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one summer's evening
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a woman left a bar in anchorage alaska
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and staggered into the street
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she was drunk she was defenseless
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and soon
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she was dead
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the killer left this unusual clue at the
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crime scene
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it was evidence that could be visualized
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with a simple tube of glue
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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august 8 1996 was a beautiful summer
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morning in anchorage alaska
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but on this day workers entering a
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downtown office building
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saw something different
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the first time i've ever experienced
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anything like this
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i never want to experience it again this
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is horrible
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it was a body
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laying near a wooded area
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and she didn't appear to be breathing
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the woman's checked jacket and clothing
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were strewn over a 30-foot area
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a clear indication of a life-and-death
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struggle it was an extended assault it
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wasn't he just hit her in the face once
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there were multiple blows to her head
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and her upper
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chest area
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she had been so badly beaten a visual
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identification would be impossible
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she didn't match missing persons reports
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and apparently there had been no
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witnesses
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anytime you have a
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witnessless crime you have difficulties
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you don't have anybody telling you where
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to go
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where to look who to ask and what to do
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the victim hadn't been moved or touched
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since she was discovered
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and the body had been protected from the
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sunlight
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because of where the victim was found
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and the circumstances surrounding her
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death
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captain bill gifford made an unusual
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decision
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i made the decision that we would go
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ahead and try to get clayton prince off
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the body
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for the last six years gifford had been
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experimenting with a special technique
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to find hidden fingerprints on human
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skin
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super glue fuming is usually done with
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non-porous surfaces like glass or metal
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in the early 80s a gluing factory in
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japan
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the employees had noticed that as they
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were gluing various items together
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that the vapors which were materializing
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from the glue were turning the
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fingerprints their actual prints on an
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item a whitish color
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subsequently they brought the
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information to the attention of the
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japanese crime lab and from that with
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various organizational meetings
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they pass the information on
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to do it with skin the following
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conditions must be in place
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no emergency personnel can have handled
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the body they would wipe prints off and
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also leave their own
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if the victim is dead for a long period
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of time
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decay will destroy any prince
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any precipitation even dew can wash away
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prints
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and the temperature must be right if
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it's too hot the prints will melt if
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it's too cold
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they'll disintegrate
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[Music]
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gifford ordered technicians to build a
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tent around the body using plastic tarp
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and pvc pipe
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[Music]
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inside
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gifford heated a pan of water to
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increase the humidity in the tent
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[Music]
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using a heat gun a massive amount of
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super glue was blown into the airtight
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container around the body
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gifford's secret technique was to use
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more super glue than forensic scientists
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usually recommend
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in this case probably three or four
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hundred times the amount of what we'd
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normally use on skin
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and this time we got the right amount
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the heated glue attaches itself to the
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biological oils left by someone's
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fingers or hands
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the glue then hardens on the print and
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can be photographed
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this isn't a technique that can be
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redone
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fortunately in this case it worked
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on the victim's left thigh
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was a fragment of a palm print from the
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killer's left hand
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we were ecstatic and this was the second
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latent print off of human skin
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that had been
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confirmed so to finally get one
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quite a milestone
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the palm print itself was of excellent
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condition
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i could tell based on the
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slope of the terrain and the location of
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the the print
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and injuries that were afflicted to the
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victim
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exactly which hand it was because the
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individual had steady themselves by
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placing their hand on the thigh area
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while they were conducting whatever
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injuries they were sustaining to the
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victim
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above the body on some low hanging
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branches
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police discovered 35 head hairs which
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did not come from the victim
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it appeared the branches became
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entangled in the assailant's hair during
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the assault
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police now had the palm print and
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possibly a hair sample from the killer
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all they needed now
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was to identify the victim
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and find the suspect
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when the body of the victim was taken to
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the morgue in anchorage alaska the
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medical examiner determined that she was
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an alaska native between 30 and 40 years
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old five foot two inches tall and
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weighing a hundred pounds
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he found a bite mark on the woman's
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breast and signs she had been sexually
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assaulted
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there were some bloody boot impressions
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on the victim's torso but they weren't
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clear enough to identify
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in this particular case the violence
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didn't indicate whether they would be
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known to one another but what it did
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tell us is that the
