Month: February 2018

In part 3 of the series on Ted Bundy, the tools of the M-Vac wet vacuum DNA collection system and DNA phenotyping are covered by  KIRO’s Dave Wagner.

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Seth Augenstein is a writer for Forensics Magazine.  He recently wrote this article (in which I’m quoted) about the number of deaths in seedy motels, like the ones that line Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.

I have responded to many deaths in those motels, including the homicide/suicide scene depicted in the photo (left), officer-involved shootings, and other murders, including the murder of a baby.

For all the deaths that are murders, scores more are overdoses, suicides and other deaths.

In those cases where there is no suspicion of murder, the Death Investigators at the King County Medical Examiner’s office are called by patrol officers.  These investigators are very knowledgeable, can assess the scene further to make sure detectives aren’t needed.

Augenstein’s article can be read here.

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One thing about my career, is I have gotten to know a lot of local reporters in the Seattle market.  Usually, I couldn’t talk about the cases I was working, but I respected the job they were doing.

This afternoon, I got to sit down with Elisa Hahn, of KING5 News, the NBC affiliate in Seattle.  She was gracious enough to interview me about my book.

That interview is available here.

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I try to remain apolitical on this site.  The following  is not intended as a political statement, rather a statement of reality.

The sheep gathered in the field.  They lived in peace and tranquility, until one day, the wolf came.  He ravaged the herd of sheep.

The sheep leaders all met.

“We’ll make wolves illegal!” they declared.  They passed a law outlawing wolves.

The next day, the wolf still came.

“This is illegal!” the sheep proclaimed.

The wolf still ravaged the herd.

It was finally decided that sheep dogs would protect the herd.

The wolf tried to come, but the sheep dog fought him off.

And the sheep lived happily ever after.

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I’ve gotten to know a lot of local, (and national) reporters in my career.  Early in investigations, we have divergent interests.  Reporters want to put out news, and we want to keep things secret.

Despite that, I’ve made friends in the media, borne out of mutual respect for the jobs we each have to do.

One of those reporters I befriended, was Brandi Kruse, at Q13 News in Seattle.  Brandi was gracious enough to invite me on the morning news to discuss my book, “Homicide:  The View from Inside the Yellow Tape” this morning.

You can watch the interview here.

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I’m going to appear on Q13 News this Wednesday morning, (February 21) at 9:30 AM with Brandi Kruse to talk about my book.  Tune in, or watch it on q13fox.com.

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I remember that day in 1983 clearly. I was in Patrol working nights in Rainier Valley.  When I got up the next day, I had the national news on.  There was a report that thirteen people had been bound and murdered in a club in Seattle’s Chinatown.  I was shocked.

A lot of my friends worked that case. The largest mass murder in Seattle history.

The two main suspects, Benjamin Ng and Kwan Mak, are also believed to have killed at least three other people in separate murders.

The news story from the Seattle P-I is here.

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Suzanna Ryan is an associate at AISOCC, and a DNA specialist.  She wrote a great article on the challenges of DNA mixtures.  It’s available here.

She was also recently interviewed by Michelle Malkin about a controversial lab case in Oklahoma.  That YouTube video is available here.

Suzanna was also featured in the History Channel series, “The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer”.

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In the early 2000’s SPD finally formed a CSI Unit to process violent crime scenes.  Prior to that, the detectives had to process their own; a real pain in the butt, and very counter-productive. Most people don’t realize; a CSI detective doesn’t investigate the crime, doesn’t do the lab work, doesn’t question witnesses.  They collect all the evidence at a scene and put those items into evidence, a meticulous process. The investigating detective submits the evidence to the lab and whatever is appropriate. There was an Assistant Chief at the time that thought this should be a revenue-neutral situation.  (I have no idea how she thought that). The guy in the photo was always panhandling on the 6th Ave. side of Police Headquarters, near the on-ramp to southbound I-5. I made this sign, which reads: “Will Process Crime Scenes for Food”, with a DNA helix below. I told the guy, “I’ll give you five bucks if I can take your picture holding this sign.” “Sure!” he said. I emailed the photo to the Chief of Police, at the time, Gil Kerlikowski. “I found a budget-friendly solution to the CSI problem!” Kerlikowski liked me, so I could get away with things like this. He thought it was funny.

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John Liebert is a Forensic Psychiatrist.  He consulted on the Ted Bundy murders, the Atlanta Child Murders and the Green River Killer.

He specializes in studying mass shooters and has written many books on that subject.  He is a strong advocate for helping veterans.

A couple years ago, Dr. Liebert asked me to write a foreword for a book, “Psychiatric Criminology-A Roadmap for Rapid Assessment”.  I was honored to do so. His books are available here.

John also wrote one work of fiction, “The Palace Guard”.  It can be found here.

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