In our last post, we began a discussion about the problems of forensic fire investigation. It is one of numerous types of forensic testing that is far less reliable (or scientifically sound) than the general public tends to believe. Problems with burn-pattern analysis...
Procedural dramas like “CSI” have convinced Americans that forensic science is equivalent to pure, unassailable fact. After all, tests and evidence don’t lie, even if people do. But sadly, this belief in the infallibility of forensic science is misplaced and made all...
Chicago police recently named a 13-year-old boy as “a person of interest” in last month’s shooting death of a nurse in the Little Village neighborhood. We do not know why police have singled the young teen out, but we do know that in other...
Prosecutors and police allege that a Chicago woman helped carry out the killing of her on-again, off-again boyfriend in his South Side apartment this past summer. They claim that she plotted to rob the 30-year-old of marijuana in his Park Manor home – a robbery...
The shooting victim was a mountain of a man: he stood 6-foot-8 and weighed more than 300 pounds. When he was shot and killed earlier this year outside the Sound Bar nightclub where he worked, news reports said that the imposing bouncer had been well-liked. But someone...
According to Chicago police, a 45-year-old man shot a woman in broad daylight downtown, shot a police officer and was himself shot in a gun battle before being taken into custody. The suspect now faces a long list of felonies that include attempted murder, aggravated...
Three Chicago men have been charged by federal authorities with violent crimes in the city’s Lawndale neighborhood. The men – ages 37, 26 and 19 – are accused of involvement in a murder-for-hire operation that resulted in two fatal shootings. The men are each charged...
The daring escape attempt looked like something out of the movies. Chicago police said a 22-year-old man recently jumped from a sixth story window in an attempt to evade arrest. The escape attempt failed, however, after the man landed on the concrete sidewalk outside...
Throughout out his term in office, President Trump has repeatedly disparaged Chicago for its “out of control” gun violence. He has threatened to send in federal reinforcements to combat the issue. This week, the administration took action.The Department of...
Last year, Wilmer Catalan-Ramirez—a Chicago father of three—was met with a horrifying surprise. The Chicago police raided his home one evening and arrested him, citing that his name was listed in the city’s gang database.Their information, however,...
