Henri McPhee
Illuminator
I still think Stombaugh never proved that there were ever hand impressions on the sheet, or a bare shoulder impression, which was the main prosecution accusation against Dr. MacDonald in that he was supposed to have moved bodies in a sheet, and Colette was supposed to have murdered the two little girls, and hit Dr. MacDonald with a hairbrush.
It's true that the forensic experts did agree that a pajama cuff impression might have brushed against the sheet, but that could easily have been caused by all sorts of contamination in the initial investigation. From the Article 32 transcripts the military police were not exactly twinkle toes when they arrived at the apartment, and they were not terribly careful not to touch things. Even Dr. MacDonald might have brushed against the sheet and not noticed it happened in all the chaos and panic of the situation. He was barely conscious at the time.
Murtagh told Judge Dupree at the 1979 trial that Stombaugh only said it could be which I don't regard as conclusive evidence.
How Stombaugh ever became Head of Chemistry at the FBI lab I will never know. He joined the FBI as an insurance salesman with no scientific qualifications to write home about. The Warren Commission on the Kennedy assassination once quite reasonably asked for a second opinion about Stombaugh's testimony in that case. When the FBI heard about that they became quite sniffy and refused any further cooperation if that happened.
I still think what is needed is for some private detectives to dig up some facts and gossip about the Stoeckley group. The American police and FBI don't seem interested in complete investigations of difficult murders. Dr. MacDonald did have some private detectives at first but they stopped work when Dr. MacDonald ran out of money, or else they went and died before they could take the next logical steps.
It's true that the forensic experts did agree that a pajama cuff impression might have brushed against the sheet, but that could easily have been caused by all sorts of contamination in the initial investigation. From the Article 32 transcripts the military police were not exactly twinkle toes when they arrived at the apartment, and they were not terribly careful not to touch things. Even Dr. MacDonald might have brushed against the sheet and not noticed it happened in all the chaos and panic of the situation. He was barely conscious at the time.
Murtagh told Judge Dupree at the 1979 trial that Stombaugh only said it could be which I don't regard as conclusive evidence.
How Stombaugh ever became Head of Chemistry at the FBI lab I will never know. He joined the FBI as an insurance salesman with no scientific qualifications to write home about. The Warren Commission on the Kennedy assassination once quite reasonably asked for a second opinion about Stombaugh's testimony in that case. When the FBI heard about that they became quite sniffy and refused any further cooperation if that happened.
I still think what is needed is for some private detectives to dig up some facts and gossip about the Stoeckley group. The American police and FBI don't seem interested in complete investigations of difficult murders. Dr. MacDonald did have some private detectives at first but they stopped work when Dr. MacDonald ran out of money, or else they went and died before they could take the next logical steps.