With a killer on the loose and investigators hitting a brick wall, sometimes the smallest detail can make or break a case.
An insatiable thirst for justice, dogged determination and attention to detail is where forensics comes into play.
The B.C. RCMP website describes forensic investigation as “a painstaking job that requires years of special training and an eagle eye for detail.”
As far as Cpl. Daryl Krumbhols of the RCMP’s Integrated Forensic Identification Services (IFIS) department is concerned, the recent murder trial of Davey Mato Butorac was no exception.
“What I learned from this investigation, is that you can never underestimate what you’re picking up,” said Krumbhols, whose analysis of a tire track left on the arm of one of Butorac’s victims was a major factor in the prosecution’s case.
“When (we) find shoe prints, or tire tracks, we seldom manage to identify them to a particular shoe or vehicle,” Krumbhols said, explaining that he wasn’t overly optimistic at the outset.
However, this didn’t deter him.
Krumbhols compared the tire track with a range of prospective matches. After the search proved fruitless, he consulted police services and databases —again with no success. He even resorted to examining the treads of cars stationed in parking lots on his own time.
When Krumbhols finally uncovered a photographic match of the tire track through a private website, there was no way to confirm the tire’s make.
“It was a little discouraging, because I got onto the Internet, I looked and looked and looked, and when I finally found something … I couldn’t confirm it was a BF Goodrich tire.”
Krumbhols eventually confirmed the make through consultation with tire manufacturer Michelin, acquired a set of BF Goodrich tires, and then drove over an artificial arm to replicate the tire impression found on the victim.
After five months of frustrating and exhausting work, day and night, his persistence finally paid off.
Police were able to use a combination of surveillance footage and Krumbhols’ tire-tread evidence to locate the perpetrator’s vehicle.
“‘Wow!’ is the best way of explaining” his excitement, Krumbhols said.
Davey Mato Butorac was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder, stemming from the 2007 deaths of Gwendolyn Jo Lawton, 46, and Sheryll Lynn Koroll, 50. He has no possibility of parole for 23 years.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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