Pointing from the Grave: A True Story of Murder and DNA

I have been looking for books about forensic science as I want to go into that, and found this wonderful book. It is almost hard to believe that it is true! The author really weaves the true story line in with the history of how DNA testing was discovered and developed. And it is even more amazing that the victim was involved with geneics and DNA herself. This book was as enertaining as any fiction book with forensic science.

David Paul Frediani is the perpetrator and Helena Greenwood is the victim. Around 15 years is the time period of investigation and this case was finalized in the year 2000. All up-to-date stuff. You discover the history of DNA and its application to crime detection which is a fascinating subject and also the fact that hundreds of inmates have been released from prison as it was proven they were innocent. The thrust of this story however, are the deeds of David Frediani, his incredible self-made alibis, those who helped him (a handful of people), and how he was eventually brought to justice because of the work of a handful of law enforcement people. I thought if the volume was cut by about 25 pages it would have rated 5 stars. This is one of the early detections using DNA and if it had occured much earlier then Mr. Frediani would have gotten away free...forever.

Helena Greenwood was the head of marketing at a biotech company in southern California. She was present at the dawn of DNA testing in her industry, and when she heard about the newly patented method of DNA fingerprinting, she told the directors of her firm, "This DNA fingerprinting is going to be big. I think we should get into it." She was just the person to influence the firm in that direction, but in 1985 she was murdered in the front garden of her home. There was a suspect, but no witnesses, no fibers, no fingerprints, and the homicide department put the murder in the archive for more than a decade. Then a resourceful investigator found physical evidence in the file, and, ironically, used the same DNA testing on it that Greenwood had been promoting. The history of this case, and the results, are told in a fascinating detective story, _Pointing from the Grave: A True Story of Murder and DNA_ (Miramax) by Samantha Weinberg. The book does not simply relate the facts of the case and profile the personalities involved, but it also gives a satisfying and useful history of DNA research and the effect of that research on forensic investigations.Weinberg intercuts her murder story with visits to labs and descriptions of the history of DNA going back to before Watson and Crick. One of Weinberg's digressions is to the Innocence Project, which has used DNA evidence to free wrongly convicted prisoners. The Project's efforts have shown that courts and juries are more badly flawed than anyone had previously suspected, and have increased the importance of DNA for fair legal investigation. But the useful digressions in _Pointing from the Grave_ all hang on the story of Greenwood's murder, and that story is very well told indeed. In 1998, an investigator found Greenwood's fingernail clippings taken at the autopsy, and thought that perhaps under the fingernails would be skin samples for investigation. When Greenwood had been murdered, such evidence was useless; fifteen years later, it provided the basis for the arrest of a charming sociopath who at the time of the murder had had been out on bail for sexually assaulting her. His lawyer attempted to use the defense that the science was untested, to "persuade the jury it was voodoo," but in 2001, juries had heard enough about DNA successes, and prosecutors had had enough experience with demonstrating the reliability of such evidence, to make a difference.Weinberg has interviewed many of the scientists whose work she mentions, and has had jailhouse interviews with the accused. She has become friends with his family, who are sad figures ("they were the essence of the American suburban family") trying to understand how a nurturing and non-abusive upbringing could have turned out so. There are vital portraits of all the players at the trial here, and a summary of the proceedings that is exciting. Unforgettable is Greenwood's father; he was proud of his science-inclined only child, and devastated by her

I walked into this one knowing the outcome and essential facts. This case had been covered on either Unsolved Mysteries or one of the many forensic shows available through cable tv and I was immediately familiar with it.The pleasant surprise was the book's essential structure and Ms. Weinberg's writing style. This was a true story that in many ways was written like a great crime novel. Her cast of characters had well developed personalities. Her research was meticulous. She was able to build a level of suspense when her reader already knew where she was going. Weinberg managed to maintain a level of objectivity and even a level of sympathy for the perpetrator while managing to be mindful that this person wasn't innocent.As for my own reaction to this story, I became almost immediately hooked. There was almost a creepy aspect here as I had stayed at a hotel no more than 2 blocks from the scene of the crime last October. Her descriptions were so intensely visual that I almost felt like I was in Del Mar witnessing the crime scene first hand. I kept thinking that this all seemed so surreal. On a certain level I kept thinking the title could have been Murder In Paradise.This book was researched very thorougly and many people who were involved closely to the victim, perpetrator, or the investigations conducted were interviewed at length.Of course, as the title implies, the victim was indirectly responsible for nailing her murderer 15 years after the fact. While there is a certain irony in that, by no means is that the whole story. I read this book in slightly over 3 hours. Usually I don't speed read when I'm reading for pleasure, but it was so compelling I just couldn't wait to move forward. Be forwarned that I only review books that I really like or really detest. I absolutely loved this one.