IN THE NEWS

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VCU’S JASON BYRD IS INTERNATIONAL FORENSICS EXPERT
May 29, 2002

RICHMOND, Va. -- First, there was the odor from an outbuilding that resulted in the police being called.

Then, there were the bloodstains on the walls of the outbuilding.

But there was no body -- only a foul-smelling residue infested by maggots on the shed’s floor.

A few days later, a badly decomposed body was found on the other side of town, infested by maggots that an insect expert found to be of the same species discovered at the original scene. The expert went further, looking at the possibility that DNA inside the maggots at Scene 1 could be matched with the DNA in the maggots at Scene 2, thus linking murder scene with victim. The insect expert who was called into the case – which still is under investigation – was Dr. Jason H. Byrd, assistant professor of forensic science and biology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an internationally recognized authority on insect evidence at crime scenes. Byrd, one of just a handful of certified forensic entomologists in the nation, is a key instructor in VCU’s popular new undergraduate forensic science program, which is preparing students for careers as chemists, crime lab analysts, crime scene technicians, federal agents, forensic molecular biologists and toxicologists, among other specialties.

Forensic entomology, Byrd explains, involves using insects as evidence at crime scenes or in other legally related circumstances. Law enforcement agencies are calling more and more on forensic entomologists to help determine, for example, such vital information as when a victim died.

To certain insects, Byrd says, a dead body "is a food resource – a limited food resource for a lot of insects" to which various species come in turn to dine. The larvae, or maggots, of different species appear at different times, in a gradual progression from one to another. That progression, along with the growth stages of the individual species’ larvae, helps provide a clock of sorts for establishing times of death.

One of the major insect families that dine on corpses are blowflies, which are larger than houseflies and whose bodies generally have a distinctive, greenish metallic color.

Temperature, indoor or outdoor lighting, day-night cycles and many other factors affect the growth of insects on corpses, Byrd notes.

One of his research interests is studying insect growth in cadavers using computer simulations that model the various factors that influence the growth rate of insects.

Another research activity in his laboratories involves the use of insects to determine what toxins or drugs may have been in a corpse. Cocaine, heroin, Valium, amphetamines and many other chemicals become incorporated in insects’ hardened outer skin, which can endure for years after the death of the insects and preserve a record of what was in their long-gone cadaver food source. It’s an ultimate tribute to the adage, "You are what you eat," Byrd says.

In addition to his research, Byrd is often called upon to help collect and evaluate insect evidence at crime scenes. He is often called as an expert witness in court, and he conducts workshops for law enforcement agencies to teach investigators how to collect insect evidence properly at crime scenes. He is a regular lecturer at the FBI’s National Academy at Quantico, VA, teaching new agents and senior law enforcement officials in two courses: "Managing Death Investigations" and "Human Remains Location and Recovery. He also reviews cases involving human death and insect evidence for the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. And, incidentally, the producers of the current, popular television show, CSI, call upon him for his expertise when insect evidence is involved in the plots.

Byrd is the current chairman of the American Board of Forensic Entomology, a body that promotes professionalism in the field. There currently are only seven members of the board, four of which have diplomat status – a status that’s based on extensive education and experience in forensic entomology. Byrd is one of the four. Worldwide, the board says there are only about five dozen scientists involved in forensic entomology.

Byrd traces his interest in the field back to when he was growing up on a cattle and race horse farm in Florida’s Daytona Beach area. Occasionally, one of the prize animals would die, and the young Byrd noted even then the progression of the maggots and flies on the carcasses and how that progression might be used to determine when the animal died.

"I knew since the sixth grade that this was what I wanted to do," he said.

About Jason Byrd: Jason Byrd has been an assistant professor in biology and forensic science at Virginia Commonwealth University since April 2000. Previously, he taught at the University of Florida, where he received his Ph.D. in forensic entomology with emphasis on forensic anthropology and forensic botany as well as his M.S. in forensic entomology and his B.S. in agriculture. He is a diplomat and chairman of the American Board of Forensic Entomology, a qualified expert witness in forensic entomology and a certified law enforcement instructor. He conducts workshops and training lectures for law enforcement investigators throughout the nation on proper collection and processing of insect evidence at crime scenes, and is author of numerous articles in professional journals.

About VCU: Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the nation’s top research universities. Located on two campuses in Richmond, Va., VCU enrolls about 25,000 students in more than 150 undergraduate, graduate, professional, doctoral and post-graduate certificate degree programs at 10 schools and one college. Sixteen graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Reports as among the best of their kind in the nation. The VCU Health System is one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. VCU recently launched VCU Life Sciences, a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate program involving academic and medical faculty. In addition, the university is developing the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in collaboration with business, civic and government leaders. For more information, see www.vcu.edu.

