@ Ogeechee Tech!

CSIby Barry Turner photos by Frank For tune

Statesboro Magazine • July/August 2009

Ogeechee Technical CollegeForensic Science Instructor,

Jerry Findley, is a nationally known crime scene investigator and expert in recon-structing scenes by analyzing blood spatter patterns and other evidence. One of Find-ley’s many cases, from north Florida, involved the death of a woman, and the subsequent conviction of her husband for the murder. With the husband claiming innocence and appealing his conviction, the case came to the attention of the Discovery Channel which decided to feature the case on a new show called Forensics: You Decide. Since Findley did work for law enforcement and prosecutors investigating the case, he was contacted for the show as well. The Discovery Channel asked that he recreate the crime scene and duplicate the tests he performed in developing his expert analysis for the prosecution on the case.

The crime took place on a beach in north Florida, but since Findley lives in the Statesboro area the Discovery Channel f ilm crew met with Findley at Tybee Island, Georgia to try to replicate what may have happened on the beach the fateful night of the murder. Following the filming on the beach, the crew moved to a biology lab on the Ogeechee Technical College campus to demonstrate various tests related to the blood spatter analysis and other evidence collected during the course of the investi-

gation. With a director, videographer, tech-nical assistants, and others helping, Findley became the focus of what will be two different segments of the show which will air sometime in August 2009.

“Both sides of the evidence wil l be presented, that on which the prosecution based their case, and that on which the defense based their case. Viewers of the television show will hear what jurors heard, and then draw their own conclusions,” stated Findley.

Aside from the obvious excitement of having a production crew on campus, the greater importance to Ogeechee Tech is the fact that someone with Findley’s expertise and national reputation is teaching students at the College.

“We are very fortunate to have someone like Jerry teaching our students. His level of expertise in the field of forensics is hard to duplicate, and he can provide insight to our students that they will be hard pressed to f ind anywhere else,” stated Dr. Dawn Cartee, President of Ogeechee Tech. Findley teaches Forensic Science program courses at OTC’s main campus, as well as, teaching at Ogeechee Tech’s Regional Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) in Claxton. Findley’s son, Chris, is also an instructor at the Regional LEA.

With a career spanning several decades, Findley at one time served as a homicide

“Jerry has a gleam in

his eyes that lets you

know that he loves

what he does when

it comes to working

a crime scene, and

trying to put the bad

guys behind bars”

– Greg Rabeler

P o i n t o f E n t r y

Findley works with a model to

demonstrate point of entry of the

victim’s wounds for the Discovery

Channel cameraman.

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Statesboro Magazine • July/August 2009

investigator for the Chatham County Police Department and also taught at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth for a number of years. Working in Chatham County for so many years provided a wealth of experience, according to Findley. His Public Safety Training Center position not only offered an opportunity to teach other law enforcement officers, but Findley was the primary trainer for the state’s coroners and deputy coroners for many years.

“Jerry taught me a lot during the time I was a deputy coroner and then coroner of Bulloch County,” stated former Bulloch County Coroner and Ogeechee Tech employee, Barry Turner. “Jerry’s cases were always fascinating, and we could always count on him to show us something that would improve our own investigative skills.”

“It has been a pleasure to reestablish contact with Findley since we both now work at OTC,” said Turner, who now works as Executive Director for Public Relations for the College. Turner helped coordinate the Discovery Channel visit to campus, along with Jeff Davis, OTC’s Executive Director for Operations.

“I never thought helping stage a tele-vision shoot would be part of overseeing facilities, but there is always something new and interesting going on at Ogeechee Tech,” stated Davis.

Upon retiring from full-time employ-ment at the state training center, Jerry concentrated his efforts on consulting work and teaching at OTC. “Teaching classes is a great way for me to share the experi-ence I’ve gained through the years. Helping develop the next generation of investigators is very important to the continued appre-hension and conviction of criminals,” stated Findley.

One quickly realizes, however, that Findley’s interest in working new cases is

“Teaching classes is a great way for me to share the experience I’ve

gained through the years. Helping develop the next generation of

investigators is very important to the continued apprehension and

conviction of criminals” – Jerry Findley

H e ’ s G u i l t y

The patterns can show whether or not a

defendant was at the scene and/or near

the point of impact.

