FORENSICS
FACULTY PROFILE
100 YEARS AGO
IN 1913…
Two farmers walking near a quarry outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, find
two small, dead bodies floating in the water, tied together. Although the
bodies were so waterlogged that authorities could barely confirm that they
were human, Sydney Smith, the century's first “Quincy,” was able to use
forensics to help solve the crime.
Smith was at the beginning of his 40-year career and working as an assistant
to Professor Harvey Littlejohn at Edinburgh University. The first thing he
noticed about the bodies was the presence of adipocere, a white and hard
type of fat. The level of adipocere in the bodies, which takes months to
form inside the human body when exposed to water, led Smith to believe
that they had been in the quarry somewhere between 18 to 24 months.
The adipocere had preserved the stomachs of the bodies and Smith saw that
the children had eaten peas, barley, potatoes, and leeks approximately an
hour before they died. Given the seasonal nature of the vegetables, Smith
figured that the kids had died at the end of 1911. Most importantly, Smith
found an indication that one of the children's shirts had come from the
Dysart poorhouse.
With this information, law enforcement officials quickly found the killer.
Patrick Higgins, a widower and drunk, had placed his two boys in the
Dysart poorhouse in 1910. When he didn't pay the small fees, Higgins was
jailed. He eventually took the young boys out of the poorhouse but they had
not been seen since November 1911.
Higgins was arrested and pled temporary insanity at his trial in September
1913. The jury rejected his defense and, on October 2, 1913, he was hanged.
Sydney Smith went on to be a pioneer in forensic medicine.
www.history.com/
this-day-in-history/forensic-evidence-captures-a-murderous-father
Maria Howell
Home: Mt. Washington, Md.
Profession: Attorney/Associate Professor,
Forensic Studies
Hobbies: Reading, Exercising
Last Book Read: “Too hard to say
because I usually read at least two books
per week, but two of my favorite authors
are Andrea Levy and Thrity Umrigar.”
Last Accomplishment: Created an
original fact pattern for FSCOR 702,
Mock Trial
Quote: “Teaching is so much more fun
than being a litigator because instead of
constantly tearing people down, you’re
building them up by helping them develop new skills.”
Profile: Witty, irreverent, and dedicated
to the School of Graduate and
Professional Studies family
Courses Taught: Legal Writing, Evidence,
Mock Trial