The March issue of my monthly newsletter, “Sifting the Ashes,” is now available at www.firescientist.com. This month’s case study describes a tragedy narrowly averted. A 70-year-old man was falsely accused of setting the fire that killed his 92-year-old mother. Fortunately, his court-appointed lawyer had the good sense to hire my colleague and friend Denny Smith, and when an issue of chemical analysis came up, Denny was kind enough to refer the case to me.

The defendant was also lucky because a new county prosecutor was elected in November. The new guy was able to approach the case without bias, and determined, correctly, that there was only one point of origin, and the chemistry was not meaningful. The case was dismissed. The defendant spent three years in custody awaiting trial, but it could have been much worse.