Famed forensic scientist, Dr. Henry Lee, who testified on thousands of trails from O.J. Simpson to JonBenet Ramsey, is once again being challenged on his previous testing and testimony.
In June, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled his testimony was incorrect in the 1985 murder of Everett Carr. That testimony led to the conviction of two men, Sean Henning and Ralph Birch in 1989. They have both since been released from prison and ordered to have new trials.
In the 1984 murder of Joyce Stochmal, her convicted killer, David Weinberg, was also released from prison based on newly tested evidence that refuted Dr. Lee’s findings.
Now, a third convicted murderer, Wendal Hasan, is asking the court to review his case based on a key piece of evidence that Dr. Lee testified about. Hasan has been in prison since 1986 for the murder of George Tyler in his Darien home.
At the time, Dr. Lee said he tested a pair of Puma sneakers and found the victim’s blood. When the sneakers were retested in July of 2014, the state police forensic lab found the stains were not blood.
On Thursday, Dr. Lee said he stands by his testing and testimony.
“Do you know how many people touched that piece [of] evidence? Starting from the crime scene, to the laboratory, to the courtroom, lawyers, juries, everybody touched the evidence,” Lee said.
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Lee went on to say that the sneakers may not only have been mishandled, but stored improperly over these years. It is also possible that after all the lab tests, there was no blood left on the sneakers, according to Lee.
“Of course no blood was found. Already used up. You cannot say 30 years ago it wasn’t there. That doesn’t make any sense because early days everything we used bare hand, we removed the sample,” Lee said.
Lee asked that the public remember that investigators found the victim’s credit card in Hasan’s toilet bowl.
“I feel sorry for all those victims’ families. If the person really [is] innocent, definitely we should set them free. If [they are] just trying to smear my reputation, they shouldn’t do that.”
During the news conference, Dr. Lee also urged the state to set up a review committee where convicted felons can request the committee look at their case.
He also said he feels anyone directly involved with the case should have access to the files.
