Audio forensics came out of work that began during WWII, when the military was looking for ways to identify enemy voices over the radio. They developed something called a spectrograph which made visual representations of people talking called voiceprints. Like fingerprints, they hoped that it would help them identify speakers.

One of the early developers, Dr. Lawrence Kersta, later started his own company and the field of audio forensics was born. Kersta was involved in many famous cases in his lifetime, including the Kennedy assassination, the Clifford Irving Howard Huges hoax, and in 1969, when rumors spread that Paul McCartney was dead and had been replaced by a look and sound-alike, Kersta used the spectrograph to analyze recordings made after Paul was said to have died, and determined that Paul was still alive.

Audio forensics got a huge leg up when six scientists were brought together in 1973 to see if 18 1/2 minutes of White House Tapes had been erased in order to possibly cover-up White House involvement in the Watergate break-in. They were able to determine that the segment had been over-recorded five or more times.

It was CSI with headphones! I did a lot of research into forensic audio a couple years back and I thought I would go through my notes and do a series of posts about what I learned.

This is a snippet from a Bell Labs promotional film called “Science Behind Speech,” which includes a section about the spectrograph. The picture below is a screen grab of Kersta, who was working for Bell Labs at the time.

More to come!

I meant to post about this article by Jake Pearson when it first appeared way back in January, but it is still relevant. It’s about a cold case and the NYPD’s Property Clerk Division.

The article begins: “A Brooklyn man who has waited nearly three decades for cops to solve his brother’s murder was stunned when he was told last month that police tossed the crime scene evidence 15 years ago.” You can continue to read the article here [article has since been removed].

This picture of the victim’s brother is from the article and is credited to Egan-Chin.

The day after the gay marriage bill passed, I was walking around intending to take pictures to reflect the mood of the city when I came across the poster pictured below, asking for information for the 2005 murder of 19 year old Rashawn Brazell. It was a sad sight on an otherwise happy day.

I’ve since learned that documentary filmmaker Terik King has been working on a documentary about the case and has started a Kickstarter page to raise the funds to finish the film.

From the Kickstarter page:

“RASHAWN’S DESIRE: The Untold Story Of Rashawn Brazell is a documentary that closely examines the story behind the 2005 murder of 19 year-old Rashawn Brazell of New York City, whose dismembered body parts were found on a trackbed in a subway station in what one magazine referred to as the “most horrific murder since Jack the Ripper.” Through in-depth examination of the sensational media coverage of the case and interviews with those who knew Rashawn best, the film tells the story of who Rashawn Brazell truly was, what likely led to the crime, the stalled investigation and one determined mother’s continuing quest to find justice for her son …

… The purpose of this film is not only to reinvigorate the interest in the case, but to correct certain factual inaccuracies that have been perpetuated via the media coverage that happened after Rashawn was killed.”

To make a donation, go here.

A great detective, Sonny Archer, is in critical condition at North Shore Hospital, Manhasset, NY, and could use your prayers. I will post more about him later, but he started out with the Transit Police, was one of the original members of the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad and is currently a 1st grade detective in the joint Marshalls task force.

If there is something you think I should say about Sonny, please email me. Thank you Dennis Bootle for sending me these pictures.

UPDATE: I just heard that Det. Archer has passed on. My most sincere condolences to his friends, family and colleagues. I will post details about his funeral service if the family says it’s alright.

Service Details: The wake for Sonny Archer will be on:

Tuesday,  July 19th, at 2 – 5pm and  7 -9pm
St. Athanasius, 6111 Bay Parkway  Brooklyn, NY 

The Mass will be held at the same church on Wednesday,  July 20th, at 10am.

July 21 Update: Here is a truly lovely tribute to Sonny written by Michael Daly of The New York Daily News. Sonny’s funeral was attended by the former Police Commissioner William Bratton, the current Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Jack Maples’s widow, among many others, and the eulogy was delivered by Detective Wendell Stradford of the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad.