FORENSIC EXPERTS USUALLY HIDDEN HEROES OF CRIME SOLVING
\nSTATE POLICE SPECIALISTS ANALYZE EVIDENCE ON
\nEVERYTHING FROM DEER MEAT IN KIELBASI TO BLOOD AT A
\nMURDER SCENE<\/p>\n
Sunday, December 3, 1995<\/p>\n
By DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer<\/p>\n
A strand of hair, a speck of blood, a tiny slice of human tissue.<\/p>\n
From such bits of evidence, the forensic scientist can tell an untold
\nnumber of tales about long-gone criminals and ever-silent victims.
\nAt the squat, square state police crime lab in Wyoming, five forensic
\nspecialists tackle thousands of cases a year. Through the use of computers,
\nmicroscopes and chemical analysis, the scientists help investigators in 13
\nNortheastern Pennsylvania counties catch crooks and secure convictions.<\/p>\n
Business is booming.<\/p>\n
In all of 1994, the Wyoming lab handled 3,200 cases. The lab surpassed that
\nnumber by mid-October of this year. The backlog has pushed the turnaround
\nfor results from six to eight and even 10 weeks.<\/p>\n
Lt. Joe Bonenberger, central regional commander for the Wyoming and
\nHarrisburg crime labs, blames an ever-increasing number of narcotics
\narrests. Today, an estimated 60 percent of the lab’s work is drug related.<\/p>\n
Any time police confiscate suspected illegal drugs, they must have them
\ntested at the lab to verify they are illegal substances. Is it marijuana or
\noregano? Cocaine or talcum powder? Speed or allergy pill?<\/p>\n
Tests aren’t limited to narcotics.<\/p>\n
During hunting season, forensic specialists frequently test, of all things,
\nkielbasi.<\/p>\n
While it is not illegal to make, it is illegal to sell kielbasi packed with
\ndeer meat. State game commissioners often haul suspicious sausage to the
\nlab for analysis.<\/p>\n
Once tested, the evidence is returned, not eaten.<\/p>\n
Lessons from O.J.<\/p>\n
During the O.J. Simpson murder trial, forensic scientists blasted onto the
\nfront page of the nation’s newspapers.<\/p>\n
Wyoming lab director Walter Hrynkiw paid particular attention to the
\ntestimony of L.A. criminalist Collin Yamauchi.<\/p>\n
The Simpson defense aggressively attacked Yamauchi, who acknowledged that
\nsome elements of the evidence handling, particularly when it came to vials
\nof Simpson’s blood, were less than perfect.<\/p>\n
“It was an education,” Hrynkiw said of the testimony he religiously
\nvideotaped. “I’m using it as an example of what not to do.”<\/p>\n
The first link in the chain of evidence is forged at the crime scene. That
\nlink is sealed at the crime lab.<\/p>\n
To ensure quality and reduce the possibility of contamination and error,
\nthe lab keeps close tabs on each sample submitted by police. Each piece, no
\nmatter how minuscule, is tagged and logged.<\/p>\n
“We have to ensure the integrity of the evidence,” Hrynkiw said. “There’s
\nso much paperwork, but it has to be done.”<\/p>\n
All of the forensic scientists — and their results — are subject to
\nintense scrutiny once a criminal case heads to court. Hrynkiw estimated he
\nspends 30 percent of his time testifying to the validity of the evidence
\nanalyzed.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, the evidence disproves criminal activity. It is not uncommon for
\nthe forensic scientists to exonerate suspects.<\/p>\n
As a result, the scientists have earned the respect of prosecutors and
\ndefense attorneys.<\/p>\n
“I’ve always found the state police crime lab to be above board and
\nstraight shooters,” said local defense attorney Gerald Deady. “They’ve gone
\nout on the limb for defense.”<\/p>\n
Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Dan Pillets credits the
\nlab and Hrynkiw for help on innumerable cases, particularly in drunken
\ndriving and drug prosecutions.<\/p>\n
“They absolutely help. In some cases, like drug cases, the tests they do
\nare essential,” Pillets said.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, if the lab lacks the technical expertise for a particular
\ntest, the district attorney’s office might send the samples to the FBI
\ncrime lab outside Washington, D.C. or to National Medical Services outside
\nPhiladelphia.<\/p>\n
Pillets said that for the most part the local lab offers the expert advice
\nhis office needs.<\/p>\n
“Dr. Hrynkiw is extremely bright and helpful,” Pillets said. “That type of
\nexpertise is invaluable.”<\/p>\n
Memorable cases<\/p>\n
Just inside the lab’s front door hangs a framed letter from the state
\npolice at Dunmore.<\/p>\n
The letter commends forensics for its assistance in the second-degree
\nmurder conviction of Scranton resident Frank Osellanie, who raped and
\nkilled 9-year-old Renee Jean Waddle and then set her body on fire.<\/p>\n
Hrynkiw, who has a doctorate and specializes in the study of toxins and
\npoisons, said he can’t recall the case.<\/p>\n
“It’s just numbers after a while,” he said. “I never get personally
\ninvolved in any case. It’s not my job.”<\/p>\n
In addition to his work for the lab, Hrynkiw acts as a hired hand for
\nprosecutors outside this region. He said he is accepted as an expert in New
