Forensic Science and Criminal Justice

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.