When Davis Police found the bodies of an elderly couple killed in their home Sunday, April 14, 2013, they called in our California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) members who are specialized crime scene investigators for the California Department of Justice (DOJ).
Fresno Police also requested the expertise of DOJ criminalists on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, as they uncovered the body of a teenage boy buried in the backyard of a southeast Fresno home.
"Our criminalists in the DOJ labs in Sacramento and Fresno are working on these two cases," said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona. "They combine passion and science with their highly specialized forensic expertise to help local law enforcement agencies in 48 of California's 58 counties. Their work will likely aid local agencies in making arrests and ultimately prosecuting these cases"
In Davis, Oliver Northup, 87, and Claudia Maupin, 76 were found dead, with stab wounds to their bodies, after a family member requested a welfare check. The couple had not shown up for a memorial service Sunday afternoon where Northup was scheduled to sing. There were signs that someone had broken in to the couple's home.
And in Fresno, police received a tip that the body of Steven Humphrey, 15, could be found buried in the backyard of a home on South Dearing Avenue. Homicide detectives and DOJ criminalists began digging Tuesday morning and discovered a body several hours later. Humphrey went missing in 2009.
DOJ criminalists specialize in 10 areas:
- Crime scene response (homicides)
- DNA
- Blood alcohol
- Clandestine lab response
- Firearms and tool marks
- Latent-print (fingerprints)
- Digital Evidence (audio and visual surveillance)
- Questioned-document examinations (forgeries)
- Solid-dosage drug analysis
- Trace analysis