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suspect spent considerable time
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with the victim
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both before and after death
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the toxicology report indicated
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that the victim had a blood alcohol
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level of .308
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over four times the legal limit
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anchorage police checked missing persons
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reports but found no one resembling
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their victim
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at the crime scene
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above the body
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in some low-hanging branches
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police found human hair
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the hairs presumably the assailants were
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analyzed and identified as [ __ ]
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[ __ ] hairs are from asian races
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native americans would be included in
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this category
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[ __ ] hairs tend to have very dark
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pigmentation the hairs almost look black
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visually
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and they tend to be very straight
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the hairs were very long between 18 and
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20 inches and they were highly unusual
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this is one of the most distinctive hair
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samples that i've ever seen
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the long hairs had been bleached and
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because [ __ ] hairs are so dark in
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color
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this type of chemical treatment has a
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distinct effect
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when they add bleach to it it pulls some
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of the pigment out and if it's
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incomplete the hair almost looks
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orangish
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police were now looking for a native
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velasque male with long black hair down
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to his waist with an uneven orange tint
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we didn't know who the assailant was we
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had no idea what that person was
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going to do whether this was going to be
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a series of crimes
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and for the first week or so we
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certainly had concerns that we had a
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person or persons capable of committing
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such a heinous crime walking around our
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community without us able to identify
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who that person was
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since the victim had a high alcohol
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content at the time of her death
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police canvassed bars in downtown
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anchorage many of which are popular with
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the native community
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many of the bars have extensive video
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surveillance systems for liability
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purposes
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this way bar owners can prove they
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haven't served anyone who is visibly
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intoxicated
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bar owners decide whether they want to
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have these videotaped systems or not and
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then they install them their own so
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there's no mandate for it they do this
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on a voluntary basis
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police collected the surveillance tapes
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from every downtown bar that had a video
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system and looked through the hours of
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footage
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one videotape was from an outside
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surveillance camera taken on the night
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of the murder
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fortunately the picture was relatively
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clear for a night scene
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why
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[Music]
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even at nine or ten o'clock at night
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the sun is still shining in alaska since
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it's so far north
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this is why alaska is called the land of
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the midnight sun
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on this one tape was a clear image of a
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woman wearing a checked jacket like the
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one found at the crime scene
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she was walking down the street
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arm-in-arm with a man with long black
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hair
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i would say the video image of the
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individual was fair it wasn't real clear
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but it was fair enough that we could
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felt comfortable go out and begin
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searching for the person who was enough
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that we could get an idea of who he
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might be
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the trick now
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was to find out the individual's
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identity
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anchorage police uncovered this video
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surveillance image thought to be their
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victim and the killer taken on the night
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of the murder
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the videotape was from a surveillance
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system at a bar in downtown anchorage
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called the avenue
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the bar had nine tiny video surveillance
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cameras in operation at all times
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almost every square foot of the bar and
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the entrance and exit are all covered
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the bar owner john patty says the
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surveillance is not a luxury it's a
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necessity
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video surveillance gives me another body
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it gives you the opportunity to have
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maybe a couple fewer employees and yet
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you can monitor you know seven or eight
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different locations within the bar
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when police showed the surveillance
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picture to john patty
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he could not identify the man in the
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image
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but he knew the woman her name
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was martha hansen
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everyone called her marty she was a
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regular customer
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since i've been here i've known her but
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just as a customer a tiny little girl
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you know never caused a problem
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a background check revealed martha
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hansen was a 48 year old divorced mother
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of six children and was unemployed she
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was just very trusting very open with
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people and it didn't matter who you were
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to reach out to you
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i think that was
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probably what the downfall was here
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she'd been gone for two days before her
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children reported her missing which is
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why police had not connected her to
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their victim
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pat t said that on the night of the
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murder martha hansen was in his bar and
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was denied service the bartender's first
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engagement with her that bartending
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determined that she was too intoxicated
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to be in here
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so we asked her to leave and then she
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left
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martha was inside for less than five
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minutes
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patrons remembered her
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but did not remember seeing the man in
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the surveillance image
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it appeared that the man
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never entered the bar
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so there was no clear shot of his face
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the best images unfortunately were
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martha hansen and the suspect walking
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away from the bar so we have the back of
