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at one time a used tissue was just trash
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today it's potential dna evidence
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new scientific discoveries are turning
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inconsequential items into vital pieces
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of forensic information
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this is how an alert pathologist and a
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piece of cartilage made
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scientific history
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[Music]
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[Music]
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on november 9 1995 dawn broke crisp and
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cold over anchorage alaska
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the temperature was around zero degrees
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when a policeman on routine patrol
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discovered a body in a public park
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we didn't have anything we had no
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witnesses
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nothing but the body as far as evidence
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goes
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no tracks as far as a vehicle or person
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or footprints anything like that so we
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had very very little and we were very
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concerned about it
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police took her fingerprints and ran
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them through aphis the automated
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fingerprint identification system which
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compared them to millions of prints in a
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nationwide database
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the victim was identified as 34-year-old
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katherine harms
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a background check indicated catherine
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harms known as cat had recently moved to
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anchorage from juneau the state capitol
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where she was employed by the tangus
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national park service
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catherine told friend she moved to
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anchorage to be closer to her
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seven-year-old son
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we not only just barely identified her
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but we had no idea where she was living
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no idea what lifestyle she had except
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from the background in
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in juneau
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uh we had no idea who would want to hurt
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her like that
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catherine harms had been staying with
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friends moving from place to place with
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no steady address in the months
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prior to her murder
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when informed of her death
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catherine's parents told police about a
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chilling phone message they received
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from her two nights before the murder
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autopsy revealed the cause of death was
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a stab wound to the chest
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there was no blood around the wound
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which told the medical examiner her
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position when attacked
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she was probably in a prone position or
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she was laying on her back at the time
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she was stabbed
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surprisingly she had no defensive wounds
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an individual who is being attacked with
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a knife will attempt to fend off that
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knife it may cause cuts in the hands or
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on the forearms and we didn't find any
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of those kinds of defensive wounds on
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the hands or forearms of the decedent
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she had also been beaten before her
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death an indication catherine knew her
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attacker
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it was overkill really
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and subsequently we it looked like a
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body that
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that was done out of anger
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not just for the purpose of killing her
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and we suspected that the victim knew
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the person who did it because of that
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investigators learned that catherine's
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ex-husband was not in alaska when she
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was murdered and was ruled out as a
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suspect
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two days later the anchorage daily news
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printed a story asking anyone with
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information about the victim to come
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forward
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and several did including one person
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living over two thousand miles away
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when news of katherine harm's murder was
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released to the public
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a man called police with some important
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information
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he said
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catherine came over to his apartment a
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few nights earlier
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he said she was high on drugs and spent
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the night and left the next morning in a
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taxi although he didn't know where she
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lived
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with this information
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police called the alaska cap company to
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find out where catherine went
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the cab driver said he picked up the
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victim and transported her back to the
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bernard hotel room 31
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where
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a female came out and
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took her into room 31.