(original article)

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Web-posted Thursday, July 21, 2005
Amarillo.Com

STOCKER DEFENSE BUGS PROSECUTION

by GREG CUNNINGHAM
Amarillo Globe-News

The fate of Josh Stocker may come down to something as small as a bug's egg.

In testimony straight out of an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," Stocker's defense attorneys Wednesday called in a forensic entomologist who used an analysis of insect cocoons on the body of Dustin Pool to challenge the state's theory of the crime.

Randall County prosecutors have built their capital murder case against Stocker, 27, mostly on the testimony of fellow suspects in the March 2003 slaying of the 26-year-old Pool, whose body was found buried in concrete three months after he disappeared.

After days of poking holes in the testimony of state witnesses, the defense countered the testimony with science. Stocker's attorneys called only two witnesses before resting their case, but both experts directly challenged the state's theory.

"I think as far as evidence, there has been so much testimony, very little of it accurate," defense attorney C.J. McElroy said. "We have found literally hundreds of inaccuracies in these stories. If I were going to have to believe the state's witnesses or the bugs, I'd choose the bugs."

That bug testimony came from Dr. Neal Haskell, a leading expert in the modern practice of forensic entomology - the study of how insects interact with dead bodies.

In a lengthy presentation on his specialty, Haskell informed the jury that insects lay eggs in - or colonize - a dead body in a precise manner. Certain types of insects lay eggs in a body starting minutes after death, followed in a structured order by other types of insects that colonize a body only when it reaches certain levels of decomposition.

The order is so reliable, Haskell testified, that the type of insect eggs or larvae on a dead body can often be the most accurate means of determining when a victim died.

Haskell then challenged the state's central assertion that Pool suffocated after a sock was stuck down his throat and his head was wrapped in duct tape.

Haskell said the sock must have been inserted well after Pool died, because blow fly cocoons found on the back of the sock deep in Pool's throat were of a type that only colonize bodies that have been dead for at least a week or two.

"In my opinion, if we were to find any insects at all, they would have to be the early colonizers," Haskell said. "They would have had to colonize before the body was wrapped, buried and covered in concrete.

"These aren't the first guys to come in. They come in much later in the decomposition process."

In cross examination, Randall County Criminal District Attorney James Farren went on the offensive against Haskell's analysis, questioning how the entomologist could reach such a conclusion - completely in opposition to witness testimony - based on evidence that was 2 years old when he examined it.

"I think the jury is going to have a tough time believing that Pool's body sat around for 12 days, then they decided to stuff a sock down his throat and bury him," Farren said. "It just doesn't make sense."

Farren asked Haskell whether a fly could have worked its way into Pool's throat after the sock had been inserted or during the excavation of Pool's body.

Haskell rejected the first possibility, saying a fly would have been unable to work its way in through the duct tape, plastic tarp and concrete that covered Pool's body. The second possibility also was impossible, Haskell said, because autopsy photos showed the cocoons on the sock the day after Pool's body was recovered. It would have taken five days for eggs laid by a fly to go through three larval stages then become a cocoon.

"They don't do that. They can't," Haskell said.

If the jury believes Haskell's analysis of the evidence, it could be devastating to the state's case because the indictment of Stocker reads that the defendant caused Pool's death by "suffocating Dustin Pool by putting a sock into the throat of Dustin Pool and covering Dustin Pool's mouth with tape."

To secure a conviction, Texas law requires the state to prove each and every element of the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Our contention is that Dustin Pool did not die of suffocation, which they have alleged in the indictment," McElroy said. "That is what the scientific evidence shows."

Haskell's testimony was bolstered by another witness, Dr. Robert Bux, who testified that the state's medical examiner, Dr. Sridhar Natarajan, reached several false conclusions in his autopsy.

Bux, an experienced coroner from Colorado, theorized that the sock was stuffed down Pool's throat well after his death to prevent his body from regurgitating noxious fluids, a natural part of the decomposition process.

Farren said he will try to recall Natarajan this morning to rebut the defense witnesses, but Natarajan was out of the state and may not be able to make it back to Canyon.

If Farren can't get his witness back in time, the prosecution and defense will give their closing arguments and the jury will get the case, likely early in the day.

The jury may be facing an all-or-nothing proposition in their deliberations, if the defense gets its way.

In a move that elicited surprise from Judge Hal Miner, McElroy said that she did not want to allow the jury to consider charges other than capital murder - such as murder or kidnapping - that could result in a lesser sentence.

McElroy admitted after court adjourned that the move was a risk that could cost her client life in prison, but she said she had consulted with Stocker and fellow attorney Mike Watkins, and they believed it was the best choice.

"If the state wants to indict my client on a charge that could cost him his life, they need to adhere to that charge," McElroy said. "They need to prove that what they say happened, happened."

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For more information on certification as Member of Diplomate, ABFE, click:

Please contact Dr. Richard Merritt for more information on certification as Member or Diplomate , American Board of Forensic Entomologists: