The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "forensic medicine" ...
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What Killed Arafat?
This 50-minute film was the result of a nine month long cold case investigation into the suspicious death of Yasser Arafat, Palestine's iconic, revolutionary leader. After obtaining Arafat's entire original medical files, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, led by producer and reporter Clayton Swisher, crossed continents to track down and interview the French, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian doctors who had worked to save Arafat's life. Part I of "What Killed Arafat?" was able to easily shatter popular myths about what caused Arafat's precipitous decline from the onset of his illness on October 12, 2004 until his death on November 11th. Testimony from Arafat's doctors conclusively ruled out liver cirrhosis, cancer, even rumors of HIV. The scientific, evidence-based discoveries made in the Part II result from the work performed by a team of forensic pathologists, toxicologists, and radiation physicists from the University Center for Legal Medicine and Institute for Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Working without payment, they agreed to run a battery of sophisticated tests on a large gym bag containing Arafat’s last personal effects. The scientists discovered significant levels of reactor-made Polonium 210 contaminating areas of Arafat's personal effects that came into contact with his biological fluids. When the final results came back in late June, Al Jazeera hosted Mrs. Arafat in Doha to watch the Swiss explain the results on set. Upon witnessing their testimony, Ms. Arafat made a resolute, unanticipated surprise announcement, calling on the Palestinian Authority to exhume her husband's body for testing. Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed on November 27, 2012 so that the final samples could be retrieved. Whether the causes of Arafat's death are determined to be natural, inconclusive—or even murder—suffice it to say that Al Jazeera’s "What Killed Arafat?" and the resulting investigations and exhumation will have inched the world closer to understanding what did not, and possibly for the first time, what did claim the life of this historic and controversial personality.
Tags: Science; death; biology; investigation; exhumation; testing
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The Williams Case
Scolforo examines "the suspicious death of black York resident Carl E. Williams Sr. in 1965." The investigative series, which is part of the newspaper's ongoing coverage into events surrounding York City's riots of 1969, reveals that Williams was probably a victim of police brutality. Though official records state that the black man died of a heart attack, interviews with the two now-retired police officers shown a number of discrepancies in their version of what happened. The series sheds light on the exhumation of the body, following the findings, and provides ongoing coverage on the re-examination of the case.
Tags: FOI request; police misconduct; crime; forensic medicine; race riots; blacks; African Americans
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Questions Unanswered in True case
The story examines the controversies surrounding the investigation into the death of Philip True, a San Antonio Express-News writer. The report questions the freeing of the two Huichol Indians held in True's death, and finds that "the case ... highlights an often-corrupt judicial system." The article follows the chronology of the case and points to some discrepancies in the official confessions of the suspects. It also examines the complaints of the suspects that they have been "beaten and tortured by men in uniforms."
Tags: murder; strangulation; autopsy; journalists; forensic medicine; investigation; human rights
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Lives in the Balance.
A two-year look at battling mental illness in the maximum-security Biggs unit. The Biggs unit, a component of Fulton State Hospital, is called a "forensic" center because many of its inhabitants have committed criminal acts, in many cases shocking acts of violence against family members or loved ones. Hope for the "Sickest of the Sick." The Inner Battle. Reaching the Unreachable. Silencing the Voices. Pleading Insanity.
Tags: sex offender; insane; insanity; mental illness; mental health; Schizophrenia; prison; rape; molest; religion; drug; security; reform; medicine; hospital.
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No title (id: 13893)
For more than two decades, Waneta Hoyt's five children were presumed victims of sudden infant death syndrome. Their case was used in research to prove that SIDS runs in families. In 1994, a forensic pathologist insisted that the study hid homocides.. An investigation led to a confession of murder from Hoyt. "Goodbye, My Little Ones" chronicles the saga. (March 1996)
Tags: Lighty CAR Goodbye; my little ones Contest entry Medicine Munchausen syndrome by proxy Health 384 pgs. BOOK