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Zahn Meditation
A tragic Knoxville murder was the subject of an hour-long report on the Investigation Discovery show “On the Case with Paula Zahn” last night. It’s been seven years since Johnia Berry was stabbed in her apartment.
I often think of Johnia when I drive by her apartment complex and the Weigel’s store where her roommate ran for help. The show made me realize I had forgotten many details of the case. At the time, I followed the case in the news and tried to help Johnia’s brother and mother spread the word as they kept pressure on the police to make an arrest, which they did almost three years after Johnia’s murder. “On the Case” pointed out that Johnia’s roommate was a strong suspect until he was finally cleared by a DNA test and by a revised analysis of his polygraph test.
In case you missed it, the Johnia Berry episode will be repeated on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Investigation Discovery is on HD channel 387 and SD channel 111 on Xfinity TV in Knoxville.
Choosy Mothers Choose GIF
Krisha Newport stopped by my remote broadcast on Wednesday. She was on her way to a planning meeting for the Gatlinburg Improv Fest, which starts five weeks from today. The entry deadline is January 25. The festival will run February 23 to 26 at Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre, located at traffic light #3 in Gatlinburg.
The headliner is a one-man musical improv act called 6 Guitars. The star, Chase Padgett, had to buy a new guitar when his home was burglarized recently.
Krisha said there will be an improv jam, in which all the participants get to play improv games with each other. Although I’ve been doing improv for over ten years, this will be my first improv festival and I can hardly wait. I saved a few bucks by signing up Einstein Simplified before the early registration deadline last month.
What Have You Done for Philately?
Knoxville is full of streets named after living people. There are several roads named after athletes on the University of Tennessee campus. Many of those athletes are younger than me. I believe that the University will never regret their decision to name a street Peyton Manning Pass. Manning has continued to lead an exemplary life in Indianapolis while maintaining ties in Knoxville.
When I first moved here from California, I wondered what would have happened if USC had named a street after Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson. It would have seemed like a good idea at the time. In 2003, St. Mary’s Parish in Oak Ridge removed Bishop Anthony O’Connell’s name from a building after he admitted to sexual misconduct in the 1970s.
The U.S. Postal Service used to have a rule that only people who have been dead for ten years could be on a stamp. Former presidents got a stamp within a year of their death. A few years back, the postal service shortened the time to five years. They have now decided to drop the waiting period and honor living people on stamps.
So who will be the first living person on a stamp? Fans of 25-year-old Lady Gaga have flocked to Twitter to nominate her. I’ve also seen suggestions for 80-year-old Regis Philbin and 89-year-old Betty White. The stamp should be thought of as a lifetime achievement award. Gaga is still too young for the honor. Regis and Betty are safe bets at this point.
I’ve been asked to do whatever I can to help get a stamp for 83-year-old Dr. Bill Bass. He is a living legend in the fields of forensics and osteology. As one of the comments on Facebook put it: “The world is a safer place because of Dr. Bill Bass. He is a national treasure!” I’ve known Dr. Bass for nine years and can wholeheartedly endorse his character. The praise bestowed upon him at the dedication ceremony for the building named after him made it all the more obvious that he is deserving of a stamp too.
The postal service says the public can suggest potential honorees by several methods. I’ve already started via Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps I could make more of an impact by sending a message in a manner that most others won’t: first-class mail.
Familial DNA
Most of the members and guests of the FBI Knoxville Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association didn’t realize that they were doing one of the same exercises as the middle school kids who enroll in the “Fun with Forensics: Adventures in Chemistry” summer camp run by Dr. Al Hazari. At the conclusion of our tour of the National Forensic Academy, we used mini-marshmallows, Twizzlers and toothpicks to make models of DNA molecules. I know this because my son volunteered as a lab assistant at the chemistry camp last summer. He and I also toured the NFA last summer. We got to see some different stuff last night.
Earlier in the evening, one of the instructors said that Knoxville was the center of the forensic universe, thanks to the Body Farm, Oak Ridge National Lab and the National Forensic Academy. Over the past ten years, police officers from 47 states have trained at the NFA. Only Hawaii, Vermont and Rhode Island have failed to send anyone to take the ten-week course. From a couple of the anecdotes that Evidence Technician Tim Schade told us, it sounds like the Knoxville Police Department has some advanced equipment that you might not expect to find in a city its size. Tim also showed us how to dust for fingerprints on porous and non-porous surfaces.
