Talk Forensics

Frank Bender World Renowned Forensic Sculptor and Fine Artist will be our guest on Talk Forensics Sunday, February 21st. Bender will discuss his latest reconstruction of Mebane, NC's "found" child. Bender was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer this past September and is currently under Hospice care along with his beautiful wife, Jan Bender. Jan Bender has also been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Bender was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Vidocq Society in Oct of '09, and recently The Frank Bender Award was presented to him in NC for his tireless efforts of using Art to identify "found" victims and capture our most wanted fugitives all over the world.

Marti Rulli, author, takes a look into the death of Natalie Wood.

Dr. Jason H. Byrd, assistant professor of forensic science and biology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an internationally recognized authority on insect evidence at crime scenes. Byrd, one of just a handful of certified forensic entomologists in the nation, is a key instructor in VCU’s popular new undergraduate forensic science program, which is preparing students for careers as chemists, crime lab analysts, crime scene technicians, federal agents, forensic molecular biologists and toxicologists, among other specialties.

Ann Rule is regarded as the foremost true crime writer in America, and the author responsible for the genre as it exists today. Ann has been a full-time true crime writer since 1969. Over the past 30 years, she has published 20 books and 1400 articles, mostly on criminal cases. Ann graduated from Coatesville High School, and has a BA from the University of Washington in Creative Writing, with minors in psychology, criminology and penology. She studied two years at Highline Community College, taking courses in crime scene investigation, police administration, crime scene photography and arrest, search and seizure. She has attended every seminar that police organizations invite her to, including those on organized crime, arson, bomb search, DNA, etc. She has 30 hours credit at the University of Washington Medical School earned by attending the National Medical Examiners' Conference. She attended the King County Police Basic Homicide School for two weeks. Today, she herself teaches seminars to many law enforcement groups. She is a certified instructor in many states on subjects such as: Serial Murder, Sadistic Sociopaths, Women Who Kill, and High Profile Offenders. She was on the U.S. Justice Department Task Force that set up VI-CAP, the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program now in place at FBI Headquarters in Quantico, a computer tracking system to help identify and trap serial killers. She has testified twice before Senate Judiciary Sub-committees on victims' rights and on the danger of serial killers. 26 of Ann's 28 books have been New York Times' bestsellers list, with Every Breath You Take and Last Dance, Last Chance both on the list at the same time. Four books have been made into TV movies, and five more are in the works. She won the coveted Peabody Award for her miniseries, Small Sacrifices, and has two Anthony Awards from Bouchercon, the mystery fans' organization. She has been nominated three times for Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Encore Presentation Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer of viaForensics, is a recognized computer scientist and forensic analyst and former chief information officer of a $750 million multinational corporation. He has led investigations, contributed to policy development and lectured at corporations, attorneys’associations and law enforcement agencies about the computer forensic discipline. He maintains a computer forensics and e-discovery glossary,authors computer/mobile forensic how-to guides and is now writing a book about Android forensics. He is the author of a groundbreaking white paper on iPhone forensics that has gained recognition throughout the industry. viaForensics is an innovative computer/mobile forensic and e-discovery company providing expert consulting services to corporations, law firms, law enforcement and government agencies. Beyond servicing our clients immediate needs, the company focuses on groundbreaking research in areas such as mobile forensics, SQLite forensics, data visualization and general education on forensics by regularly posting HOWTOs, glossary terms and the results of our research, accessible at viaforensics.com.

This week's guest is Dr. Michael Baden of HBO's Autopsy series. Dr. Baden has been featured on numerous televison specials and is one of the most well know forensic pathologists in the nation.

Joelle Fisher is an expert in detecting deception via the analysis of body language and written communications. She is a trainer for various law enforcement agencies and private companies.

Larry Daniel is a High Profile Computer Forensics Expert. Larry has eight years of experience in digital forensics and thirty years of experience in software development, server administration, desktop computers, network security, Windows, Linux, MAC OS, Novell and other operating systems. Larry is the CEO and Principal Digital Forensic Examiner for Guardian Digital Forensics. Larry E. Daniel is considered one of the top digital forensics defense experts in the USA. With over 8 years of computer forensics experience, 30 years IT experience and over 20 capital murder cases, Larry brings a unique perspective from his experience in complex cases as a defense expert. Larry is the author of the popular blog, Ex Forensis and host of the Talk Forensics Radio show.

David specializes in helping digital forensics professional find employment. He will be talking about what makes for a successful employment search, interviewing and preparing your credentials

A late bloomer, kathryn finished college in her early thirties, and spent nearly twenty years writing for magazines."It's been a lot of fun, and, in the process, I've contributed more than 100 articles to national magazines that include: Ladies' Home Journal, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Texas Monthly, Seventeen, MORE, Town & Country, and Readers' Digest" Kathryn said. Some of Kathryn's books are: EVIL BESIDE HER (formerly titled THE RAPIST'S WIFE). Following that, along came Susan White, Kent McGowen and A WARRANT TO KILL. Then she was off to Austin for the next three books, the first SHE WANTED IT ALL, on the Celeste Beard case, followed by DIE, MY LOVE, on the Piper Rountree case, set in Austin/?Houston/? and Richmond, Virginia. Her most recent true crime book, A DESCENT INTO HELL, on the Colton Pitonyak case, is a truly tragic Austin case, deeply troubling. The research took her into the world of college kids, drugs, sex, and guns. In DESCENT, three college-age kids with the whole world ahead of them slide into dangerous territory, and two end up committing a terrible, terrible crime. Finally, after two decades covering crime, she has relied on her experiences and expanded into fiction. The result: SINGULARITY, her first novel, published by St. Martin's Minotaur. The first in a series, SINGULARITY introduces Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong, the Texas Rangers' lone profiler, as she hunts a seriously strange killer. The case quickly takes over Armstrong's life and nearly destroys her. The second in the series, BLOOD LINES, is now out, and THE CROSSROADS is scheduled for fall 2010.

