Dr. Arpad Vass
6-6-11
Dr. Arpad Vass a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratories testified today for the prosecution in the Casey Anthony murder trial. He said the odor from the car came from a decomposing body! The tests he used – have never been allowed in any criminal court in the U.S.! It’s being called Junk Science by the defense.
Forensics expert testifies in Casey Anthony trial: MyFoxORLANDO.com
Wait until you hear what part of Oak Ridge Labs he works at – The Body Farm! Yes, you heard right, “The Body Farm”. The Body Farm is where dead bodies are left outside so scientists can learn what happens after death!
Dr. Arpad Vass appeared middle aged, spoke with a lisp and resembled the actor Gene Wilder in the movie, “Young Frankenstein”.
Vass testified that he was contacted by Detective Yuri Melich of the Orlando Sheriff’s Department in connection with the Casey Anthony case. He sent the sheriff’s office tubes & other equipment for them to collect air samples from Casey Anthony’s car trunk.
Dr. Arpad Vass testified that:
- when he opened up the can containing the air sample from Casey’s car trunk, the odor was so strong that it made him jump back a foot or two!
- When he looked at air samples from Casey’s car and carpet samples, he found 10,000 times the amount of chloroform than what you would find in a normal decomposing body!
- When the defense lawyer, Jose Baez, brought up the possibility that the smell could’ve come from animal decomposition – Dr Arpad Vass said the smell of animal decomposition is more muskier than a human’s.
- Dr. Arpad Vass used a machine he invented called a gas chromatograph to identify human decomposition. Defense Lawyer, Jose Baez, pointed out that Dr. Arpad Vass has a financial interest in this case because if his machine is sold to law enforcement, he stands to make millions!
It should also be pointed out that these tests that Dr. Arpad Vass used to identify human decomposition have never been used in any court in the United States! The science is not established and is being called “junk science” by the defense. That Judge Belvin Perry could allow in tests that have never been used in any criminal court in the U.S. – in a death penalty case, calls his judgement into question.
Vass testified that a machine called a “gas chromatograph” can identify chemicals that are unique to human decomposition.
“Those are the chemicals that a cadaver-locating dog could smell,” Vass said.
Then, for the first time ever, Vass testified the air sample pointed to a dead body.
The defense tried to discredit Vass by saying he stands to make a large amount of money if he can sell his technology: A handheld “sniffer machine” nicknamed “Labrador,” designed to detect human decomposition by reading such air samples.
Vass denied this was his focus but acknowledged he and other inventors of a device designed to identify the chemicals could see 15 percent royalties if the product is sold and marketed to law enforcement.
But Baez was not allowed to ask Vass — in front of jurors — about an unsuccessful attempt to unearth bodies at the Barker Ranch in California, where CharlesManson family’s murdervictims were thought to be buried. Outside the presence of the jury, Vass said that effort was “an exploratory” investigation.
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