Murderous Methods: Using Forensic Science to Solve Lethal Crimes

Despite the subtitle, many of the cases recounted by Benecke, a German forensic scientist specializing in the use of insects, were not solved by forensics. For example, Peter Kurten, the sadistic sex killer known as the Düsseldorf Vampire, was turned in to the police by his wife. Among the scientific issues Benecke does touch on are facial reconstruction (and the importance of knowing the victim's hairstyle) and studying pollen from the nasal cavities of corpses to determine the date of death. Still, Benecke's exhaustive knowledge of criminal history is not always presented in the best light. Although he attempts to use classic cases to illustrate his points, the examples are not always apposite. For example, his handling of the Lindbergh kidnapping is confusing: he begins by building a case that the famed aviator, a legendary prankster, was responsible for his baby's abduction, a practical joke that went horribly wrong; then Benecke abandons that outrageous theory for the official one to bolster his thesis about the primacy of scientific evidence over fallible eyewitness testimony, but overlooks the value of testimony tying the kidnap ladder to Bruno Hauptmann, the man eventually convicted of the crime. (Nov.)