Vernon J. Geberth is a retired Lieutenant-Commander of the New York City Police Department with over 40 years of law enforcement experience. He retired as the Commanding Officer of the Bronx Homicide Task Force, which handled over 400 murder investigations a year. During his career he was a Detective, a Precinct Detective Squad Commander, Temporary Commander of the 7th Homicide Zone in the South Bronx and Commander of Bronx Homicide. He has personally investigated, supervised, assessed and consulted on over eight thousand death investigations. Commander Geberth has been the recipient of more than 60 awards for bravery and exceptional police work and is a member of the Honor Legion of the City of New York Police Department. Commander Geberth has a Master’s Degree of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) C.W. Post College, Long Island University and a second Master’s of Science Degree in Psychology (M.S.), California Coast University, Santa Ana, California. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York and he is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia 119th Session, (1979). Commander Geberth is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). In addition, Commander Geberth has appeared in numerous local, national and international television programs answering questions on the subject of murder, and providing insight, analysis and commentary with respect to all aspects of homicide and death investigations. Geberth has been referenced as a media consultant on a myriad of national major cases across the United States and Canada.

We are re-broadcasting last week's interview with Criminal Defense Attorney Jose Baez. We had technical difficulties in the first 15 minutes of the show but we have it fixed and wanted everyone to get a chance to hear this interview again. Jose Baez is a high profile criminal defense attorney based in the Orlando, Fl area. Baez was born in NY. He spent his childhood and attended school in Miami, Fl. After high school Baez had full intentions of pursuing a career in Law Enforcement, as a matter of fact he had dreams of becoming a Federal Law Enforcement Agent or an elite member of the Secret Service. After receiving a degree in Criminology from Florida State he went on to attend Florida’s prestigious St. Thomas School of Law. Jose began his career in law believing he would become a prosecutor. After working for several years as an Intern with the Dade County Public Defender’s Office it became clear to him that his passion was in the area of criminal defense. In 2004 Baez opened the Baez Law Firm and began his career in private practice as a criminal defense attorney. Since 2004 Baez has been involved in hundreds of cases including several local high profile cases and in 2008 he made national headlines when he became the lead defense attorney in the Casey Anthony murder case. Baez and his firm have supported numerous charity organizations over the years. Every year his office is involved in the Prison Ministries Christmas Project which provides Christmas gifts for the children of inmates.

Jose Baez is a high profile criminal defense attorney based in the Orlando, Fl area. Baez was born in NY. He spent his childhood and attended school in Miami, Fl. After high school Baez had full intentions of pursuing a career in Law Enforcement, as a matter of fact he had dreams of becoming a Federal Law Enforcement Agent or an elite member of the Secret Service. After receiving a degree in Criminology from Florida State he went on to attend Florida’s prestigious St. Thomas School of Law. Jose began his career in law believing he would become a prosecutor. After working for several years as an Intern with the Dade County Public Defender’s Office it became clear to him that his passion was in the area of criminal defense. In 2005 Baez opened the Baez Law Firm and began his career in private practice as a criminal defense attorney. Since 2005 Baez has been involved in hundreds of cases including several local high profile cases and in 2008 he made national headlines when he became the lead defense attorney in the Casey Anthony murder case. Baez and his firm have supported numerous charity organizations over the years. Every year his office is involved in the Prison Ministries Christmas Project which provides Christmas gifts for the children of inmates.

Renee began her career in mortgage lending in the mid ‘80’s. Working for both Brokers and Bankers and in various capacities throughout her career, she learned mortgage finance from the ground up. As the mortgage industry collapsed under it’s own weight, she used her knowledge of the industry and created a compliance review company. Using the laws and rules that govern lending, she investigates the loan documents and loan process for violations of these laws and rules. This gives consumers leverage in negotiating with their lender to obtain the relief they are seeking.

Dr. Maurice Godwin is president of Godwin Trial & Forensic Consultancy. He is a former police officer in the State of North Carolina. He was one of the first project coordinators for a National Institute of Justice grant for implementing community policing in a rural area. Dr. Godwin is also the author of numerous books and journal articles on psychological profiling, serial murder, and geographical profiling. He has worked as a consultant to police and victims’ families in developing psychological and geographical profiles. He has lectured in the United States and Europe on serial murder, cyber stalking, and criminal investigative analysis. Dr. Godwin received his Master’s Degree from Indiana State University, and his doctorate in investigative psychology from The University of Liverpool in England. He is a certified board member of United States Association of Professional Investigators (USAPI). His past expert testimony has yielded positive results. In the death penalty case of NJ vs. Steve Fortin his testimony for the defense on the unreliability of the FBI’s VICAP program kept VICAP from being introduced as evidence to show similarities between crimes. Dr. Godwin’s geographical profile in the Dru Sjodin abduction/murder case in North Dakota assisted searchers in locating her body. Dr. Godwin is a criminal investigative psychologist who has accurately profiled the Washington, DC sniper case plus many more serial cases. He has appeared on numerous national TV shows such as Hardball, Connie Chung, Fox News Live, MSNBC, CNN, BBC and Geraldo Rivera.