Hi everyone. I'm Dr. Mark Waterbury. I see my name being bandied about here, and also see my credentials impugned by a few of the usual posters. I rarely spend time in these forums because my main focus is on my upcoming book, but I do want to address some of this.
First, some try to disparage my credentials by calling me an "engineer" as if that were some kind of epithet. Although it is true that I have worked as a Senior Engineer at a major defense consulting firm and as CTO for a couple other places, my education, including Ph.D., was as a scientist in the field of materials science, a multi-disciplinary activity that touches on chemistry, physics and several other fields. I then worked for a number of years with the title of scientist for the United State's Air Force. I continue to do scientific work to this day.
Much of my research, both as an scientist as an engineer, was directed toward the development and implementation of new experimental methodologies. These have covered a wide range of areas, from the measurement of surface properties of microscopic fibers, to the emissivity of molten titanium levitated in a vacuum environment, to infrared fluorescent security tracers. In the course of developing new techniques, I learned a great deal about the limits of measuring systems, signal-to-noise ratios, and human issues. While writing my articles for Science Spheres, I reviewed what I wrote with both a molecular biology Ph.D. (these are the guys that invented DNA profiling) and with forensic DNA experts. Their corrections were invariably minor.
Many of the shortcomings in the experimental techniques employed by Dr. Stefanoni, for instance, have nothing to do with the particulars of STRs, matches, etc. There is nothing surprising whatsoever that the supposed knife trace matched Meredith's profile, for instance. The test was performed in a laboratory in which there were numerous samples of Meredith's DNA, on equipment that had been used to process her DNA. Sample contamination within a DNA profiling laboratory is a fact of life. The protocol she used on the knife blade has probably never been performed before, and likely never will be done again.
Although I do have access to the court documents, I certainly do not have authority to release them to the public at large, so am careful not to do so. It is also not a goal of mine, or even an interest, to engage in debate with those few people who's minds are long since made up, and the door closed to any reasonable information. That is why my time goes to writing articles and my book, not to participating in online debates. I generally let those articles speak for themselves.
It is true that I am now an active advocate for the release of Amanda and Raffaele, but that was not always so. I came into this case without prior knowledge or preconceived ideas. Evaluating the evidence, and primarily the stunning lack of evidence against either of them, has convinced me of their innocence, and compelled me to this advocacy. I have also never received a cent of compensation for my efforts.
