Wired: A New Method of DNA Testing Could Solve More Shootings
Forensic expert Jennifer Shen comments in Wired Magazine about the 2014 murder case of Gregory Benton and how the San Diego Police Department Crime Lab obtained DNA off the shell casings.
Jen explains the difference between TV CSI and real life
Jennifer Shen was honored as a trailblazer — one of just three women chosen to receive the 2014 Women in Blue Award from the San Diego Police Foundation. This is the talk she gave at the event — an overview of “CSI Myths Versus Reality.” Crime scene work isn’t glamorous — it’s dirty and dangerous.
“Solve the crime and save the day in an hour, in designer clothes….”
— Jennifer Shen on the difference between TV CSI and real life.
Jen explains the difference between TV CSI and real life
Jennifer Shen was honored as a trailblazer — one of just three women chosen to receive the 2014 Women in Blue Award from the San Diego Police Foundation. This is the talk she gave at the event — an overview of “CSI Myths Versus Reality.” Crime scene work isn’t glamorous — it’s dirty and dangerous.
“Solve the crime and save the day in an hour, in designer clothes….”
— Jennifer Shen on the difference between TV CSI and real life.
Jen Shen quoted in San Diego Reader
In its story on the investigation of murder suspect Kevin Brown, the San Diego Reader mentioned Jennifer Shen.
An excerpt:
“Lab Supervisor Patrick O’Donnell stated he remembered Brown had a reputation of unusual behavior during the time of his employment,” Lambert wrote in the affidavit. “I determined additional follow up interviews needed to be conducted with former and current coworkers of Kevin Brown’s at the San Diego Police Department Lab…. O’Donnell stated he never associated with Brown outside of work and stated Brown’s reputation was only rumor to him.”
Lambert said Brown often made awkward jokes and once asked a female coworker to model for him for his photography group.
Another former colleague said she saw Brown leave the F Street Adult Book Store during his lunch hour. His zipper was allegedly down.
Fellow criminalist Annette Peer said one day Brown and a coworker watched a pornographic movie during work, though that coworker later denied it ever happening.
Lambert addressed the only other possible explanation for the presence of Brown’s DNA: cross-contamination. Lab manager Jennifer Shen told Lambert that cross-contamination was “not possible.” Brown had not worked on the case and therefore his DNA could not have been present.
Read the full story at SanDiegoReader.com
Jen Shen honored with San Diego Police Foundation’s “Women in Blue” Award
Jennifer Shen was honored as a trailblazer — one of just three women chosen to receive the 2014 Women in Blue Award from the San Diego Police Foundation.
“Women in Blue puts leadership, wisdom and inspiration in the spotlight. The stories of women leaders in law enforcement continue to impart wisdom that is both inspiring and practical, providing role models for young people aspiring to leadership in any field.”
Sara Napoli, president and CEO of the San Diego Police Foundation.
Read full story at SanDiegoMetro.com
Beethoven under the microscope: How did the composer die?
The San Diego Union Tribune did a special story on the intersection of forensics and music, featuring an interview with Jennifer Shen and Orchestra Nova’s conductor Jung-Ho Pak.
An excerpt:
Beethoven under the microscope
This sort of musical examination calls for the expertise of a forensic specialist
By ROXANA POPESCU, SPECIAL TO THE UNION-TRIBUNE
DETAILS
Orchestra Nova’s “Beethoven: CSI – Inside Ludwig’s Head”
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 p.m., Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: St. Paul’s Cathedral in Bankers Hill, Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall in Sorrento Valley and Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla, respectively.
Tickets: $22 and up.
Phone: (858) 350-0290
Online: sdco.org
Earlier this spring, Jennifer Shen, a forensic scientist with the San Diego County Medical Examiner, received an odd request in her e-mail inbox: A local music group was looking for help with a project.
It didn’t involve reconstructing a crime scene spatter by bloody spatter and analyzing traces of evidence — the daily grind for this chemist. This assignment was more highbrow, but no less noir:
Orchestra Nova, which renders classical music with unconventional pep, needed an expert to speak at the season finale, “CSI: Beethoven – Inside Ludwig’s Head.” The program features the Leonore Overture, the Fidelio Overture and Symphony No. 4, and a conversation about musical forensics. The performances take place Friday, Saturday and Monday at venues across the county.
Shen, a natural teacher who gives public lectures about her field, loves Beethoven, so she agreed to participate. Her mother “snorted and rolled her eyes. She thought it was an odd combination,” Shen recalled recently.
She wondered what she was getting herself into. Then she started looking into research about how the maestro died. And that’s when her obsession started.
Alongside Orchestra Nova’s conductor Jung-Ho Pak, Shen will invite audiences to contemplate two enduring mysteries: What killed Beethoven? And what drove him to create some of the most moving music of all time?
Beethoven died in agony on a stormy day in 1827. Thanks to a lock of his hair and skull fragments that have survived, scientists in this century have performed tests that bring them closer to determining a cause of death.
Read the full story at San Diego Union Tribune