FRAMING THE STORY
As a forensic-DNA professional, I enjoyed Kathryn Schulz’s article on “Making a Murderer,” the Netflix series, by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, about the police investigations of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey in the murder of Teresa Halbach (“Dead Certainty,” January 25th). However, Schulz repeats the prosecutor’s problematic statement that DNA from Avery’s perspiration was found in a vehicle belonging to the victim. Forensic identification of body fluids is limited to blood, saliva, semen, and urine; there is no test for sweat. The continued mention of this as a source of DNA calls into question other statements made by the prosecutor.
Karl Reich
Lombard, Ill.
Schulz writes that “the point of being scrupulous about your means is to help insure accurate ends, whether you are trying to convict a man or…
You're reading a preview of
The New Yorker (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 22, 2016