Forensic Files, Season 1 Ep. 3 -- "The House That Roared"

Author: Shane Lambert

This episode of Forensic Files originally aired on October 10th, 1996. It told the sad story of Christopher Campano, a man who killed his wife one night in the summer of 1992. Her name was Caren Campano, she was murdered in the bedroom she shared with her husband, and forensics was a big part of solving her case.

This episode was available on Youtube on the publication date of this article. This was a case that involved a lot of blood and anyone interested in serology should pay attention to this episode. In fact, Caren's blood loss was so great that the prosecution in the case was comfortable proceeding to trial even in the absence of finding her body. Usually, that is considered a major obstacle toward getting a conviction. 

If you watch this episode, then expect to learn something about the following topics that have to do with forensics:

• Hemosticks: they reveal the presence of blood but can't identify species; I think these might be old-school.
• Octalony tests: tells you what species the blood is from.
• Luminol: reveals blood stains that have been cleaned and are not visible to the naked eye.
• RFLP analysis: involves analyzing bits of DNA.
• Dental records: they were used to identify a Jane Doe as Caren.
• Injuries: how might you be able to tell if injuries are from a car accident or from an assault?

There were other forms of evidence in this case that were not forensic in nature but had to do with circumstantial evidence. Firstly, Christopher pawned Caren's items the morning after the night when she was last seen. That might suggest that he knew she was dead. Secondly, Christopher and Caren had an argument the night she disappeared, an argument that was audible to neighbors. That speaks to animosity between the two and a motive to kill. Lastly, Christopher didn't have an alibi at the time of Caren's murder.

Christopher received a 1000-year sentence that was bizarre. You could watch a lot of based-on-real-crime shows without seeing a sentence like that. If the Democrats stay in power, then look for Campano to only serve 550 years of his sentence. 

:D