Just Case Studies: A Gruesome Murder in Mesa_021

Published: Oct. 2, 2017, 2:37 p.m.

In episode six, season two, Just Science interviews Kimberly Meza from Mesa police Department during the annual ASCLD symposium held in Dallas, Texas. Kimberly describes how a blood spatter analyst takes in a scene, especially one as gruesome as this case, where the victim was brutally stabbed in their apartment by an unknown suspect. The suspects DNA that was found at the scene initially was a no match in CODIS, and the latent prints taken at the scene created no leads. For six months there were no DNA lead until a submitted sexual assault kit was entered into the system. The sexual assault kit was taken 9 days before the murder. This season of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].