Overview
- His family and the University of New Haven said Friday he died at his home in Henderson, Nevada, at 87.
- He built the University of New Haven’s forensic science program, taught for more than 50 years, and was finalizing a book on missing-persons investigations that is expected to be released.
- He served as Connecticut’s chief criminalist and directed the state police forensic science laboratory from 1978 to 2000.
- He first drew national notice in the 1986 Helle Crafts “wood-chipper” case and later worked on the O.J. Simpson, JonBenét Ramsey, Scott Peterson, and Phil Spector cases.
- Courts later challenged his work in a 1985 case, with a 2020 state vacatur and a 2023 federal ruling on unsupported blood evidence leading Connecticut to pay $25.2 million to two men.