was it from DUCT TAPE found on the skull?--was found to belong to the FBI lab tech who processed some documents in the trial. She worked in a different lab than the DNA lab and only through running the DNA profile against the FBI database for employees did they get the hit for her.

    At least, that's as much as I can remember, and I won't swear to it in a court of law. lol It's been a long trial.
     
  14. cynic

    cynic Member

    It’s pretty clear isn’t it? While many don’t have any difficulty seeing that, examples like these highlight the outrageousness of Lacy’s statement that there could be “no innocent explanation” for the unmatched DNA in the Ramsey case.
    What I want to know is if there was an “innocent explanation” for her saying that there was “no innocent explanation” for the DNA. It’s the question that Paul Campos raised at the time:
    To the many questions that have plagued the Ramsey case we can now add another: is Mary Lacy merely incompetent, or is something more disturbing going on?
    Paul Campos -Law professor, University of Colorado
    http://www.reporternews.com/news/200...n-ramsey-case/
    I’ve been watching it as much as possible as well.
    It was FBI lab technician, Lorie Gottesman, a forensic document examiner who was the culprit, at least for the 6 marker partial profile on the non-sticky side of the duct tape. On the sticky side of the duct tape there was only one marker found, and it was just barely above the FBI’ s analytical threshold of 50 RFU. (Below 50 is considered “noise.”) It did not belong to Lorie Gottesman, although there was another lab tech who had that marker, Maureen Bradley.
    Interestingly, although you would think that that the DNA unit would be the first to handle that evidence, it went through the trace evidence unit, and the chemistry unit, and latent print unit the document unit prior to the DNA analysis unit receiving it.
    The end is near; hopefully there are no “OJ jurors” on the panel. :scale:
     
  15. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Brilliant closing arguments by the prosecution in the Anthony case.

    But we have no idea what the jury will decide. OJ and the Ramseys taught us that there is no end to the amount of people who will refuse to accept the truth no matter how much evidence is presented to prove it to them.
     
  16. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    So true; so disgustingly true.
     
  17. cynic

    cynic Member

    Clearly wasted on 12 OJ jurors.
    Unbelievable.
    So true and, unfortunately, illustrated again.
     
  18. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Obviously, forensic science is too sophisticated for the average juror now. Since human nature in the 21st century is to believe any lies an attractive, white defendant says through her lawyers, and judges are too scared to limit the lies a defense lawyer can tell a jury, it's become harder and harder for prosecutors to convict criminals.

    When this child's body was found, I never imagined the evidence wasn't clear and plain to any human being of any intelligence that this lying mother killed her daughter and hid the body. It only took the defense three years and millions in taxpayer money to devise a plan to fool the jury completely.

    Again, it only takes money to get away with murder; in this case, the taxpayers footed the bill! I find that so stunning, I can't even begin to express my shock. At least OJ and the Ramseys paid for for their own get out of jail free card.

    I've learned my lesson. Our justice system is a farce, and all the lying, greedy lawyers on TV telling me it worked doesn't make it so.

    BULLCHIT!


    A WOMAN WHO IS OBVIOUSLY GUILTY OF CHILD MURDER JUST WALKED WITH A SMIRK ON HER FACE. THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN, SO WHY WASTE TIME AND MONEY PRETENDING IT ISN'T?
     
  19. DeeDee

    DeeDee Member

    Sad to say that I believe that now we will see all the mentally deficient jurors making book deals and profiting from the gruesome death of this little angel.

    One thing I have learned in all the years of hearing from the dead- they truly do not care about the circumstances of their death. It is merely the method they "chose" (yes, we choose our exit, even ones like this) to leave the no-longer-needed physical body. If they have been murdered, they do not care a bit for vengeance ("sayeth the Lord: Vengeance is mine".
    They do not care if their killers are found or if their murder is solved or if the killer goes free. That is for US to deal with. In every death, intentional or not, there are lessens and karmic consequences. Some for the deceased, some for those living. It is all part of our karmic history and it all balances out in the end. Truly.
     
  20. Elle

    Elle Member

    I agree with what all of you are saying here about the Caylee Anthony Jury.

    I think they will have to think differently when choosing juries in the future, DeeDee. Justice hasn't been served for little Caylee Anthony.

    Will get in touch with you soon.
     
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