Engineering, in the person of Christopher Damm, might solve the forensic mystery of the year. The Associated Press reports, on April 13, 2009:
District Attorney seeks volunteer to test theory that woman didn’t commit suicide by toilet drowning
If you are a female about 5 foot 8, 140 pounds and willing to stick your head in a toilet, a northern Wisconsin prosecutor wants your help in a homicide case.
Vilas County Dist. Atty. Al Moustakis plans to recruit volunteers for a second round of controversial tests designed to prove that a woman was drowned by her husband in a toilet – and didn’t commit suicide as he claims….
Moustakis has hired Christopher Damm of the Milwaukee School of Engineering to do a second round of tests. Judge Neal Nielsen III last month granted his request to allow the testing of the toilet and a floor display of the bathroom in the court’s custody. Damm, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, said he is a consultant in accident reconstruction and has testified in civil cases but this would be his first criminal case.
(Thanks to investigator Scott Langill for bringing this to our attention.)
UPDATE: Investigator Tara Elwood alerts us to a service offered to anyone who anticipates a stint in a US federal prison, be it for plumbing-related murder, financial adventure, or almost anything else: A consulting firm, run by an accomplished ex-convict, that can advise you on how to succeed. The image below is from the firm’s web site:
