Henry C. Lee,Jerry, M.D. Labriola'sShocking Cases from Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files: The Phil Spector Case / the Priest's Ritual Murder of a Nun / the Brown's Chicken Massacre and More! [Hardcover]

by C. M.D. Labriola (Author) Lee

Dr. Henry C. Lee is highly regarded throughout the law-enforcement community as one of the most talented and experienced forensic scientists in the world. He has also received widespread public recognition and media attention through his association with sensational criminal investigations, including the JFK assassination, the suicide of White House counsel Vincent Foster, the Chandra Levy homicide, the O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey cases, and, most recently, the Caylee Anthony case. In this new book, Dr. Lee and critically acclaimed mystery writer Jerry Labriola, MD, team up again to present another true-crime page-turner on five notorious - The Phil Spector Legendary music mogul Phil Spector was charged with murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson, found slain in his mansion. But has Dr. Lee produced forensic evidence suggesting her death was a suicide? - The Brown's Chicken The savage murder of helpless employees of a restaurant in Palatine, Illinois, was left unsolved for over a decade until the painstaking forensic skills of Task Force and Dr. Lee eventually identified the killers. - Murder in the The brutal murder of a nun in a Toledo, Ohio, church had bizarre ritualistic overtones and remained unsolved until a priest was prosecuted twenty-six years later-the same priest who had conducted the nun's funeral service! Dr. Lee testified at the trial of the priest and here he demonstrates how the perseverance of law enforcement officials and forensic scientists eventually solved the crime. - The shooting of a Connecticut state trooper and the shooting death of a fourteen-year-old young Dr. Lee discusses the dual hazards of police work-being killed or injured in the line of duty and the accidental killing of innocent victims or suspects. In Hartford, while racial tensions threatened to spin out of control, Dr. Lee reconstructed the shooting of a young African American by a police officer. His diligent work defused hostilities that nearly led to a riot. - Genocide in Dr. Lee discusses his role in the excavation and, in some cases, the identification of hundreds of bodies in the former Yugoslavia. The evidence he uncovered was later used to build a case against suspects indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal. Combining fascinating details of forensic science with a vivid narrative, Shocking Cases from Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files is must reading for true-crime readers and forensic science lovers.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2010, it reports on 4 specific cases and one international one.

2003/Alhambra, CA - victim: Lana Clarkson and charged: Phil Spector who was eventually convicted, sentenced to 19 years to life.
1993/Palatine, IL - victims: 2 owners and 5 employees of Brown's Chicken Restaurant and charged Juan Luna who was convicted to life in prison (he just wanted to kill something/someone) and accomplice, James Degorski, was also convicted to life in prison.
1980/Toledo, OH - victim: Sister Margaret Ann Pahl and eventually (in 2004 with his trial in 2006) charged was Father Gerald Robinson who received 15 years to life.
1999/Hartford, CT - victim was Aquan Salmon and charged/investigated was Hartford police officer Robert Allen who was released as having acted without wrong-doing.

And lastly, the international case, in which Dr. Lee travelled and assisted for a short time with the mass graves in Bosnia and Croatia due to so-called ethnic cleansing - just an excuse for murdering people that are different from the ones with the guns...

It's mostly a 'recreation of what happened - along with a bit of historical background - and then uses actual trial transcripts and verbatim police reports. There are sidebars on various topics - human remains identification, types of sharp instrument wounds, DNA technology advances.

Interesting but kind of dry.

2022-240

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time reading it. I’m more of a Law & Order girl, I guess. Or even True Crime shows on TV that walk you through all of it and explain everything. While I found the cases interesting, I had a hard time following some of the jargon and details. I’m not a lawyer or involved in any kind of police investigations, so parts of it I found myself scanning – and if I’m scanning, I’m not really absorbing or understanding anything. :/

It was especially difficult to make it through Case #5, which gave a lot of background on different regions and how countries came together and then failed to become other countries. How many countries can be called the “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)”?! At least 3. I can not wrap my head around social studies any more now than I could when I was in school. I will never be able to tell you who the Axis powers were. Ever. I hope my kids pick up on that lots more than I ever could!

It was really neat to see how the advancement of scientific techniques help catch people who evaded capture for so long.

[Justin Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars-- 49/100

This is an intriguing novel. It's respectful and hones in on accurate depictions of the events during the cases that occurred and the resolutions Lee was a part of.

I think where it falters is- I wanted more of Lee's takes on situations, evidence, and thoughts rather than the plethora of factual context. Trust me, it was superbly informative; and every time we shifted to Lee's perspective, I found a proper voice, a strong-willed mind, and the entertainment value. Long story short- I think I was hoping for more of the conversational style from Lee than the lecture style I've grown to despise in academia.

If you want a quality depiction of the intricacies of bizarre cases this is a great read. If you're someone like me who wants the art of writing and voice to carry the tune (even in non-fiction), then just be prepared to be patient with it. There are golden nuggets directly from Lee's mind, heart, and soul in here- it just gets clouded with in my opinion by a plateful of information.

