Trail of blood led to pregnant Joan Canino Ryther’s body in Logan Central street

The Courier Mail David Murray, Kate Kyriacou May 24, 2013

POLICE have confirmed for the first time they believe Joan Ryther was initially attacked at the site where her body was found.
“At this stage the investigation would indicate that the victim was initially assaulted in Leichhardt St,” Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson said outside Logan police station.
He said that after a public appeal yesterday, police had located the person who had moved Ms Ryther’s McDonald’s cap in Leichhardt St.
But police “for elimination purposes” were still looking for a man in a yellow top who turned up at a Logan house asking to come inside on Tuesday night.

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Police continue investigation into pregnant Logan woman’s murder

ABC News 24 May 2013

Police are continuing the hunt for the killer of a young pregnant woman at Logan, south of Brisbane.
The body of Joan Canino Ryther, 27, was found in the front yard of a Woodridge home on Wednesday morning.
Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson says she was bashed with a blunt object and raped.

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Logan vigil for murdered Joan

Brisbane Times Marissa Calligeros May 23, 2013

Detectives have retraced the route slain McDonalds worker Joan Canino Ryther would have walked to work on Tuesday night, as her friends and coworkers prepare to hold a vigil in her memory.
The 29-year-old woman would have likely taken a shortcut from her Mayes Avenue home, through a local park, to the fast-food outlet on the corner of Leichhardt Street.
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CMU Professor Takes DNA Testing To New Levels

San Francisco Chronicle Andy Sheehan, KDKA-TV 21 May 2013

He’s not your typical Sherlock Holmes, but this CMU professor is in demand by police around the world.  He’s putting bad guys in jail with a DNA analysis technology he invented called True Allele.  Using a supercomputer, True Allele succeeds where conventional DNA analysis can’t — getting results from tiny and damaged bits of DNA.

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Conference Alert: Annual International Conference on Forensic Science – Criminalistics Research (FSCR)

9 – 10 December 2013, Singapore

This conference aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and scholars all over the world to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of Forensic Criminalistics.  The conference theme will cover, Criminalistics, Criminal Justice, Criminology, Crime Scene Investigation and Forensic Sciences.

Click here for Call for Papers

Click here to link to Conference Website

Neighbours report disturbances on night of murder

Brisbane Times Marissa Calligeros May 23, 2013

A crying man, a person running, a woman yelling in a foreign language.
Logan residents have told police investigating the murder of 29-year-old Joan Canino Ryther of a series of unusual disturbances in the street where the slain McDonald’s worker lived.

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DNA tests requires expensive software

Dhaka Tribune Moniruzzaman Uzzal 14 May 2013

The National DNA Profiling Laboratory cannot match DNA samples taken from more than 200 bodies recovered from Rana Plaza, with the DNA samples taken from more than 450 people claiming the bodies, because they do not have special software required for conducting the tests.

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Queensland courts delivering timely justice

Brisbane Times Bridie Jabour 14 May 2013

If Daniel Morcombe’s accused killer stands trial next year the Queensland justice system will be ushering him through more quickly than NSW would in similar trials.

Chief Justice Paul de Jersey claimed the murder trial of Peter Brett Cowan could have gone ahead this year if the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was not under-resourced but appears to have backpedalled within 24 hours.  He told News Limited a shortage of crown prosecutors had delayed the case going to trial this year and after a committal hearing a trial date should be set within months, not years.

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DPP ‘adequate’ staff claim ridiculed by lawyer representing the parents of Daniel Morcombe

The Courier-Mail Renee Viellaris 15 May 2013

The lawyer representing the parents of Daniel Morcombe has challenged the Crown to present an indictment against the teen’s accused killer Brett Peter Cowan and bring on a trial this year.

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The 11th Indo Pacific Association of Law, Medicine and Science Congress 2013

INPLAMS 2013;  7th   to  10th October 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

INPLAMS 2013is a major international gathering that will analyze the latest developments in the related fields of forensic science, forensic medicine and  pertinent issues related to both medicine and law. Topics will encompass Forensic Pathology (including anthropology, neuropathology, odontology radiology and photography0, Clinical Forensic Medicine, Forensic DNA, Drugs and Toxicology, Criminalistics and various legal aspects.

Preconference workshops will be held on a range of topics including forensic electron microscopy, pediatric forensic pathology, forensic radiology, forensic histology and clinical forensic medicine.

Visit website for further information