09x03 - In Harm's Way

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Narrator: at one time, a used tissue was just trash.

Today, it's potential dna evidence.

New scientific discoveries are turning inconsequential items

Into vital pieces of forensic information.

This is how an alert pathologist and a piece of cartilage made

Scientific history.

On november , , dawn broke crisp and cold over anchorage,

Alaska.

The temperature was around zero degrees when a policeman on

Routine patrol discovered a body in a public park.

We didn't have anything.

We had no witnesses, nothing but the body as far as evidence

Goes.

No tracks as far as a vehicle or a person, or footprints,

Anything like that.

So, we had very, very little, and we were very concerned about

It.

Narrator: police took her fingerprints and ran them

Through afis, the automated fingerprint identification

System, which compared them to millions of prints in a

Nationwide database.

The victim was identified as -year-old kathryn harms.

A background check indicated kathryn harms, known as "kat,"

Had recently moved to anchorage from juneau, the state capital,

Where she was employed by the tongass national park service.

Kathryn told friends she moved to anchorage to be closer to her

-Year-old son.

We not only just barely identified her, but we had no

Idea where she was living, no idea what lifestyle she had

Except from the background in juneau.

We had no idea who would want to hurt her like that.

Kathryn harms had been staying with friends, moving

From place to place with no steady address in the months

Prior to her m*rder.

Narrator: when informed of her death, kathryn's parents

Told police about a chilling phone message they received from

Her two nights before the m*rder.

Narrator: the autopsy revealed the cause of death was

A s*ab wound to the chest.

There was no blood around the wound, which told the medical

Examiner her position when att*cked.

She was probably in a prone position where she was laying on

Her back at the time she was stabbed.

Narrator: surprisingly, she had no defensive wounds.

An individual who's being att*cked with a Kn*fe will

Attempt to fend off that Kn*fe.

It may cause cuts in the hands or on the forearms, and we

Didn't find any of those kinds of defensive wounds on the hands

Or forearms of the decedent.

Narrator: she had also been beaten before her death -- an

Indication kathryn knew her attacker.

It was overkill, really.

And subsequently, it looked like a body that was done out of

Anger, not just for the purpose of k*lling her.

And we suspected that the victim knew the person that did it

Because of that.

Narrator: investigators learned that kathryn's

Ex-husband was not in alaska when she was m*rder*d and was

Ruled out as a suspect.

Two days later, the <span tts:fontstyle="italic">anchorage</span> <span tts:fontstyle="italic"> daily news</span>printed a story

Asking anyone with information about the victim to come

Forward.

And several did, including one person living over , miles

Away.

Narrator: when news of kathryn harms' m*rder was

Released to the public, a man called police with some

Important information.

He said kathryn came over to his apartment a few nights earlier.

He said she was high on dr*gs and spent the night and left the

Next morning in a taxi, although he didn't know where she lived.

With this information, police called the alaska cab company to

Find out where kathryn went.

The cab driver said he picked up the victim and transported

Her back to the spenard hotel, room , where a female came out

And took her into room .

Narrator: room was occupied by a woman named

Maureen malloy, who lived there with her two children.

When interviewed by police, malloy said kathryn was a friend

Who had been staying with her until she found a place of her

Own.

She said that, yes, kathryn harms was living with

Her, but she was causing a lot of trouble, she was using dr*gs,

And actually engaging in prostitution in her room.

She had children there and maureen couldn't have that, so

She told her she had to leave.

Narrator: malloy said a hotel clerk helped carry kathryn to

Her car.

She said kathryn was high on dr*gs, but other than that, was

Fine.

Her skin was clammy and cold, but she was definitely alive.

The clerks agreed that the woman was not stabbed.

There was no blood on her body.

She was definitely passed out.

There was no way she was gonna get up and walk away.

Narrator: malloy planned to take kathryn to another friend's

Home, but they never got there.

At tudor and arctic, a major intersection several miles away

From the spenard hotel, kathryn harms had gotten up,

Jumped out of the car, and ran away into the night.

Narrator: police searched maureen malloy's hotel room and

Found no evidence of a struggle.

There were no bloody clothes, towels, sheets, or anything else

To indicate someone had been stabbed.

All they found were two tiny specks of blood near the

Floorboard on the living-room wall.

Dna testing matched the blood to kathryn harms, but it didn't

Help the case.

She was living in the apartment.

She could've cut herself and a spot of blood got on the wall

That way.

There are lots of different ways somebody can bleed, so it does

Not prove that she was b*at in that apartment.

Narrator: toxicology tests from kathryn harms' autopsy

Revealed no alcohol or street dr*gs in her system, but the

Medical examiner found something very suspicious.

We found very high levels of flexeril in the gastric

Contents, indicating that she had been given a dose or an

Overdose of flexeril in the recent past.

Narrator: flexeril is a prescription drug used to

Relieve muscle spasms, but when taken in excess, it can have the

Opposite effect.

One of the unusual side effects would be a rigidity of

The muscles in the sense as if every muscle in the body was

Tensed up or held rigid.

Narrator: this explains why kathryn harms was cold and

Somewhat rigid when the hotel clerk carried her out to

Maureen malloy's car.

Without additional evidence, the case was turning cold, until

Police got a break from an unlikely place.

A woman living , miles away in seattle, washington, called

Police because she had seen the article about the m*rder in the

Anchorage newspaper.

It was one of a number of items in a package mailed to her from

A friend in anchorage.

She said she had received a cardboard box from

Maureen malloy.

Narrator: inside the box were kathryn harms' driver's license,

The newspaper article, some jewelry, a Kn*fe, and this

Handwritten note.

Hey woman, please burn all the contents of this box.

This is very important, and many lives are on the line.

This would be a great favor, and in all the world, I trust only

You.

The woman from seattle told me she wanted nothing to do with

This.

She didn't feel right about it, and so she thought she better

Call the police.

Narrator: the Kn*fe appeared to be clean.

Investigators wanted to know whether this was the w*apon used

To k*ll kathryn harms.

Narrator: the package of items maureen malloy mailed to

Seattle was sent to the forensic lab for testing.

Malloy's note asked her friend to destroy all of the contents.

Forensic experts confirmed that maureen's fingerprints were on

The document.

What we were interested in was the Kn*fe.

It was a folding, buck-type Kn*fe, and we knew from the

Autopsy that the injuries would be consistent with the Kn*fe.

Narrator: to see if the Kn*fe blade contained anything of

Evidentiary value, investigators sent it to a forensic toolmark

Analyst.

The microscopic fine marks on each Kn*fe blade are random in

Nature.

They're a function of when the last time the Kn*fe blade was

Sharpened.

The irregularities in a Kn*fe blade are going to be different

In this Kn*fe, even compared to the next Kn*fe blade that was

Made at the factory on the assembly line.

Narrator: robert shem was confident he could find unique

Marks on the Kn*fe, but he had nothing to compare it to.

Then shem learned that the medical examiner, dr. Thompson,

Had done something unusual during the autopsy.

Instead of documenting the fatal wound by photography,

Dr. Thompson actually excised the section of the ribcage where

The wound occurred.

Oh, I believe dr. Thompson went beyond the call of duty.

I think it's because, as a younger, newer pathologist in

The field, he's much more progressive and much more open

To new ideas.

Narrator: the costal cartilage at the end of one rib

Clearly showed the s*ab wound.

The costal cartilage is very much like a low-density plastic

In that it cuts readily, and when it cuts, it has the

Consistency such that it can take the toolmarks quite well,

Surprisingly well.

Narrator: shem used a substance called microsil, a

Rubbery material that takes the shape of anything to which it's

Applied.

It's used by toolmark examiners to preserve the very

Fine details that you'll see impressed in striated toolmarks,

So what we need is a material that will flow very well into

The toolmark and then harden in a short period of time, so that

We can do comparisons of these very fine marks.

Narrator: after the microsil hardened, shem peeled it from

The rib.

The question now was whether these marks were good enough to

Match the suspected m*rder w*apon.

To find out, shem took the Kn*fe and pressed it down into a hard

Piece of plastic.

This transferred the toolmarks from the suspected m*rder w*apon

To the plastic surface.

In this case here, it was important to find the exact

Angle at which the Kn*fe was used and then to replicate that

Angle into plastic, and then do that comparison.

Narrator: the process with the microsil was repeated, this

Time, along the newly cut surface of the plastic block.

When the mold was peeled away, shem wanted to see if it could

Be matched to the marks taken from the wound, so he placed

Both of the microsil molds under a comparison microscope.

At -times magnification, he was able to look at them

Side-by-side.

The toolmarks from the wound and maureen malloy's Kn*fe were

Identical.

In this particular case, the identification was pretty

Compelling, plus being a born skeptic, I find the concept of

Matching a tool, that is, a Kn*fe, back to a piece of the

Human body, to be pretty incredible.

Bob shem gave me a photograph of what he saw in his comparison

Microscope and that was probably one of the most powerful pieces

Of evidence I've ever presented in a courtroom.

Narrator: investigators found even more evidence inside

Maureen malloy's car.

They saw a very small smear of dried blood near the

Ignition-switch area.

Of course, that was swabbed, and those swabs were sent to the

State crime lab for dna analysis.

Those tests revealed that the blood on the ignition switch of

Malloy's car was, in fact, kathryn harms' blood.

Narrator: and they also found evidence in one of maureen's

Jackets.

Inside the right pocket, there was bloodstains.

That blood turned out to be kathryn harms' blood.

The stains were comparable to the dimensions of the Kn*fe that

We seized in the box.

Narrator: maureen malloy was arrested and charged with

First-degree m*rder.

The question haunting prosecutors now was, "what was

The motive?"

Narrator: maureen malloy denied any involvement in

Kathryn harms' m*rder.