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room 31 was occupied by a woman named
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maureen malloy who lived there with her
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two children
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when interviewed by police malloy said
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catherine was a friend who had been
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staying with her until she found a place
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of her own
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she says oh yes catherine harms was
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living with her but she was causing a
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lot of trouble she was using drugs and
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actually engaging in prostitution in her
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room and she had children there and and
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marine couldn't have that
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and so
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she told her she had to leave
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malloy said a hotel clerk helped carry
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catherine to her car
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she said catherine was high on drugs but
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other than that was fine
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her skin was clammy and cold but i mean
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she was she was definitely alive the
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clerks agreed that the woman was not
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stabbed
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there was no blood on her body
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she was definitely passed out there was
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no way she was going to get up and walk
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away
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malloy planned to take catherine to
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another friend's home
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but they never got there
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at tudor and arctic major intersection
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several miles away from the spinard
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hotel catherine harms had gotten up
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jumped out of the car and ran away into
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the night
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[Music]
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police searched maureen molloy's hotel
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room and found no evidence of a struggle
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there were no bloody clothes towels
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sheets or anything else to indicate
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someone had been stabbed
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[Music]
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all they found
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were two tiny specks of blood
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near the floorboard on the living room
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wall
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[Music]
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dna testing matched the blood
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to katherine harms
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but it didn't help the case
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she was living in the apartment she
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could have cut herself and spot a blood
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got on the wall that way there are lots
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of different ways somebody can can bleed
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so it does not prove that she was beat
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in that apartment
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toxicology tests from katherine harm's
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autopsy revealed no alcohol or street
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drugs in her system
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but the medical examiner found
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something very suspicious
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we found very high levels of flexural in
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the gastric contents indicating that she
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had been given a dose or an overdose of
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flux rule in the recent past
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flexural is a prescription drug used to
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relieve muscle spasms
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but when taken in excess it can have the
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opposite effect
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one of the unusual side effects would be
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a rigidity of the muscles in a sense as
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if every muscle in the body was was
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tensed up or held rigid
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this explains why
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catherine harms was cold and somewhat
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rigid when the hotel clerk carried her
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out to marine malloy's car
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without additional evidence the case was
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turning cold
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until police got a break
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from an unlikely place
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a woman living two thousand miles away
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in seattle washington called police
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because she had seen the article about
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the murder in the anchorage newspaper
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it was one of a number of items in a
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package mailed to her from a friend in
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anchorage she said she had received a
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box of cardboard box from
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marine malloy
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[Music]
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inside the box
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were katherine harm's driver's license
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the newspaper article some jewelry
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a knife
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and this handwritten note
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hey woman
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please burn all the contents of this box
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this is very important many lives are on
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the line
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this would be a great favor and in all
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the world i trust only you
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the woman from seattle told me
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she wanted nothing to do with this but
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she didn't feel right about it and so
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she thought she better call the police
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the knife appeared to be clean
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investigators wanted to know
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whether this was the weapon used to kill
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katherine harms
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[Music]
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the package of items marine malloy
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mailed to seattle
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was sent to the forensic lab for testing
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malloy's note asked her friend to
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destroy
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all of the contents
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forensic experts confirmed that
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maureen's fingerprints were on the
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document
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what we were interested in was the knife
