PERSONALITY PROFILE: Using Insects To Solve Crimes

At well over 6 feet tall with a big, round belly and dark gray whiskers, Dr. Neal Haskell is an imposing figure. He drives a van with the license plate MAGGOT and his hobbies include range shooting and collecting vintage WWII tanks, jeeps and other assorted military vehicles.

No, Haskell is not who comes to most people’s minds when they think of an entomologist. But Haskell’s specialty — forensic entomology — is not your everyday desk job. Forensic entomology is defined as any aspect of the study of insects that interacts with legal matters. The major emphasis in forensic entomology is the use of insects in establishing time estimation and geographic inferences related to location and the time of human death. This is where Haskell — who also works as a professor at Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Ind. — becomes involved.

Generally regarded as the nation’s only full-time forensic entomologist, Haskell is called upon to aid police investigations throughout the United States and internationally. His work primarily involves assessing entomological evidence, such as photographs, case reports, vials of insects and/or maggots, etc., to determine the time since death or postmortem interval. He has worked on more than 500 cases throughout his career and regularly testifies in criminal and civil cases.

Haskell has witnessed how forensic entomology has grown in acceptance. At one time, crime scene investigators and medical examiners would dispose of insects to clean up the crime scene and/or corpse in a timely fashion. Now, most up-to-date crime scene investigation units have included in their standard operation procedures the potential for acquisition of entomological evidence. Forensic entomology is also beginning to be better understood and accepted by the general public. Television programs such as CSI, The New Detectives and Forensic Files, among others, have helped spread the popularity of forensic entomology.

THE RIGHT COMBINATION. A common trait Haskell shares with other entomologists is the passion to learn something new. Growing up on an 800-acre beef and grain farm in the rural farming community of Rensselaer, Ind., gave Haskell plenty of opportunities to explore, and collecting insects became one of his favorite hobbies.

“Collecting insects was a fun hobby and it was something that didn’t cost me anything,” Haskell recalls. “Plus, I was discovering new things all the time and, to this day, my favorite part of forensic entomology is discovering new things.”
In 1964, Haskell further explored his interest in insects at nearby Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., where he majored in entomology.

During his sophomore year in college, Haskell’s father passed away. So in addition to working towards his bachelor’s degree in entomology, Haskell had to start thinking about his career path and also how he could maintain his family’s large farm.

After Haskell graduated from Purdue in 1969 he took over as owner and operator of his family’s farm while continuing to study entomology. During this time Haskell began networking with various law enforcement personnel. One of Haskell’s interests was collecting and shooting his many firearms so he built a 400-yard firing range on his farm. He always accommodated requests by local law enforcement officials to use his firing range and thus made many law enforcement contacts.

“Several things came together that enabled me to do what I do,” he said. “Most people do not have those types of resources. They may have a real good stomach for handling dead things but if they have a little backyard in the city they will not be able to do extensive forensic entomology research.”
In the early 1980s a local detective asked Haskell if he would like to accompany him to a crime scene and collect evidence.

“I remember collecting maggots around feet, in and around his eyeballs and I was thinking this has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

That bizarre first entomology corpse encounter left an impression of Haskell in more ways than one. Haskell’s farm was enduring a difficult economic period in the early 1980s and he was facing the real possibility of losing the farm. Through his studies and his first actual case, Haskell began thinking that making a career in forensic entomology and saving his farm could go hand in hand.

In 1984 Haskell met with a number of entomology professors at Purdue University, including Dr. Ralph Williams, a former classmate, and they developed a master’s degree program using Haskell’s farm as a point of study.

“We customized a master’s program and then a doctorate so that Neal would become the first trained forensic entomologist in the world,” Williams said.

While conducting graduate research and working towards his doctorate, Haskell began consulting death investigations. He has worked on cases in 43 states, two Canadian provinces and cases from Germany, Mexico and Belize.

“It can be intense being surrounded by death. It really takes a special type of person to do the work that Neal does,” Williams said. “Neal has a great knack for focusing on the job at hand, at the insect evidence and at the role that insects play.

“Neal is also not hesitant to work at the crime scene and do what is necessary there. It is critical to understand the crime scene and proper procedures. Being a lab forensic entomologist is not what is needed — you need to be a hands-on person like Neal who can get along easily with detectives, crime scene investigators, attorneys and law enforcement agencies.”

AN EXPERT WITNESS. Throughout the years, Haskell has gleaned a wealth of forensic entomology knowledge, research and experience. He has also developed a reputation for being an excellent court witness and is regularly called upon to testify. This is one of Haskell’s least favorite responsibilities but it goes along with being one of the world’s leading forensic entomologists.

While the science that goes into forensic entomology will not be challenged in court, the data that goes into the analysis will be challenged, Haskell said. In other words, with forensic entomology you really don’t know what the exact temperature is at the exact location where the body was found. Forensic entomology relies on the weather service and temperatures will vary.

Haskell is a natural in front of an audience and has become a valuable court witness, according to Williams.

“You’re dealing with a non-scientific community and Neal is very good at relating his information to juries in a language they can understand,” Williams said. “Too many academics and scientists think they know it all and go into a courtroom and talk in language and in terms that are very boring and will lose the jury’s attention.”

Haskell says he has learned a few tricks of the trade when it comes to testifying in court.

“If a courtroom is not configured so that I am comfortable facing the jury I will reposition my chair so that I am talking right to the jury,” he said. “If I see someone looking away I will focus right on them because it only takes one if that is a strong member of that jury.”

SHARING HIS KNOWLEDGE. Since Haskell’s time is divided among consulting, courtroom testifying, putting on workshops nationwide and his teaching responsibilities at Saint Joseph’s College, he doesn’t get the opportunity to see many crime scenes, or even morgues, first-hand. The collection of forensic entomology evidence is often done by law enforcement officials and, in some cases, professionals who work closely with insects, such as entomologists and pest management professionals (see related story below). Haskell then studies entomological evidence and his conclusions are used by law enforcement personnel to determine the time since death or postmortem interval.

Realizing the nationwide need to have law enforcement officials trained in forensic entomology, Haskell started a two-day maggot school at his farm in the early 90s. The course is geared towards law enforcement and the training of people not used to recognizing entomological evidence. It consists of lectures in the morning and field work in the afternoon.

“It’s always been my philosophy that we need to give our law enforcement personnel all the tools necessary to do their jobs to the best of their ability,” Haskell said. “If a new firearm is available that will help law enforcement personnel do their jobs better, they should have it. Forensic entomology is a useful tool that can assist in death scene investigations.” 

In the weeks prior to the start of the course, in a remote area on Haskell’s farm, fresh pig carcasses are spread in areas such as under trees and near ponds. Haskell and the workshop attendees study insect activity in various stages of decomposition. Haskell allows the students to work backward from a known time of death — something they won’t often get in a real homicide — and then observe, collect and analyze. They look for flies, maggots, migrating maggots, puparia and other insect evidence.

Haskell said the first maggot school he taught consisted of 25 crime scene investigators from the state of Indiana. By word of mouth the school has grown in popularity and now various law enforcement personnel from throughout the United States attend the course.

Haskell has this advice for anyone interested in becoming involved in forensic entomology:

“Grab a bug net and start examining road kill,” he said. “Gather a lot of dead things and study them day after day after day until you are sick of them. I’ve probably seen more dead things with regards to forensic entomology than anybody else in the world. The reason I like this type of work is because there is so much to learn. Every day I am seeing something new.”

The author is PCTonline.com’s Internet editor. He can be reached via e-mail at bharbinson@pctonline.com.