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the subject as opposed to the front
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the image showed martha and the man
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walking arm and arm which suggested the
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two knew one another
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we're canvassing the area again going
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back to the businesses going back to the
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retailers going back to people saying do
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you know who this person is
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when police put the photograph in the
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local newspaper a concerned citizen
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called with some information
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[Music]
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she said that a week after the murder of
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martha hansen one of her friends blurted
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out that he'd killed someone
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when she asked him how
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he held up his hands indicating that
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he'd either hit or strangled his victim
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or both
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her initial instinct was he's just
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bragging he's intoxicated he couldn't do
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something like this
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the man's name
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was evans lee curtis
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with hair so long it fell almost to his
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waist
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curtis was unemployed with no prior
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arrest
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evans curtis fit
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the photo that we received from the
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videotape to a t
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curtis had left his pants in this
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woman's bedroom
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they appeared to be similar to those in
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the surveillance image
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when police analyzed those pants
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they discovered they were spattered with
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blood
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evans lee curtis was interrogated by
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police but he denied any involvement in
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martha hansen's murder
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so having your own rights in mind that
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we talked about
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do you want to talk to us about this
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police had the surveillance image the
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hairs and the palm print of the killer
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the question now
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was whether the forensic evidence would
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match evans lee curtis
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league curtis said he had nothing to do
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with the murder of martha hansen he
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claimed the man in the video image was
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someone else that he certainly wasn't
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the only man in anchorage with long hair
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but his long hair
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was distinctive
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it had the same unusual orange color as
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the hairs found at the crime scene
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the suspect's hair was also chemically
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treated was very long in length and the
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chemical treatment was irregular along
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the length the same as what i found in
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the in the hairs from the scene
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investigators wanted something more
00:16:02
conclusive
00:16:04
they wanted to know if the partial palm
00:16:06
print found on martha hanson's thigh
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belonged to curtis
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police took impressions of his hands
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focusing more on his palms than his
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fingertips
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investigators were looking for the
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distinctive crease between the index and
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middle fingers they found on martha
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hansen's thigh
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when compared
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there was no mistaking it
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the print on the body was from evans lee
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curtis
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that presents him with a serious problem
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and that problem is how does he explain
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why his palm print is on a dead woman
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the print evidence while significant was
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subject to defense attack
00:16:54
the super glue fuming process was so
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unusual
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investigators were concerned whether it
00:17:00
would be allowed as evidence
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so they conducted dna testing of the
00:17:06
blood found on curtis's pants
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when the blood on the pants was compared
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to dna from martha hansen's blood dna
00:17:16
it was a match we have no idea why he
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left his pants behind but we're glad he
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did
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[Music]
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but perhaps
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the most damning clue was found on the
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boots curtis was wearing at the time of
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his arrest
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they were given to forensic analyst jim
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wolfe
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[Music]
00:17:37
in a crevice on the boot soul
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created by simple wear and tear he found
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what looked to be
00:17:44
a small pocket of blood
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what really caught my eye what was on
00:17:48
the victim's body appeared to be a heel
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impression was some possible blood
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stains on the heel of the boot actually
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inside a heel that was or inside a hole
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that was worn into the heel
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wolf swabbed the area extracting the
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blood
00:18:06
the dna from the shoe was compared to
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martha hansen's dna
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it
00:18:12
matched prosecutor david wallace had one
00:18:16
of the best cases of his career
00:18:19
in this case it was forensically solid
00:18:22
mr curtis would have had a lot of
00:18:24
explaining to do how all of these pieces
00:18:26
of the puzzle were not him when i had
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multiple experts going to take the stand
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and say it was in fact mr curtis that
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killed martha hansen
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police discovered that curtis knew
00:18:38
martha hansen's daughter and had
00:18:40
actually met martha at a dinner party a
00:18:42
few weeks before her murder
00:18:45
she had trusted evans she had apparently
00:18:49
been an acquaintance with him he had
00:18:52
been invited
00:18:55
over to the house a couple of times and
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i guess she had actually had fed him
00:19:02
[Music]
00:19:03
prosecutors believe that when martha
00:19:06
left the avenue bar
00:19:08
she just happened to run into curtis
00:19:12
recognizing one another they walked down
00:19:14
the street arm and arm possibly on their
00:19:16
way to another night spot
00:19:20
but instead
00:19:21
curtis took martha to a secluded area
00:19:24
and made a sexual advance
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when she rejected him
00:19:28
curtis attacked her
00:19:33
in the ensuing fight
00:19:35
curtis caught some of his hair in a tree
00:19:37
branch hair which had a distinct orange
00:19:40
bleaching
00:19:46
curtis got blood on his pants
00:19:49
the most unusual piece of forensic
00:19:52
evidence was his partial palm print
00:19:55
on martha's left thigh
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and when he stepped on martha's torso
00:20:00
her blood became embedded in the sole of
00:20:03
his boot
00:20:06
since he left the body under the trees
00:20:08
protected from the sunlight and
00:20:10
excessive moisture the conditions were
00:20:13
perfect to preserve the print for hours
00:20:16
after she died
00:20:18
providing one final clue in a mosaic of
00:20:22
evidence that ultimately identified
00:20:25
evans lee curtis
00:20:28
not aware of any other case in alaska
00:20:30
where a palm print fingerprint or any
00:20:32
type of print has been lifted from a
00:20:34
deceased person
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when faced with the overwhelming amount
00:20:39
of forensic evidence
00:20:41
evans lee curtis decided to plead guilty
00:20:44
is a
00:20:45
brutal
00:20:47
the appearance of the victim's face is
00:20:50
shocking
00:20:52
evans lee curtis was sentenced
00:20:55
to 99 years in prison
00:20:58
his conviction
00:21:00
a combination of old-fashioned police
00:21:02
work high-tech forensic science
00:21:05
and a little bit of luck
00:21:07
the video tape evidence
00:21:10
in conjunction with the palm prints and
00:21:12
other evidence at the scene were
00:21:14
just over and above what we could have
00:21:16
hoped for
00:21:18
with what we have in technology
00:21:20
give something a shot
00:21:22
and
00:21:23
that doesn't work modify it give
00:21:25
something else a shot
00:21:27
but there's
00:21:28
untold things out there that
00:21:31
will eventually be employed
00:21:33
where we will be making identifications
00:21:35
that people
00:21:37
today would think impossible
00:21:39
forensic technology is extremely
00:21:42
important in many many cases whether
00:21:44
it's homicide to simple thefts
00:21:47
because if you don't have a confession
00:21:49
if you don't have an eyewitness to the
00:21:51
crime you have nothing
00:21:53
so with forensic evidence we are able to
00:21:56
circumstantially piece together a puzzle
00:21:59
that may never have been pieced together
00:22:00
before
00:22:01
[Music]
00:22:16
so
00:22:18
[Music]
00:22:27
[Music]
00:22:36
you
