Убийство в кукольном доме. Как расследование необъяснимых смертей стало наукой криминалистикой

Аннотация:

The amazing story of Francis Glezner Lee - the mother of modern forensics - and a fascinating story about how forensic medicine was born. Throughout most of human history, suspicious deaths were practically not investigated. The murders in the overwhelming majority of cases left criminals. Francis Glezner Lee, a secular lioness from a rich and influential Chicago family, was not going to make any career at all, not to mention migrating in the investigations of crimes. Not too remarkable years and decades of her life were going on, until Francis suddenly had an unusual hobby. She met a forensic expert George Magrat, who told her about cases from his practice, and over time began to let her into the opening room in order to observe the process. There was time to talk about poisons, injuries and characters of damage. Francis became an insatiable reader, studied books about crimes and ultimately created the most extensive library of legal medicine in the country. All this led her to create a methodology for the study of crimes: through a series of diorams the size of a puppet house, in detail depicting places of real crimes - "sketches on the topic of inexplicable death." They were first used as a training manual at the murder seminars as part of the first program for legal medicine at the Harvard Medical School in the 1930s, and then since 1945 they were used at murders for police detectives. Puppet houses Francis are still studied and considered a classic of forensics. Lee became a source of inspiration for a documentary, books of photographs, at least two collections of poems and even the plot of a popular television series about forensic medicine. In this book, Bruce Goldfarb tells the unusual story Francis Gleser Lee, weaving her into the history of modern forensics. For whom this book: For those who are rarely interested in the pages of history, the True Crime genre, biographies of outstanding personalities, strong women. From the author: Despite the fact that Nobody ever told the personality and activity of Francis Lee. Articles about Li and “Studies” that I read in the press and on the Internet were replete with mistakes and incorrect information. Lee depicted a rich old woman who built strange doll houses. I knew that this was far from all that she was. She was a guide for changes: a reformer, teacher and propagandist of forensic medicine. It became more and more obvious that it was necessary to tell the story of Lee. Who could entrust this mission - to state the story honestly, diligently and in detail? Who could imagine the facts and at the same time not to use the identity for certain political purposes? The only person to whom I would trust is myself. Therefore, I took up work - out of respect for Lee and a sense of duty to her heritage. Lee demanded that the investigators tirelessly study the facts to establish the truth, and be guided by evidence, wherever they led. The story of her own story deserves the same. I approached this topic as a journalist, illuminating historical events. I tried to present facts without speculation and embellishment. I don’t know if I could someday meet the strict standards of Lee. But I hope that I gave her tribute.