\nYork, New Jersey, California and all federal courts.<\/p>\n
So far, cases Hrynkiw worked on have ended up in three books and two
\nmovies. When asked which case presented the greatest challenge, Hrynkiw
\npoints to Jock Yablonski, a labor organizer from Washington County who
\nchallenged union strongman Tony Boyle for the presidency of the powerful
\nUnited Mine Workers Union.<\/p>\n
In 1970, hit men killed Yablonski, his wife and daughter. Hrynkiw analyzed
\nthe blood from the scene and helped investigators cinch convictions for
\nthree hired gunmen.<\/p>\n
Bonenberger will never forget the case of the telling tattoo.<\/p>\n
The body decomposed in the woods in central Pennsylvania for nine months
\nbefore it was discovered. Police, trying to put a name to the bones and
\nbits of remaining flesh, had little to go on. Animals scattered the teeth
\nand bones. Fingerprint analysis could have taken months.<\/p>\n
But a forensic scientist took a piece of now-blackened flesh from the
\nvictim’s upper arm and by exposing it to various infrared wavelengths
\nuncovered a tattoo later identified by a friend of the deceased.<\/p>\n
“What’s fascinating to someone on the outside is routine to us,”
\nBonenberger said. “One case is just like another.”<\/p>\n
Dealing with DNA<\/p>\n
Forensic scientists can determine if a hair is human or belongs to a dog.
\nThey know if the hair was dyed, plucked or yanked. They can tell which part
\nof the body it came from and whether that body was male or female.<\/p>\n
If the hair was pulled out by the root and a bit of follicle remains, a DNA
\ntest can help make a match. During the Simpson trial, prosecution experts
\ndevoted weeks to DNA tests and results, which they said proved beyond a
\nreasonable doubt that Simpson killed his wife and her friend.<\/p>\n
But, Hrynkiw cautioned, “DNA is never absolute. The only way it can be
\nabsolute is if every person in the world is tested, and you can’t do that.”<\/p>\n
All DNA testing in Pennsylvania is conducted at the state police lab in
\nGreensburg. The labor-intensive test typically takes eight weeks and is the
\nmost expensive that the crime labs perform.<\/p>\n
Next to DNA, tests of blood samples are the most time consuming, taking up
\nto 16 hours to complete.<\/p>\n
“You can’t rush it,” Hrynkiw said. “Our responsibility in this lab is to
\nproduce quality work.”<\/p>\n
Big job, big money<\/p>\n
The crime labs are among the top three most expensive of the state police’s
\n29 divisions, operating on an annual budget of $6.4 million.<\/p>\n
It cost the state $492,946 to run the Wyoming lab last year. Much of the
\nmoney is spent on expensive, technologically advanced equipment.<\/p>\n
Just getting a repair person to check a malfunctioning gas chromatography
\nmass spectrometer — a special instrument to analyze drugs — can cost
\n$2,500. New, the same machine starts around $100,000 and can run as high as
\n$500,00.<\/p>\n
But if technology costs, it also helps.<\/p>\n
Before, for instance, state police had to search for fingerprint matches by
\nshuffling through thousands and thousands of files. Since 1991, they’ve
\nbeen able to pop the print in the computer and within minutes they know if
\nthey have a match within Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
“We clear a lot of crimes that way,” Hrynkiw said.<\/p>\n
In addition to an estimated 1,200 blood-alcohol tests scientists conduct
\nfor police in 13 counties each year, the lab does work for myriad state and
\nfederal agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the
\nBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.<\/p>\n
Technicians might restore a gun’s ground-down serial number for the ATF or
\nconduct a drug analysis for the DEA. When the state’s Liquor Control Board
\nraids a local bar and confiscates bottles of expensive scotch, it is the
\nlab technicians who determine if the liquor is actually a cheap, watered
\ndown substitute.<\/p>\n
Once the tests are complete, the technicians submit the results to
\ninvestigators.<\/p>\n
“The officer makes the case,” said Hrynkiw. “We only supplement their
\ninvestigation. `We paint as unbiased a picture as possible.”<\/p>\n
Despite the lab’s importance to numerous criminal investigations, the lab
\nemployees themselves often go unnoticed.<\/p>\n
“Everyone is dedicated,” Bonenberger said. “But most of the time the lab
\nperson isn’t recognized. They’re used, abused and cast away.”<\/p>\n
That’s fine with Hrynkiw, who said, “We like to be the little lab nobody
\nknows about.”
\n————————————————————————
\nAll content \u00a9 TIMES LEADER and may not be republished without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FORENSIC EXPERTS USUALLY HIDDEN HEROES OF CRIME SOLVING STATE POLICE SPECIALISTS ANALYZE EVIDENCE ON EVERYTHING FROM DEER MEAT IN KIELBASI TO BLOOD AT A MURDER SCENE Sunday, December 3, 1995 By DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer A strand of hair, a speck of blood, a tiny slice of human tissue. From such bits of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}