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it was a folding buck type knife
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and we knew from the autopsy that the
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injuries would be consistent with the
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knife
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to see if the knife blade contained
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anything of evidentiary value
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investigators sent it to a forensic tool
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mark analyst
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the microscopic fine marks on each knife
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blade are random in nature they're a
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function of when the last time the knife
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blade was sharpened the irregularities
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in a knife blade are going to be
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different in this knife even compared to
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the next knife blade that was made at
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the factory on the assembly line
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robert shem was confident he could find
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unique marks on the knife but
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he had nothing to compare it to
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then shem learned that the medical
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examiner dr thompson had done something
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unusual during the autopsy
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instead of documenting the fatal wound
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by photography
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dr thompson actually excised the section
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of the rib cage where the wound occurred
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well i believe dr thompson went beyond
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the call of duty i think it's because as
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a younger newer pathologist in the field
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he's much more progressive and much more
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open to new ideas
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the costal cartilage at the end of one
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rib
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clearly showed the stab wound
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the costal cartilage is very much like a
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low density plastic in that it cuts
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readily and when it cuts it has the
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consistency such that it can take the
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tool marks quite well surprisingly well
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shem used a substance called microsill a
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rubbery material that takes the shape of
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anything to which it's applied
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used by toolbox examiners to preserve
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the very fine details that you'll see
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impressed and striated tool marks so
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what we need is a material that will
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flow very well into the tool mark and
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then harden in a short period of time so
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that we can do comparisons of these very
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fine marks
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after the microcell hardened shem peeled
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it from the rib
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[Music]
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the question now was whether these marks
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were good enough to match the suspected
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murder weapon
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to find out
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shem took the knife and pressed it down
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into a hard piece of plastic
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this transferred the tool marks from the
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suspected murder weapon to the plastic
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surface
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in this case here it was important to
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find the exact angle at which the knife
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was used and then to replicate that
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angle into plastic and then do that
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comparison
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the process with the microsill was
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repeated
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this time along the newly cut surface of
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the plastic block
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when the mold was peeled away
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shem wanted to see if it could be
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matched to the marks taken from the
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wound
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so he placed both of the microsill molds
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under a comparison microscope
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at 50 times magnification
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he was able to look at them side by side
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the tool marks from the wound and marine
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malloy's knife
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were identical in this particular case
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the identification was pretty compelling
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plus
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being a born skeptic i find the concept
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of matching a tool that is a knife back
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to a piece of the human body to be
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pretty incredible bob shem gave me a
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photograph
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of what he saw in his comparison
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microscope and that was probably
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one of the most powerful pieces of
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evidence i've ever presented in a
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courtroom
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investigators found even more evidence
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inside maureen malloy's car
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they saw a very small smear of dried
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blood near the ignition switch area of
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course that was swabbed and those swabs
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were sent to the state crime lab for dna
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analysis those tests revealed that the
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blood on the ignition switch in molay's
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car was in fact catherine harm's blood
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and they also found evidence in one of
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marines jackets
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inside right puck there was
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blood stains that blood turned out to be
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catherine harm's blood the stains
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were comparable to the dimensions of the
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knife that we seized in the box
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maureen malloy was arrested and charged
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with first degree murder
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the question haunting prosecutors now
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was
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what was the motive
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[Music]
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denied any involvement in catherine
