A murder case, an unpaid bill

You would think that someone known as the father of blood spatter analysis wouldn't have much trouble getting paid for his services — who, after all, would want to find out how someone like that goes about collecting bad debts? But the so-called father of this frightful field of forensics says he's been stiffed by a Montgomery County prosecutor who hired him to review the evidence in a murder case, but who refused to pay him after an analysis showed that the defendant was innocent.

"I went over to the right side," Herbert MacDonell says. "I testified for the defense."

But Deputy State's Attorney John Maloney, the prosecutor, said MacDonell hasn't been paid because of a discrepancy in his invoice (which, for his part, the scientist said he wasn't told about). "He sends e-mails. He called the governor," Maloney said. "Just give us a normal bill like everone else does." Their dispute is a small sideshow in a case that is otherwise downright wrenching: An Army Ranger was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head in a Gaithersburg apartment in September 2006, and his roommate, a Ranger with whom he served two tours in Afghanistan, was charged with the murder.

The case, which came to trial two years ago, highlighted what some say is inadequate support of returning vets — the trial judge even called from the bench for more assistance to prevent more "lost souls" surviving the war but not their homecoming. Gary Smith claimed he found Michael McQueen dead of a self-inflicted wound and, in an attempt to protect his buddy's reputation, took the gun and tossed it into a lake in Rockville. But despite MacDonell's testimony on his behalf, Smith was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison. The case is under appeal.

Even by phone, it's clear why MacDonell, who is 81 and lives in Corning, N.Y., is frequently invited to the witness stand by both prosecutors and defense attorneys. The author of one of the classic manuals in his field, "Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood," he brings a ranconteur's skill to such gruesome matters as discharge distances and intracranial trajectories. Baltimore Sun