I count myself fortunate to have known and worked with the renowned forensic scientist Henry Lee for more than 15 years now. Henry is a truly unique man: He left Taiwan for America as a young cop with a wife and kids in the mid-60's, knowing very little English. He soon earned a Ph.D in Bio-Chemistry and a Ph.D in Molecular Biology from NYU; he has solved over 6000 murder cases; he is the only bad-guy catcher in the world to be the recipient of the Distinguished Criminalist Award from both the American Academy of Forensic Science and the International Association of Forensic Science, both organizations' highest honor; he is a charter member of the International Homicide Detectives Association; he was called on by Congress to identify the evidence in mass graves in the Balkans, and to determine if Vince Foster actually committed suicide.
Henry has written almost 20 books, but once solved a murder case by finding and identifying the minute remains of a wife who had been passed through an industrial-grade woodchipper by her insurance-hungry husband and then scattered over acres of Connecticut countryside; he has been a professor of forensics at Yale and the University of New Haven; for over 20 years he was the chief of forensics, Connecticut State Police; when he was ready to retire, the governor convinced him to accept the position of Connecticut Public Safety Commissioner--top cop for the whole state, a political position he filled admirably but did not enjoy. I could go on and on, his C.V. runs over fifty pages.
Yes, Henry is an extraordinary intellect; surely the only true genius I have actually known and believed--of the others I have known in many fields that were advertised as such, I have my doubts. Henry is also very loyal, soft-spoken, unassuming and exceedingly kind. However, many people know these things about Henry Lee. From my books, of course, but also from his books, and others, and all the daily press from being the star witness at the most famous trials of the past 25 years--only twice for the defense: the O.J. Simpson murder case, and the William Kennedy Smith rape trial.
What only his close friends know, however, is that he is also the funniest man alive! I mean it. Sometimes I laugh so hard I hurt myself. He could have had an outstanding career as a comedian. Yes, it helps him with juries, no doubt. Jurors love him. Some have named their children after him.
So why am I waxing on about Henry so much tonight? Because he is in the news again. In The New York Times here, but many newspapers in the world had Henry Lee stories today. Henry released some of his findings regarding the Chen Shui-bian shooting in Taiwan today. Knowing Henry as I do, I can read between the lines of what he says officially--he is always the objective scientist, and will never offer opinions. But Henry does have opinions. Henry loves to talk crime scene reconstruction way into the wee hours of any night. It is called the "Scenario Game" amongst Criminalists; no one alive plays it better than Henry. But Henry can only play this game with close associates and it is almost always off-the-record. There have been times when Henry has allowed me to be his "voice" when he did not want to be quoted directly, but felt certain things should be known by the public.
I must say categorically that this is not one of those times. As yet, Henry and I have not been able to communicate on his work in the Chen Shui-bian case. I do not know if we will discuss the case any time soon; he is very busy, I am still quite sick with Bronchitis, but all too busy nonetheless, and have gone back to work anyway. And if we do, I have no idea if any of it will be on-the-record. What the hell, I have retired from crime writing!
I do want to say this much before you read the article below: It is very important to look at what he is not saying. And that there is an obvious "space" between what he does say. I will sum it up by repeating part of the title of this post: There is room for doubt. Now, while that may sound like mush-mouth pablum to you, in the crime business, "reasonable doubt" is as big as Mt. Everest. Also, answer the question that he tantalizingly leaves hanging like a vapor trail in the air. Why does an assassin use nonlethal homemade bullets? Most likely fired from an ineffectual homemade weapon? And we are not talking about professional home-load goodies that serious shooters like to use. Undoubtedly the shots came from outside the jeep; Chen Shui-bian did not shoot himself, and no one in the jeep shot him. But still there is that question, and room for reasonable doubt...?
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Sunday, April 11 -- A team of American forensic specialists concluded at a press conference here today that President Chen Shui-bian could not have shot himself in a shooting incident on March 19 that may have helped him win reelection the next day, but said the evidence did not show whether the attack was staged.
At the government's invitation, Henry Lee, a former Taipei police captain, led a team of American experts here to look into the case. Mr. Lee emigrated to the United States in the 1960's and testified as a forensic expert for the defense in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
Mr. Lee said that one of the two homemade bullets used in the attack came through the windshield from somewhere outside and in front of the Jeep. That finding appeared to rule out a suggestion by the Nationalists in the past week that the President might have been shot by one of his aides in the Jeep.
The homemade bullets used in the attack probably would have been stopped by a bulletproof vest, which the president was not wearing, Mr. Lee said. The bullets had oval-shaped front ends, he said, adding that, "It's not a sharp, penetrating design."
But Mr. Lee cautioned that any bullet can be lethal at short range if it strikes in the head.
