Table Of ContentThe Sherlock Effect
How Forensic Doctors and
Investigators Disastrously Reason
Like the Great Detective
The Sherlock Effect
How Forensic Doctors and
Investigators Disastrously Reason
Like the Great Detective
Thomas W. Young
CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Young, Thomas W. (Forensic doctor), author.
Title: The Sherlock effect : how forensic doctors and investigators
disastrously reason like the great detective / Thomas W. Young, MD.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017058263| ISBN 9780815361947 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781351113830 (ebook : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Forensic pathology--Popular works. | Holmes,
Sherlock--Fiction--History and criticism. | Detective and mystery stories,
English--History and criticism. | Private investigators--England--Fiction.
| Literature and science.
Classification: LCC RA1063.4 .Y68 2018 | DDC 614/.1--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017058263
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Contents
Author ix
Introduction xi
1 Reasoning Backwards 1
Notes 8
2 Sherlock and His Successors 9
Notes 17
3 Categorical Intuitive Deduction 19
Note 25
4 How Detective Fiction Turned into Medical
Science 27
Notes 35
5 Good Cop, Bad Cop 37
Notes 42
6 You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know 43
Notes 51
7 Can’t Shake This Feeling 53
Notes 60
8 The Emperor Wears No Clothes 61
Notes 70
9 Broken Bones in Babies 71
Notes 80
v
vi Contents
10 The Unified Hypothesis 81
Notes 90
11 Failing the Infamous 93
Daily Mail, June 11, 2012: The Dingo DID Do It: Lindy
Chamberlain in Tears at Verdict after 32 Years 93
Radar Online, June 8, 2016: Natalie Wood Coroner Dodges
Lawyer’s Attempts to Bring Robert Wagner to Justice 95
ProPublica, July 5, 2011: Casey Anthony Trial Shows the
Limits of Forensic Science in Proving How a Child Died 96
Bustle.com, September 16, 2016: Who Is Werner Spitz?
The Forensic Pathologist Has a JonBenet Ramsey Theory 97
The New York Times, July 13, 2013: Zimmerman Is Acquitted
in Trayvon Martin Killing 99
Billboard, May 29, 2007: Coroner Provides Graphic Details at
Spector Murder Trial 100
Notes 105
12 The Deadly Bed 107
Notes 117
13 Failing the Numerous Not-So-Infamous 119
The Charlotte Observer, September 21, 2015: State Budget
Boosts Pay, Training for Medical Examiners 119
The Charlotte Observer, October 2, 2015: As N.C. Struggles,
Nation’s Top Medical Examiners Meet in Charlotte 124
Notes 130
14 The Double Dip 131
The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), October 2, 2015:
Ex-Chief Medical Examiner Gets Probation 133
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 3, 2015: Outside
Work Challenges Medical Examiner’s Credibility, Judgment 135
Notes 141
Contents vii
15 Modern-Day Sherlocks 143
Daily Mail, October 10, 2015: Doctor Whose Blunder Left
Couple Accused of Abusing Their Baby Made the Same
Mistake Six Years Ago 143
The Gazette, September 24, 2015: Medical Examiner Testifies
to Wounds That Killed Kerry O’Clair Jefferson 145
Great Falls Tribune, September 21, 2015: Jaraczeski Defense
Shifts Blame 146
Akron Beacon Journal, November 13, 2015: Evidence Shows
Pregnant Woman was Strangled From Behind in 1985,
Examiner Testifies in Scott Purk Trial 147
The Wilson Times, November 6, 2017: State Rests Gregory
Parks Murder Case on Pathologists’ Testimony 150
CBC News, November 7, 2016: Forensic Pathologist Testifies
Diane Werendowicz’s Death Was a Sexually-Motivated
Homicide 152
Notes 159
16 The Battered Football Player Syndrome 161
The Davis Enterprise, October 19, 2016: Neuropathologist
Says Davis Toddler Suffered Abuse-Related Trauma 168
Fitsnews, September 13, 2016: Expert: Hillary Clinton
Poisoned by Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin 169
Notes 176
17 Tree People and Forest People 179
Notes 199
18 The Perils of Pediatric Forensic Pathology 201
The Star, October 1, 2008: Payout Urged in Smith Probe 202
Toronto Star, October 7, 2008: Baby Death Review “Daunting” 203
Missoulian, July 11, 2015: Forensic Pathologist Will No
Longer Do Work for Montana County Coroners 205
Notes 212
viii Contents
19 Kayakers, Spider Bites, Jack the Ripper, and
Speaking for the Dead 213
The New York Times, September 10, 2015: Autopsy Cites
“Intentionally Removed” Plug in Ruling Kayaker’s Death a
Homicide 213
Daily Mail.com, September 16, 2015: EXCLUSIVE: Was Killer
Professor Driven Mad by a Spider Bite? Delta State Academic
Who Murdered Girlfriend and Colleague Was in Despair
Over His Swollen Face 216
WNEM.com, September 16, 2015: Coroner Disputes Delta
State Professor “Spider Bite” Theory 217
CBS News, October 25, 2015: The Undying Fascination Over
Jack the Ripper 218
Dateline NBC, August 20, 2007: Dead Men Talking: Inside a
Medical Examiner’s Office and Eden Prairie News, November
2, 2017: Speakers for the Dead 220
Notes 224
20 CSI, Adam Ruins Forensic Science, Forensic
Tree Teams, Divinity School, and a Bridge in
Melbourne 225
Variety, September 17, 2015: “CSI” Farewell Panel Talks How
DNA, Hair Fibers & Plushies Changed TV & Society 225
truTVEps, October 21, 2015: “Adam Ruins Forensic Science” 227
Hannibal Courier-Post, September 24, 2015: “Forensic” Team
to Look at South Main Tree Death 229
WBUR, November 1, 2017: Opioid Epidemic Inspires New
Hampshire Medical Examiner to Enter Ministry 230
The Guardian, October 30, 2015: Murder of Girl Thrown
From Bridge by Father “Could Not Have Been Predicted” 231
Notes 238
21 Confessions of a Former Chief Medical Examiner 239
The Marshall News Messenger, October 7, 2016: Kelly Found
Guilty, Gets Life With No Parole in Marshall Baby Death 239
Note 245
Index 247
Author
Dr. Thomas W. Young, a forensic pathologist and full-time forensic doctor for
nearly 30 years, has testified in court over 460 times both as a prosecution and
defense expert. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
and the National Association of Medical Examiners—two organizations that
represent the mainstream of forensic science and pathology. He has written
extensively and been published in peer-reviewed journals. He served as a chief
medical examiner successfully for nearly 12 years and is a former director
of a training program in forensic pathology. As a forensic practitioner, what
makes him uniquely qualified to write this book are not only his credentials,
but also his research on real-world trials and case studies, his examination
of current practices, and his close study of deductive and inductive logic.
Thanks to his years as a chief medical examiner and as a current independent
forensic-pathology consultant, Dr. Young has a deep understanding of the
problem about which he writes.
ix
