IndexJohn Orner Murder Case (1961)The CaseBackground to the CaseFurther Forensic Examinations and PunishmentOn March 1, 1961 in Columbia, South Carolina, the cab of the local cab driver, John Orner, it was found empty but with blood found inside the vehicle. There was no sign of Mr. Orner or where he might be. Later, on March 3, 1961, they found Mr. Orner's body along the side of the road, killed by a gunshot to the head. The bullet had passed through the brain and appeared to come from the passenger side of the back seat of the taxi. Through further forensic analysis they determined it was a. 32 fired from a Harrington and Richardson (H&R) revolver. (State v. Freiburger, 2005) At the same time Edward Freiburger had gone Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from Fort Jackson to Columbia, South Carolina. He was later found hitchhiking along the highway in Tennessee. Since it was night, the police officer searched Mr. Freiburger and found a. 32 H&R revolver. He arrested Freiburg due to hitchhiking. Since Mr. Orner's last taxi stop was at the Fort Jackson noncommissioned officers' club and Mr. Freiburger disappeared at the same time, they continued to investigate. They found out that he had just bought a. 32 H&R with serial number 9948, at a local pawn shop. Police carried out a ballistics test on the weapon but the results were inconclusive and no one was charged. Thirty-nine years later, examining the unsolved cases, the department conducted a new ballistics test on bullet fragments found at the scene and on a bullet fired from Mr. Freiburger's revolver and found a match in the striations. He was arrested and charged with murder. Mr. Freiburg was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The reason forensics played such a large role in this case is the lack of anything but circumstantial evidence. Due to the fact that the body was not found immediately and therefore the suspect was not arrested almost 3 weeks later. Then, finally, the actual prosecution of the case occurred almost 40 years later, so the only evidence they had was what they had collected and saved from the crime scene. When examining the facts of the case it was not possible to use some normal forensic methods due to the mitigating factors mentioned above. They did not find Mr. Freiburger immediately after the murder, so there was no blood on him or his clothes. They couldn't test him for GSR because all that would have shown is that he had been in contact with a weapon, which was obvious since he was found with a firearm in his possession. This led to the need to link that specific firearm to the murder and then to Mr. Freiburger himself. In this particular case forensics played an important role in the trial and the perpetrator was sent to prison for life. There were two main ways forensics was used in this case. The first involved using the serial number as a form of identification to link the gun to Mr. Freiburger. Serial numbers are imprinted on the firearm throughout the manufacturing process, which makes the firearm traceable. (Heard, 2008) In this case the serial number was not obstructed in any way so the researcher did not need to apply recovery methods to be able to read it correctly. However, later, in the case where Mr. Freiburger appealed his conviction, one of his points was the chain of custody of the gun todue to the time that has passed since the crime was committed and he was convicted. However, investigators were able to locate that the serial number on the revolver matched the serial number of the revolver purchased from the pawn shop a few days before Mr. Orner's murder. This is important as it proved that it was the same revolver, the court rejected Mr Freiburger's appeal from 2005. The first step linking the firearm to Mr Freiburger was established. You may also be interested in the title of the essayGeneratorThe second method in which firearms forensics was an important point in the case was the ballistic examination of bullet fragments from the crime scene and their comparison with the firearm of Mr. Freiburger. All firearms have ballistic characteristics that can be tested due to their unique nature to that specific firearm. When investigators first tested the bullet fragments they were able to determine that the weapon used was a. 32 caliber firearm. This is important because it allowed investigators to narrow down the type of firearm they were looking for. When they performed the first ballistic test of the fragments it was 1961 and the tests were different precisely because of the different technology in use in that period of time. Due to the inclusive nature of the findings the investigators had no choice but to release Mr. Freiburger and not charge him with any crime. During a new ballistics examination in 2002 a match was found between the striations found on one of the bullet fragments and the firearm owned by Mr Freiburger. Streaks are basically a fingerprint of the weapon used and are generated by imperfections in the weapon. (Warlow, 2012) Imperfections on the bore and bore will leave marks and streaks on the bullet as it leaves the barrel. This allows the investigator to compare the striations on bullet fragments found at the crime scene to a bullet fired from the same firearm in a controlled environment. Because of terminal ballistics, however, recovered bullet fragments investigators are not always able to determine whether a bullet came from a specific weapon. If the bullet hit something soft, it is more likely that it can be examined and the striations match than a bullet that passes through the victim and then hits a metal surface where it is further deformed from its original state. three bullet fragments tested; First from their department where they received inconclusive results. Four other investigators subsequently also conducted forensic tests on the bullet fragments and came to inconclusive results. They claimed the bullets could have passed through anyone. 32 caliber weapon not necessarily Mr. Freiburger's firearm. Eventually a private ballistics expert was hired who found striations on one of the fragments that matched the test case fired from Mr. Freiburger's firearm. It was as a result of this ballistics test that the police department filed charges against Mr. Freiburger and he was ultimately sentenced to life in prison. Up to this point the case seemed pretty clear with one person finally charged for a crime committed 40 years ago. previously, based on advances in forensic science. However, in 2016 Mr. Freiburger was paroled and his case was dismissed, not necessarily because of bad forensic science but because of the way the prosecution presented the case and the evidence that the defense did not use as a means to 73.