[Sherri Avers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read out of morbid curiosity! Good read. Interesting to know the real truth behind the death of these popular celebrities!

[Mai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3++. Fascinating, but not as easy to read.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. Could not pay attention to it. Had a hard time comprehending it. Good thing I didn’t buy it. I just borrowed it from the library.

[Muhammad Nizam Bin Mohtar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally well-written book. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Granny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best I've ever read on the cases of a medical examiner, but not the worst ever. Some of the things I appreciated about this book is that it covered some American cases which I haven't read elsewhere; a rarity for me, I assure you.

The Phil Spector case is one I've heard about on the news, of course. But I prefer reading to TV news, more depth, more details. This book did a decent job of opening up the details and contradictions of the case, I did appreciate that.

I also really enjoyed the case of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl by Father Robinson, perhaps the only case of a nun being murdered by a priest in this country.

But the cases of random stupidity such as the "Brown's chicken Massacre" are tedious to me. Also the mass murders in Bosnia; while life changing to Dr Lee, seemed somehow distant. I think he is a man who is intellectual in that way which makes it difficult to connect to his human and feeling side, even when that part of his is deeply moved.

This is also true when he talks about cases where the handling of a crime becomes an issue of how investigation impacts the public perception of how much (or how little) they can trust their police force. It's a serious issue, but somehow his commentary makes it seem distant rather that an issue of fiery emotions.

If I could, I would have given this book a 3.5, the better sections are quite good, but they are not enough of the book to give it a 4.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I regularly take advantage of the bookmobile that stops in my neighborhood on a monthly basis to obtain books on my to read list that are not available from the library on Kindle. To my surprise this last trip there were two books checked out to me beside the ones I requested: this book and another by the same author, "Blood Evidence: How DNA is Revolutionizing the Way We Solve Crimes". Neither would I have selected to read, but being a believer in the "there are no coincidences in life" theory of things I read both.
This is a little strange with the tabloid type title and the basic information inside the book which covers several largely sensational cases and the forensic details. Also covered is the fact that once the police buy into a theory of the case, facts to the contrary do not deter them from continuing on their path, they will simply discount any scientific information that goes against their theory. While this is something I have always been aware of, it is perhaps not a bad point to emphasize since the vast majority assumes that police only arrest and prosecute the guilty. This is pointed out in the case of Phil Spector and the murder of a nun which remained unsolved for 20 some years do to interference by the Archdiocese in removing the suspect and collusion of the police to assist the Church in making sure that any allegations against members of the clergy were covered up.
Interesting fast read that add to one's bank of trivia knowledge.

[Susan Olesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not always a fan of Dr. Lee's books. I feel almost compelled to read them, simply because they're co-written by Dr. Labriola, and Dr. Labriola was my pediatrician way back in the Middle Ages (and my sister had Henry Lee as a professor). I find the subject fascinating, but the style is often choppy and inconclusive for me. I like things a little more precise. This volume, however, covered a variety of cases and how forensics can be used in a variety of crimes, from the mass genocide of Serbia to pulling DNA from a 14-year old chicken bone. I picked this one up because it covers the Phil Spector case, even though to me the conclusion still seems ambiguous, but was happy to see it covered the case of Aquan Salmon, which sent me bugging off the wall when it happened - and provided new information to me that I hadn't been aware of at the time, such as the deceased was still wearing his probationary ankle monitor at the time of the crime.

In all, while I like the Body Farm books by Bill Brockton better, this was probably my favorite of Dr. Lee's books. It's a very quick read, and this time the crimes didn't take place in areas I'm forced to frequent, so I'm not as freaked out.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Dr. Lee and his work but this book wasn't as interesting as some of his earlier ones, mostly because these were such lengthy cases and a lot of the details went right over my head.

There were five cases covered, Phil Spector, Priest murdering a Nun, Murder at a Chicken/Pasta place, A police officer killing a young black man, visiting Bosnia to look into mass murder graves.

The only one I knew much about was Phil Spector and what I thought I knew wasn't very close to what I read - about par for the course when dealing with "celebrity" cases.

I'll continue to read books by Dr. Lee, this one just won't ever be my favorite.

[Dan Uitti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fresh batch of fascinating cases from Dr. Henry Lee's files, the real CSI. These cases are quite different from each other. Celebrity, Cold but not forgotten, Twist of luck, Exonerating and Relevant in today's world. Thought provoking cases that makes you wonder why the perpetrator would think that they could get away with it now.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was so boring that i didn't even finish it.

[Sawah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetetive. Interesting, but things were repeated over and over again.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. A little technical at times and a little repetitive. But it really gave a good out look on what a Forescic Investergator does. It also included some very thrilling cases.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little on the dry side for my personal taste but still very informative. I find it fascinating what science can do these days. How far science has come in the past 100 years is mind-boggling!

[Concetta Dwyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. It was interesting, kind of. There was a lot of information and yet not enough. Each part sort of abruptly ended. Didn't feel closure really.