Mr.
Schiff: Hi, welcome to "FBI 100, A Closer
Look." I'm Neal Schiff of the Bureau's Office
of Public Affairs along with FBI Historian Dr.
John Fox. John, the FBI Laboratory has been helping
analyze evidence from criminal cases for a long
time. And it's a special anniversary for the Lab?
Dr.
Fox: "It sure is Neal. Seventy-five years
ago, November, 1932, the Lab was created by the
Bureau."
Mr.
Schiff: What was the biggest case, early on,
that the Lab ever worked on?
Dr.
Fox: "Certainly the biggest early case that
they worked on was the Lindbergh kidnapping and
murder. You know, the son of Charles Lindbergh,
the famed aviator, was kidnapped and killed from
his New Jersey home and the Lab provided some
real work on that one."
Mr.
Schiff: And what did Lab personnel work on
in that case?
Dr.
Fox: "At the time we actually only had one
person in the Lab. Special Agent Charles Appel
and his expertise was really handwriting analysis.
So he provided expert analysis of the ransom notes
and of number of other things that, in part, were
used as evidence against Bruno Richard Hauptmann
in trial when he was convicted of the murder of
the Lindbergh son."
Mr.
Schiff: What types of cases has the Lab worked
on?
Dr.
Fox: "The Lab worked on pretty much most
cases the Bureau has been involved in. Of course,
today, with applying DNA technology. In the 1930s,
it was raising latent fingerprints. They've worked
on anything from spy cases to violent crimes,
organized crime to white collar crime. Everything
the Bureau does."
Mr.
Schiff: A very happy 75th anniversary to the
FBI's Laboratory. From the FBI's Public Affairs
office, along with Bureau Historian Dr. John Fox,
I'm Neal Schiff with "FBI 100, A Closer Look."
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