In a pitch-black room, Oak Ridge Police Detective David Stephens showed us alternative light sources that illuminated various stains such as bleach, milk and spit. He then demonstrated BLUESTAR® FORENSIC latent bloodstains reagent, which lights up when sprayed on bloodstains that are invisible to the naked eye.
In a third room, we collected evidence at a staged crime scene and learned how to properly seal an evidence bag. The NFA’s Robert Geiger showed us bullet holes in a car windshield and let us figure out whether they were fired from the inside or outside. Then he put a laser in a bullet hole and then lined up a gun with the light to determine the bullet’s trajectory.
Since we would be gathering in Oak Ridge around dinner time, I asked Dave Neusel of Big Ed’s Pizza to provide a few pizzas for the group to enjoy. He is a big supporter of Dr. Bill Bass and the Bone Zones team. I correctly guessed that he would generously help out our group too. We were able to raise some money for the Junior Special Agent program and a few other good deeds to come in the months ahead.
Science Fair
Erica Estep had her first visit with Dr. Bill Bass on Tuesday. Here’s what she posted on Facebook: “I was expecting a man who deals with death so much to be creepy, but he was fascinating, funny and I enjoyed the time we spent at his home. He talked with me about the Casey Anthony trial and why the science being introduced is reliable.”
Now that Erica is a Bass fan, she should come to the next “Dinner with the Bone Doctor” at Echo Bistro & Wine Bar on August 8th.
Vass-ed Knowledge
The buzz of my cell phone sounded every few minutes on Monday. My friend Janet was sending me Facebook updates on the Casey Anthony trial that has kept her glued to the TV lately. Last week I had asked her to let me know when any experts from the Body Farm were called to the stand. She wrote “There’s a goober scientist from Tennessee on the stand at the Anti-Christ trial.” I think she was surprised that I have met him a few times. He’s no goober.
The expert witness was Dr. Arpad Vass. He works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and did some amazing research at the Body Farm. He invented a machine that works like the nose of a cadaver dog. It sniffs out the gases of human decomposition. His experiments indicate that there was a corpse in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car.
As Dr. Vass testified, I also read the Twitter feed of News 13 in Orlando. Their recap of Monday’s proceedings is thorough and well done. I was pleasantly surprised when reporter Adam Longo posted a tweet with a link to a blog post of mine from 2006. I wrote another blog post about Longo last September when he reported on the connection between the Body Farm and the Anthony case.
When I had my picture made with Dr. Vass at a Bone Zones party last year, I was also flanked by Helen Taylor and Dr. Al Hazari. The other day Helen sent me a Facebook message asking if I could fill in for her at the “Fun with Forensics: Adventures in Chemistry” summer camp run by Dr. Hazari. I’m not really sure how that will work. I guess I can tell the middle-schoolers about my tour of Helen’s crematory or I can be the guy who hands out the stretchy skeletons Helen ordered for the kids.
Fifteen Bones
The FBI Knoxville Citizens’ Academy tried something new for its April meeting on Tuesday evening. They made it a fundraiser and charged admission. Of course, only a superstar speaker could warrant such a move. The guest was Body Farm founder Dr. Bill Bass. He was available to sign autographs, pose for pictures and answer questions about forensic anthropology.
One of the beneficiaries of the FBIKCAAA is the Richard Yoakley School. The group regularly sponsors a cake walk and a junior agent program at the alternative school. FBI employees often volunteer there as reading tutors.
When I approached the Bone Zones team about booking Dr. Bass to speak at the meeting, they were interested in supporting a cause that helped troubled youth. The plot of the latest Jefferson Bass novel, “The Bone Yard,” centers around a corrupt reform school in Florida. After speaking about the new book, Dr. Bass presented a slide show on the infamous Thomas “Zoo Man” Huskey case.
Dr. Bass surprised the group by inviting us to have a future meeting in the classroom space at the new William M. Bass III Forensic Anthropology Building, which should be open by the Fall. We enthusiastically accepted the invitation.
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