An analysis of how the criminalist in Ted’s case handled the evidence and whether it was positively or negatively involved in the outcome of the case
Voelker & RDH (2012) proclaims that the investigators obliged that Bundy to offer a dental impression to aid in the investigation but Bundy refused. After sometimes, the criminalists were granted a search warrant to get the impression in any possible tactic. A disclosure trip was orchestrated to hinder Bundy from grinding his teeth to hide his bite.
The initial scar was photographed and a clear overlay created. Voelker & RDH (2012) addresses that the Forensic Dentist Richard Souviron created a correlation between the displays of Bundy’s front teeth and pattern on the transparent overlay. The chiseled and misaligned appearance of Bundy’s front teeth were similar to those pattern on the transparent outlay (Voelker & RDH, 2012). The evidence which were photographed were labeled and logged making it easier to link the photos to any specific area of the site. Separate pieces of evidence were left separated to avoid cross-contamination (ibid).
Voelker & RDH (2012) highlights that the biological evidence had undergone a forensic investigation. A vessel containing Bundy’s blood had been discovered by a collaboration between the forensic investigators and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Nonetheless, a DNA profile had been developed and entered into the CODIS. The function of the CODIS is to trace criminals while freeing individuals who are innocent suspects and hinder future crime. The CODIS plays a different role in Bundy’s case. The CODIS system had failed in its role in California's arrestee database law. The public passed the California’s database law rather than the legislature. The government inability to listen to the citizens and approve an arrestee DNA database (ibid).
A lawyer was hired by Bundy to represent him in court after Dr. Souviron addressed his facts in the court. Voelker & RDH (2012) states that the lawyer had made the proposal for the bite-mark evidence be ignored out of the case since there were no arguments for the warrant. The judge asserted that the bite-mark exhibit was appropriate (ibid).
Implications and impact of criminalists and forensic scientist on the final outcome of the Ted’s case
The criminalists mishandled some of the evidence and handled others correctly. The properly handled pieces of evidence had a positive result in the judgment of the Ted Bundy case. Riaud (2014) postulates that Bundy was found guilty in the slaying of two Chi Omega students and received a life incarceration. He was to be executed in an electric chair. The forensic evidence compelled Bundy to reveal how he conducted the serial killing practice. Bundy explains that he become preoccupied with extreme pornography practices. Moreover, psychologists claim that he was never a sexually abnormal or psychotic. Bundy relied on the women and was scared of disgrace in the relationships. He reveals that she enjoyed the authority that he had over her victims (ibid).
Riaud (2014) asserts that the driving factor in his crimes was rape. He admits that he felt appropriate to murder the victims to silence the evidence against him. The most interesting aspect of his crimes was that his victims bore a dark hair patted in the middle. Riaud (2014 emphasizes that From the results and revelations of the forensic evidence, it justifies that Bundy possessed a female fantasy figure that was key to his sexual crimes. Finally, Bundy was executed in an electric chair on 24th Jan, 1989. Thus, the competent bite scar evidence was crucial and it had a positive impact on Ted ‘s case (ibid).
If you were the criminalist in this case what might you have done different
According to Beckett (2013), the collection and handling of the Bundy’s case were associated with several errors. In my view, several measures would have been employed to ensure proper handling of tissues and sperm specimens and print spots. Beckett (2013) states that the forensic investigators should use used clean gloves when collecting the tissue sample to avoid cross-contamination of the physical evidence. Beckett (2013) views that the tissue sample should have been labeled with the agency case number, item number, and the date it was sealed. If possible, the tissue specimens should have been sealed by the person who discovered the sample. The police should have conducted the forensic investigation on the tissue sample rather than basing their assumptions that Buddy’s was suffering from a mental disorder (ibid).
Were the proper procedures followed in conducting a systematic search of the crime scene in Ted Bundy?