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harm's murder
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[Music]
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there's nothing about a knife in the
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note i didn't know about any knife
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she refused to talk about the knife
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she wouldn't say she owned it she didn't
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own it she wouldn't say anything you
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could look a lot better than you doing
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she was baiting you she was [ __ ] with
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you for days and days and days and
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you've got your kids
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you've got people to think about
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and you just lost it
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that's what happened
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i mean we're all we're all adults here
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we can read the writing on the wall
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that's what's happened louise
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now let's just stand tall let's just
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tell it how it happened
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let's don't come across like the
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cold-blooded [ __ ] that you look like
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you are now but uh i know you're not
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don't tell me i don't care about my kids
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without i just care about myself just
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tell me what happened tell me why you
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did what you did
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they go back and forth and back and
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forth and it turns out that moy never
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comes off her story finally
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i asked her about the knife
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and the tool marks on the knife
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exactly matching the bone in the chest
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of my victim
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and at that time she said she didn't
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want to talk anymore
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she wanted to see a lawyer
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but prosecutors wondered
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why malloy would kill katherine harms
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carrie rundle who was at one time
00:15:47
malloy's roommate told police that
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maureen had stolen a sizeable gun
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collection and planned to sell it and
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live off of the proceeds
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she also said that malloy feared
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catherine would expose her plans to the
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police
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rundle said
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she saw malloy put the drug flexoril in
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katherine's food
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thinking it would relax catherine and
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get her to talk
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maureen malloy thought she was a stitch
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i believe the violence occurred when she
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was trying to get catherine harms to
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tell her who she had told and what she
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had told me
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i think at a certain point though the
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violence had been so excessive
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that marine realized
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she couldn't let catherine go
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the toxicology evidence shows that
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catherine had been given an excessive
00:16:44
amount of flexural which stiffened her
00:16:47
muscles and caused the rigidity
00:16:50
described by the hotel clerk
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prosecutors believe
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malloy drove catherine to the park
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dumped her body
00:17:01
then stabbed her to death while she was
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unconscious
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malloy then put the bloody knife in her
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coat pocket
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leaving both katherine's dna
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and the impression of the murder weapon
00:17:18
malloy also left a tiny spot of
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catherine's blood inside her car
00:17:22
[Music]
00:17:27
the forensic evidence proved
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that it was malloy's knife and no other
00:17:33
that left the distinctive tool marks on
00:17:36
katherine's rib
00:17:38
i really don't believe that maureen
00:17:39
malloy thought that the police
00:17:41
department the crime lab the medical
00:17:43
examiner's office would join together to
00:17:45
create a team that would solve this
00:17:46
crime i think that marine malloy figured
00:17:48
nobody would spend this kind of effort
00:17:50
you told him
00:17:52
maureen malloy denied everything
00:17:55
and took the stand in her own
00:17:57
[Music]
00:17:59
i defense there
00:18:00
who killed kathryn hart
00:18:04
she claimed that members of the local
00:18:06
hells angels motorcycle gang killed
00:18:08
catherine and planted the evidence to
00:18:10
frame her
00:18:12
and i did not do that to her and they
00:18:14
would do and say anything to discredit
00:18:16
me to cover for what they did in that
00:18:19
room in closing argument in front of the
00:18:21
jury i took the knife the murder one
00:18:24
i took maureen molloy's leather jacket
00:18:27
and i pulled out the pocket lining
00:18:29
i took the knife and put it right on top
00:18:32
of the area where the crime lab had
00:18:35
snipped the two fabric areas and the
00:18:37
knife fit right between those two areas
00:18:41
like a glove
00:18:43
i argued that the murder weapon was in
00:18:45
her pocket when it had liquid blood on
00:18:47
it
00:18:49
the forensic science in this case
00:18:52
was unique
00:18:54
only once or twice before
00:18:56
had scientists been able to match the
00:18:58
stab wound to the specific knife with
00:19:01
this type of analysis
00:19:04
looking at ribcages and for tulmar
00:19:06
comparison is is a pretty rare
00:19:08
examination for the examiner in the
00:19:10
laboratory because it's rare that we're
00:19:11
going to have the conditions where we
00:19:13
have
00:19:14
both the ribs that are cut that have a
00:19:16
decent tool mark on them and have a need
00:19:18
to compare a knife to it
00:19:20
maureen malloy was found guilty
00:19:23
and sentenced to 159 years in prison
00:19:28
i absolutely hate you
00:19:30
you worthless piece of flesh if you ever
00:19:32
try to get out i will be there as your
00:19:34
constant reminder and i will remind the
00:19:37
state of alaska the atrocities that you
00:19:39
have committed against my sister
00:19:41
i covered a lot of murder trials and
00:19:44
this one stuck with me for a long time
00:19:46
because
00:19:46
it just never made any sense and
00:19:49
at the end of it i felt that i didn't
00:19:52
know the whole story and i clearly
00:19:53
remember the judge at sentencing saying
00:19:55
that she did not feel that she could
00:19:58
understand
00:19:59
the motive for
00:20:01
for the murder
00:20:04
jurors later told reporters that the
00:20:06
tool mark comparison was exceptionally
00:20:09
compelling
00:20:11
knowledge is power forensic science puts
00:20:15
power in the hands of the investigators
00:20:17
and it gives them the power to know the
00:20:20
difference between what is definitely
00:20:22
true and what they only think is true
00:20:26
the forensic science
00:20:28
in this case
00:20:29
specifically
00:20:32
the matching of the tool marks between
00:20:34
the knife blade
00:20:35
and the chest sternum bone of the victim
00:20:39
is invaluable that made the case
00:20:42
well in this case forensic science was
00:20:44
absolutely key again this is a case with
00:20:46
no eye witnesses and yet
00:20:50
a prosecutor can go to the jury and say
00:20:52
listen ladies and gentlemen
00:20:54
witnesses
00:20:55
people lie
00:20:57
science doesn't
00:20:59
and in this case the scientific evidence
00:21:01
was irrefutable
00:21:03
[Music]
00:21:14
[Music]
00:21:26
[Applause]
00:21:27
[Music]
00:21:41
you