(left) R e - c R e a t i o n o f

t h e c R i m e S c e n e

Findley uses horse blood to show

the patterns droplets of blood make

on the floor and walls after the victim

is struck or shot.

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Statesboro Magazine • July/August 2009

not only about being able to relate fresh information to students, or even to help departments which need some added exper-tise. “Jerry has a gleam in his eyes that lets you know that he loves what he does when it comes to working a crime scene, and trying to put the bad guys behind bars,” stated Greg Rabeler, Director of OTC’s Regional Law Enforcement Academy.

“I’ve done this for so long that it would be very hard to just sit down and never inves-tigate a crime again,” stated Findley. For those in the know expert crime scene inves-tigation is not something that just happens; it takes years of experience to see all that Jerry Findley has seen in his many years on the job. And that, according to Dawn Cartee, is what makes Jerry Findley so valuable to

Ogeechee Tech’s Forensic Science program. “Just as Jerry has unique and valuable

experience in crime scene investigation, we have many instructors who have equally impressive backgrounds in their respec-tive careers and areas of instruction. That is what technical education is all about, having someone with extensive hands-on experience teaching students. Our people do not just know theory, they know appli-cation,” said Cartee.

“Ogeechee Tech does not just depend on Jerry Findley, Chris Findley, and Greg Rabeler, but many adjunct speakers provide the extra measure of insight that is so valuable to students when it comes to law enforcement and forensics. All of our programs involve some form of clinical, practicum, and/or lab work. In addition, we have many fieldtrips and guest speakers who bring an element of reality to the class-room instruction which students receive,” Cartee explained.

The premise of Forensics: You Decide is to take cases with a questionable outcome

“We are very fortunate to have someone like Jerry teaching our students.

His level of expertise in the field of forensics is hard to duplicate, and

he can provide insight to our students that they will be hard pressed

to find anywhere else” – Dr. Dawn Cartee

T h e M e a s u r e

o f T h i n g s

Measuring the length of bones

recovered at a crime scene can

help determine whether the bones

are human and, if so, the sex and

approximate age of the victim.

Statesboro Magazine • July/August 2009

—in the case which Findley worked, the husband of the deceased is appealing his conviction — and present both sides of the case to viewers to aid in forming their own opinions. Findley’s evidence will be used in the show to help substantiate the conviction. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is guilty. The evidence points to it,” commented Findley.

Findley’s tests and recreations may become a bit too macabre for some, consid-ering that he utilizes horse’s blood which he gets from an outside Veterinary source for recreating blood spatter. Jerry used the blood spatter tests to help recreate the scene for the Discovery film crew. OTC students also get the experience of working with

“test” blood in labs on campus. “I can take an object, such as a piece of

wood, and dip it in blood and then strike an object with it. Not only will students see where the blood spatters go when I actually strike the object, but they will see where blood ends up from my back-swing,” stated Findley. “They learn to look at ceilings, walls, furniture, and any number of places where there may be evidence such as blood transfers. They quickly learn that the most

obvious places to search for clues are some-times actually the least obvious.”

“Having a show such as this on our campus just helps call attention to our great faculty and the availability of expertise exhibited by someone like Jerry. We want people to understand that we produce grad-uates who not only have a strong academic foundation, but who have extensive hands-on training,” stated Cartee. “Hopefully people all over the country will see Jerry’s episode of You Decide, and will see and hear that he is a Forensic Science Instructor at Ogeechee Tech.”

Part of the f ilming shows Findley walking toward the main entrance of Ogeechee Technical College’s Kennedy Building. “You never know what will end up being edited out, but hopefully the scene with the College name in it will make it on screen!” Findley said. n

Note: To draw your own conclusions about the evidence in

this case, watch the show and you decide! For more informa-

tion on Forensic Science, Criminal Justice, and the Regional

Law Enforcement Academy at Ogeechee Tech, visit

www.ogeecheetech.edu. To find the Discovery Channel

programming schedule visit www.discovery.com.

F r o m t h e

B a c k s w i n g

Findley teaches students

to look for blood spatters

created from the swinging

of an object used as a

weapon.

“Jerry taught me a lot

during the time I was

a deputy coroner and

then coroner of Bulloch

County. Jerry’s cases

were always fascinating,

and we could always

count on him to show

us something that

would improve our

own investigative

skills” – Barry Turner

Statesboro Magazine • July/August 2009