The arrest and first trial of Ted Bundy took place in August 1975 in a traffic jam. The patrol officer arrested Bundy after he refused to halt over a routine traffic stop. After realizing that Bundy’s Volkswagen passenger seat was misplaced, the patrol officer proceeded further to conduct a search of the car. In the systematic search, the following items were found: a coil of rope, trash bags, a crowbar, ski mask, an ice pick, and other materials that looked more of burglary tools. Bundy told the officer that he used the ski mask for skiing and had picked the handcuffs in a dumpster. He then told the patrol officer that the rest of the items were basic household items. The detective agent, Mr. Jerry Thompson, recalled an analogous suspect and a similar car description that took place in November 1974 in a case known as the DaRonch kidnapping. In this crime, Bundy’s name was mentioned. The incidence prompted the police to tour his apartment to conduct a search. In the process, the discovered a brochure advertising viewpoint high school, and a Colorado ski resort. Due to the absence of incriminating evidence, Bundy was released. The police missed important evidence as Bundy later admitted in an interview that the officers could not trace an assortment of Polaroid photos of his victims concealed in the utility room which he destroyed after he was unconfined(Voelker & CDA, 2012).
After this occurrence, the investigators monitored Bundy’s activities throughout. Detective Thompson and two more others traveled to interview Kloepfer at Seattle. Klopfer revealed that she had come across weird objects before Bundy relocated to Utah. Some of the items that she described to the detectives include a bag of plaster of Paris, a set of crutches, and a sack full of women’s clothing, a meat clever, an oriental knife, and surgical gloves. Kloepfer told the detectives that Bundy had sworn to kill her if she could share the information with anyone. Thompson with his fellow detectives established that Bundy and Kloepfer had not spent the night together when the Pacific Northwest victims disappeared, neither were they together during the abduction of Ott and Naslund. Moreover, an interview between Detective Kathy and Kloepfer revealed the disappearance of Stephanie Brooks in December 1973 after a short-lived love affair with Bundy.
The Utah police impounded the Volkswagen Beetle after Bundy sold it. With the help from the FBI technicians, it was pulled into pieces and searched thoroughly. In the process, they identified pieces of hair that matched the samples from Caryn Campbell’s body. In addition, hair strands that were minutely indistinguishable from those of Carol DaRonch and Mellisa Smith were identified. It was said that the presence of hair strands was not in any way a coincidence, and this could be used as evidence to incriminate Bundy in a court of law.
At the crime scene, the investigators faced a rough time in finding the evidence. Bundy had cleaned the crime scene and removed all the solid evidence. The detectives had gathered forms of evidence like sperm samples, blood type, and print smudges, but they proved unconvincing. The center of the evidence found by the investigators was the odd bite mark on Lisa Levy left buttock. Lisa also had bites on her breast, but the mark on the buttock was much clear. The investigators obtained a search warrant that allowed them to enquire for the dental impression of Bundy (Saltzman, 1995). They traveled with an experienced dentist to Bundy’s apartment who seized numerous photographs of Bundy’s dental formula. They identified an uneven pattern. The identification marks from the photographs illustrated a match of the dental impressions of the suspect’s teeth. The evidence was used to implicate a death sentence to Bundy. The bite-mark evidence was the only proven physical indication that linked Bundy to his heinous crimes and acts.
Did the initial responding police officers follow the correct protocol?
In my opinion, I think that the initial responding police officers followed the correct protocol. A police officer took the photographs of the bite marks on Levy’s buttock since the suspect had destroyed all forms of physical evidence at the crime scene. The investigators went ahead to acquire a search warrant so that they could obtain the pictures of the upper and lower teeth of the suspect. It occurred after Bundy failed to corporate with the investigators and present the photographs of the positioning of his teeth (Voelker & CDA, 2012). The detectives also established, protected, and secured the crime scene. They ensured that they documented all actions and observations that took place in the scene.
References
Beckett, Malcolm. "The Missing Link: A Framework for Enhancing the Handling of Evidence by Law Enforcement." The Journal of Law Enforcement 3.2 (2013).
Riaud, Xavier. "Convicted by a bite mark, Ted Bundy (1946-1989)." Dental historian: Lindsay Club newsletter 59 (2014): 11-13.
Saltzman, R. H. (1995). " This Buzz Is for You": Popular Responses to the Ted Bundy Execution. Journal of Folklore Research, 101-119.
Voelker, M. A., & CDA, R. (2012). Forensic Dentistry. Crest Oral-B-dentalcare. com Continuing Education Course.
