Latest news with #ErinMulligan
CBS News
21-05-2025
- CBS News
Ballistics technology used by Colorado sheriffs helps solve years-old cases
Jefferson County looks to use ballistics technology more to solve crimes Jefferson County looks to use ballistics technology more to solve crimes Jefferson County looks to use ballistics technology more to solve crimes In Jefferson County, Erin Mulligan sits at her computer in the Colorado county's regional crime lab. It's not quite "CSI: Colorado" but it can sometimes feel that way to her. As a forensic scientist, she works with the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. Forensic scientist Erin Mulligan CBS "We will log an item here in Colorado," she told CBS Colorado. "There will be a default search area that we go through that will attempt to link shooting scenes." The practice has been used by law enforcement agencies since the early 2000s and has helped establish links between investigations, sometimes spanning years or across state lines. Locally, the Denver Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office were the beneficiaries of the technology to help solve a crime. In March of 2022, a shooting took place in Arvada. No one was injured but evidence was collected from the crime scene, including a bullet casing. NIBIN tends to use shell casings as a way to cross reference gun manufacturers, serial numbers and give investigators something to work with. CBS "There's a proprietary algorithm in this software that just evaluates the similarity of the markings left behind by the firearm," Mulligan explained. Typically, this kind of evidence can sit in the NIBIN database. But every now and then, a link will be provided which will allow agencies to reach out to one another and make a connection. "There's a data point from that linked incident where there's a light bulb or there's a link made," said Mulligan. CBS Which is how Denver police got in touch with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. While investigating another shooting in 2023, DPD sent the casing to their crime lab, who also use NIBIN for their ballistics analysis. The database turned up a hit: the shooting from Arvada in 2022. "The investigators can share those witness statements or the details about each of their investigation and work together," Mulligan added. The suspect, Michael Esadcida, was arrested and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 16 years as the ballistics technology provided a win for NIBIN, law enforcement and public safety.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Inside look: New technology at Jeffco lab links shell casings to crimes across state
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab recently used hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money to buy new technology that puts shell casings from crime scenes into a database, helping connect and solve cases. FOX31 got into the lab to see how it all works. 'I place the cartridge case in this holder,' Jefferson County Regional Lab Forensic Scientist Erin Mulligan explained during a demonstration. 'Inside the equipment, there are some light sources as well as the camera.' The 3-D images from this new lab equipment go into ATF's National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, known as NIBIN. Cartridge cases are entered from sites all around the country. Scientists can then search them against other cases in the system to try to link the casings to shooting scenes. 'This takes information for maybe two different crime scenes,' Brent Beavers, Special agent in charge for ATF's Denver Field Division said. 'It might be one has more information, one has less. You put it together. Investigators talk. Now there's an opportunity to solve crimes and prevent future ones.' According to ATF, 13,213 pieces of evidence were submitted to NIBIN in Colorado in 2024. The database generated 60.1% leads in the system for law enforcement to follow up on. For the 2025 fiscal year-to-date, 4,740 pieces of evidence have been submitted to the NIBIN database in Colorado, with 48.8% of casings generating leads. 'For Jefferson County, for metro Denver and the state of Colorado, this is a huge success to have this machine in place,' Beavers said. 'I think citizens will be safer because of it.' Looking at the data from April, the Jefferson County Crime Lab told FOX31 they were able to return results to local agencies, on average, 4.7 days after receiving a cartridge case in the lab. 'We're getting a lot more calls than, say, ten, 15 years ago,' Arvada Police PIO David Snelling said. 'We're finding a lot of shell casings. You can't always track suspects via cell phone video. When we can link them through this technology to the scene, it's incredible.' Arvada police shared a case from back in 2022, where the NIBIN database helped connect a suspect to two crimes. A suspect followed a victim in their car and shot at the victim's vehicle on 57th Ave. One of the bullets lodged in the rear seat headrest on the driver's side of the car. 'In the original case that we had in March of 2022, we never found a gun and so it was put together by shell casings,' Snelling said. Then, in 2023, DPD had a case where a suspect shot at a bar on Sheridan Boulevard. The casings found at that scene were connected to the case in Arvada. Through the NIBIN database and the investigative work, they were able to link the two cases together and identify a suspect. This year, the suspect pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 'The shell casing, it leaves an individual signature on that on that from the weapon,' Snelling said. 'So, this technology is absolutely amazing to be able to match 1 to 1.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