My handwriting?

Your handwriting.

The note?

Yeah.

There's nothing about a Kn*fe in the note.

I didn't know about any Kn*fe.

She refused to talk about the Kn*fe.

She wouldn't say she owned it, she didn't own it.

She wouldn't say anything.

[ Indistinct talking ] you've got people to think

About, and you just...

I mean, we're all adults here.

We can read the writing on the wall.

That's what's happened, maureen.

Now, let's just stand tall.

Let's just tell it how it happened.

This don't come across like the cold-blooded bitch that you look

Like you are now.

I'm not.

I know you're not.

Don't tell me I don't care about my kids and that I just

Care about myself.

Just tell me what happened.

Tell me why you did what you did.

They go back and forth and back and forth, and it turns out

That malloy never comes off her story.

Finally, I ask her about the Kn*fe, and the toolmarks on the

Kn*fe exactly matching the bone in the chest of my victim.

At that time she said she didn't want to talk anymore.

She wanted to see a lawyer.

Narrator: but prosecutors wondered why malloy would k*ll

Kathryn harms.

Carrie rundle, who was, at one time, malloy's roommate, told

Police that maureen had stolen a sizeable g*n collection and

Planned to sell it and live off of the proceeds.

She also said that malloy feared kathryn would expose her plans

To the police.

Rundle said she saw malloy put the drug flexeril in kathryn's

Food, thinking it would relax kathryn and get her to talk.

Maureen malloy thought she was a snitch.

I believe the v*olence occurred when she was trying to get

Kathryn harms to tell her who she had told and what she had

Told them.

I think at a certain point, though, the v*olence had been so

Excessive, that maureen realized she couldn't let kathryn go.

Narrator: the toxicology evidence shows that kathryn had

Been given an excessive amount of flexeril, which stiffened her

Muscles and caused the rigidity described by the hotel clerk.

Prosecutors believe malloy drove kathryn to the park, dumped her

Body, then stabbed her to death while she was unconscious.

Malloy then put the bloody Kn*fe in her coat pocket, leaving both

Kathryn's dna and the impression of the m*rder w*apon.

Malloy also left a tiny spot of kathryn's blood inside her car.

The forensic evidence proved that it was malloy's Kn*fe and

No other that left the distinctive toolmarks on

Kathryn's rib.

I really don't believe that maureen malloy thought that the

Police department, the crime lab, the medical examiner's

Office, would join together to create a team that would solve

This crime.

I think that maureen malloy figured nobody would spend this

Kind of effort.

You told him that kathryn...

Narrator: maureen malloy denied everything and took the

Stand in her own defense.

Who k*lled kathryn harms?

I wasn't there.

Who k*lled kathryn harms?

I was not there.

Narrator: she claimed that members of the local hell's

Angels motorcycle g*ng k*lled kathryn and planted the evidence

To frame her.

I did not do that to her, and they would do and say anything

To discredit me to cover for what they did in that room.

In closing argument, in front of the jury, I took the Kn*fe,

The m*rder w*apon, I took maureen malloy's leather jacket,

And I pulled out the pocket lining.

I took the Kn*fe and put it right on top of the area where

The crime lab had snipped the two fabric areas, and the Kn*fe

Fit right between those two areas like a glove.

I argued that the m*rder w*apon was in her pocket when it had

Liquid blood on it.

Narrator: the forensic science in this case was unique.

Only once or twice before had scientists been able to match a

s*ab wound to the specific Kn*fe with this type of analysis.

Looking at ribcages for toolmark comparison is a pretty

Rare examination for the examiner in a laboratory because

It's rare that we're going to have the conditions where we

Have both the ribs that are cut, that have a decent toolmark on

Them, and have a need to compare a Kn*fe to it.

Narrator: maureen malloy was found guilty and sentenced to

Years in prison.

I absolutely hate you, you worthless piece of flesh.

If you ever try to get out, I will be there as your constant

Reminder, and I will remind the state of alaska of the

Atrocities that you have committed against my sister.

I covered a lot of m*rder trials, and this one stuck with

Me for a long time because it just never made any sense.

At the end of it, I felt that I didn't know the whole story, and

I clearly remember the judge, at sentencing, saying that she did

Not feel that she could understand the motive for the

m*rder.

Narrator: jurors later told reporters that the toolmark

Comparison was exceptionally compelling.

Knowledge is power.

Forensic science puts power in the hands of the investigators

And it gives them the power to know the difference between what

Is definitely true and what they only think is true.

The forensic science in this case, specifically the matching

Of the toolmarks between the Kn*fe blade and the sternum bone

Of the victim, is invaluable.

That made the case.

Well, in this case forensic science was absolutely key.

Again, this is a case with no eyewitnesses, and yet, a

Prosecutor can go to the jury and say, "listen, ladies and

Gentlemen -- people lie.

Science doesn't."

In this case, the scientific evidence was irrefutable.