Henry Lee, the famed forensic scientist who helped deliver trendy crime scene investigation into the general public highlight by means of his involvement in high-profile instances just like the O.J. Simpson homicide trial, has died. He was 87.
Lee “handed away peacefully” Friday at his dwelling in Henderson, Nevada, following a quick sickness, in response to a press release from his household and the College of New Haven, the place he taught for greater than 50 years.
Lee rose to fame after his testimony in Simpson’s 1995 trial, during which he questioned the dealing with of blood proof. He additionally served as a advisor in different well-known investigations, together with the 1996 slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado; the 2004 homicide trial of Scott Peterson, who was accused of killing his pregnant spouse, Laci; and the 2007 homicide trial of file producer Phil Spector.
However Lee’s work drew scrutiny in his later years, with a 2023 federal court ruling discovering him answerable for fabricating proof in a 1985 homicide case that despatched two Connecticut males to jail for many years.
Born in China, the eleventh of 13 youngsters, Lee and his household moved to Taiwan the place have been he earned a level in police administration and have become a police officer and later a captain. He and his late spouse moved to the U.S. in 1964, the place he earned superior levels in forensic science and biochemistry.
He first gained prominence for his work in Connecticut investigating the 1986 disappearance of flight attendant Helle Crafts — utilizing tiny fragments of bone, a thumb tip, a tooth crown and items of hair discovered close to her dwelling to assist authorities make the case that Craft’s husband had minimize up her physique and disposed of it in a wooden chipper. Prosecutors have been capable of win a conviction regardless of having no physique.
“Typically they evaluate me to Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan. These are simply fictional characters,″ Lee was quoted as saying in a 2000 article, as he stepped down as commissioner of the Connecticut State Police. “In actual life, the scientists, detectives and public must work collectively. … We don’t get business breaks.”
Lee continued to work on high-profile instances, however in 2020, a state decide vacated the 1985 homicide convictions of two males who had been discovered responsible in part based mostly on testimony about what Lee stated on the time have been bloodstains on a towel. Exams achieved after the trial, when the boys have been interesting their convictions, confirmed the stains weren’t blood.
A federal decide in 2023 stated there was no proof to again up Lee’s testimony. Lee defended his reputation and work, denying that he fabricated proof and suggesting traces of blood might have degraded within the 20 years between the crime and when consultants for the protection examined the towel.
Lee in the end spent a lot of his profession based mostly in Connecticut, together with as head of the state’s forensic laboratory. On the College of New Haven, he helped to construct its forensic science program from a single fingerprint equipment right into a multidisciplinary tutorial division. Lee later helped discovered a forensics institute in his identify on the college to coach and supply case session to forensic and legal justice professionals.
“Dr. Lee was a exceptional particular person,” College of New Haven President Jens Frederiksen stated in a press release. “His contributions to our College in addition to forensic science and regulation enforcement are extraordinary and unmatched. His legacy lives on within the generations of scholars and regulation enforcement professionals he impacted all through his sensible profession.”
The creator or co-author of greater than 40 books, Lee was finalizing a e book on missing-persons investigations in his closing days, the college’s assertion stated. It’s anticipated to nonetheless be launched.
Susan Haigh, The Related Press