Forensic Scientist Henry Lee, Key O.J. Simpson Expert, Dies at 87
Dr. Henry Lee, one of the most high-profile forensic scientists in U.S. criminal justice and a central expert witness in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died at age 87 at his home in Henderson, Nevada, after a brief illness, his family and the University of New Haven announced. Born in China and later a pioneering police captain in Taipei, Lee immigrated to the U.S. in 1964, earned advanced degrees in forensic science and biochemistry, and eventually headed Connecticut’s state forensic laboratory while teaching for more than 50 years at the University of New Haven, where he built a major forensic-science program and institute. He consulted on numerous nationally watched cases, including the Helle Crafts “wood chipper” murder, the JonBenét Ramsey investigation, Scott Peterson’s trial, and Phil Spector’s murder case, helping popularize modern crime-scene analysis for the public through court appearances and a Court TV series. But his legacy was clouded in recent years: a state judge vacated two 1985 Connecticut murder convictions that relied in part on his testimony about alleged bloodstains on a towel, and a 2023 federal ruling found him liable for fabricating evidence after later testing showed the stains were not blood—findings he disputed, arguing any traces may have degraded over time. His death is prompting renewed debate among legal and forensic professionals about the reliability of expert forensic testimony, how many cases may have hinged on his word, and how the justice system should deal with high-profile experts whose work later comes under serious scientific and legal scrutiny.
đź“Ś Key Facts
- Henry Lee died at age 87 on a Friday at his home in Henderson, Nevada, according to his family and the University of New Haven.
- Lee gained national prominence for questioning the handling of blood evidence as a defense expert during O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial and later consulted on the JonBenét Ramsey, Scott Peterson, and Phil Spector cases.
- In 2020, a state judge vacated the 1985 murder convictions of two Connecticut men whose case relied partly on Lee’s testimony about supposed bloodstains on a towel, and a 2023 federal ruling found Lee liable for fabricating evidence after later tests showed the stains were not blood, though he denied wrongdoing.
- Lee immigrated to the U.S. in 1964, ultimately leading Connecticut’s forensic lab and spending more than five decades teaching at the University of New Haven, where he helped build a major forensic science department and founded an institute in his name.
đź“Š Relevant Data
Black Americans, who comprise 13.6% of the U.S. population, account for 53% of the 3,200 known exonerations in the United States as of August 2022.
Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022 — National Registry of Exonerations
Black Americans are seven times more likely than White Americans to be wrongfully convicted of murder, with per capita rates showing higher vulnerability to miscarriages of justice.
Study Shows Race Is Substantial Factor in Wrongful Convictions — Equal Justice Initiative
Misapplication of forensic science has contributed to 24% of all known wrongful convictions in the United States since 1989.
Misapplication of Forensic Science — Innocence Project
Following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the Asian immigrant population in the United States grew more than twentyfold from 1960 to 2019, increasing from about 1 million to over 23 million.
A short history of Asian immigration — American Economic Association
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