Historic Cases Project

Historic Cases Project

Note for Teachers:

This Forensic Science assignment is for grades 9-12. There is one page for assignment information and another page to select or assign cases. This assignment is not specific to a certain unit and could be used as emergency lesson plans or substitute work if students have access to research information.

There are no specifications for point values, writing style, document formatting, source citations, or completed length. This can be used as a note taking assignment, research paper, group project, speech, visual media presentation or etc.

Also because of the nature of the content, be mindful of which cases are chosen and remind students to only view academic age appropriate content while completing research.

Recommended Point Value Designations

Section Points Possible

Points Earned

Case Summary 10 ______

Evidence Description 12 ______

Legal Aspects 16 ______

Personal Analysis 8 ______

Source Citations 4 ______

Presentation 4 ______

TOTAL 50 ______

Historic Cases Project

Assigned On: ________________________________________

Due Date: ________________________________________

Student(s): ________________________________________

Case: ________________________________________

Section Content Points Possible

Points Earned

Case Summary Please explain the crime. Be sure to include a description of the date, time, and location of the crime and the actions, perceptions and dispositions of victims, witnesses, suspects and law enforcement personnel.

_______ _______

Evidence Description Identify and describe key pieces of evidence. Analyze the value of each key piece of evidence. What is the significance of each piece of evidence?

_______ _______

Legal Aspects Were victims rescued? What arrests were made? Was the crime solved? Detail the court proceedings. Did the suspect stand trial? If not, why not? If so, what was unique about the trial? How was the evidence presented during trial? What was the outcome of the trial?

_______ _______

Personal Analysis What is your opinion of the case? Do you think that the evidence was handled appropriately? Explain your reasoning. If you disagree with the court proceedings or the case remains a mystery, write a potential chain of events that correlates with your analysis of the evidence.

_______ _______

Source Citations All information is correctly researched and all sources are cited in the correct format. _______ _______

Presentation Project is complete, well written, and appropriately presented. _______ _______

TOTAL _______ _______

Historic Cases Project

Amanda Davies _________________________________________ Ronald Cotton _________________________________________

BTK Killer _________________________________________ St. V’s Day Massacre _________________________________________

Casey Anthony _________________________________________ Ted Bundy _________________________________________

Colin Ross _________________________________________ The Black Dahlia _________________________________________

Coral Eugene Watts _________________________________________ The Coors Kidnapping _________________________________________

Elizabeth Smart _________________________________________ The Green River Killer _________________________________________

Georgi Markov _________________________________________ Lindbergh Kidnapping _________________________________________

Hamm Kidnapping _________________________________________ The Marie LaFarge Case _________________________________________

Jack the Ripper _________________________________________ Thelma Todd _________________________________________

Jeffrey MacDonald _________________________________________ The Night Stalker _________________________________________

Jon Benet Ramsey _________________________________________ The Sacco-Vanzetti Case _________________________________________

Laci Peterson _________________________________________ Same Sheppard Case _________________________________________

Ludwig Tessnow _________________________________________ The Stielow Case _________________________________________

Mark Winger _________________________________________ Tylenol Murders _________________________________________

OJ Simpson _________________________________________ Unabomber _________________________________________

Richard Crafts _________________________________________ Zodiac Killer _________________________________________