Hale-Ray Hosts Top Forensic Scientist

Nathan Hale-Ray High School was proud to welcome Dr. Henry C. Lee, one of the world’s foremost forensic scientists, as a guest speaker to the student body on Friday, November 18th. Dr. Lee shared insights into his work that has made him an icon in his field. He has been a prominent player in many of the most challenging criminal cases of the last 50 years. Dr. Lee has worked with law enforcement agencies from 46 countries in helping to solve more than 8000 cases.

Dr. Lee’s investigation and testimony figured prominently in many trials including the O. J. Simpson trial and the “Woodchipper” murderer case, and he has assisted local and state police in their investigations of other famous crimes, such as the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado and the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart in Utah.

Born in China, Dr. Lee grew up in Taiwan where he first worked for the Taipei Police Department, attaining the rank of Captain. With his wife, Margaret, Dr. Lee came to the United States in 1965. Dr. and Mrs. Lee have been married for 43 years and have two grown children.

In 1975, after retiring from the state of Connecticut, where he developed an international reputation of excellence for himself and the State Police Crime Lab, Dr. Lee joined the University of New Haven.  There he created the school’s Forensic Sciences program which has quickly gained a national reputation. He has also taught as a professor at more than a dozen universities, law schools, and medical schools. Dr. Lee has authored hundreds of articles in professional journals and has co-authored more than 40 books. He has been the recipient of numerous medals and awards as well.

Dr. Lee talked about his many accomplishments including degrees, awards, and shared many experiences of his work in the field. Most importantly he shared with the students his philosophy of dedication and hard work.  When asked about his life, Dr. Lee said, “The one thing I have done in my life is to make the impossible possible.” When he and his wife came to America they had 50 dollars in their pocket. He could not even attend one of his own commencement ceremonies because he could not afford it. Today he has become an internationally known professional.  He reinforced with students the value of hard work over time as the key element in creating a successful life.

During his session with the Hale-Ray student body Dr. Lee reviewed many of the cases that he worked on, showing evidence and information from many of the headline cases of the past 25 years. In the O.J. Simpson case he showed two drops of blood spatter that supposedly came from the murderer. However, one was dry and one was wet which would not have happened with real evidence. This evidence is one of the reasons why OJ was not convicted. He also showed evidence from the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping in which Dr. Lee used the window screen cutting to determine the relative height and weight of the kidnapper.

One major idea that Dr. Lee discussed was the prominence of scientists in today’s criminal investigations. He noted that his work is very different from CSI and other similar television crime shows. Many crime scenes can take weeks to analyze properly!

The program was arranged by Hale-Ray science teacher Carolyn Hale who teaches forensic science at the school.  At the invitation of Dr. Lee she recently attended a two-day forensics conference along with top criminal investigators from the state and region.  Dr. Lee was a captivating speaker who enthralled his audience. The students were very excited to have heard his story.  At the end of his talk, when it was time for students to go to lunch, many clamored for him to continue.