Breeden'S Murder Notes

In Vancouver British Columbia, a fire was set to the contents of a garbage dumpster. No one saw the ARSONIST, or the fire as it burned for hours in a deserted parking lot. It would take sophisticated science to identify the evidence in the ashes. Melton Diaz - walked towards the dumpster to empty some trash, when he noticed that it was warm and in the corner was a small charred figure so badly burned, it was beyond recognition. No fingerprints; Normal means of identifying a victim was inapplicable. All that remained was the equivalent of 35 pounds charcoal material. Dr. Laurel Grey - Vancouver’s medical examiner. During the autopsy, they couldn’t find any recognizable skin, but they did find a small patch of hair. Appeared to be reddish blond in color, but the intense heat already destroyed the hair follicles which could have been used for DNA testing. X-RAYS of the victim’s skul l - revealed several pieces of metal and a fractured skull, evidence of gunshot wounds, bullet fragments recovered from the brain came from 22 calliber weapon. But, they were so badly damaged they could not be used for ballistic identification. But now, Police now KNEW it was a HOMICIDE CASE. Because the gunshot wounds had caused obvious severe damage to the brain. Discovered that the blood in the sinuses was actively circulating when the bullets entered the victim’s head indicating that the heart was beating when the shots were fired. But the intense heat altered the victim’s blood chemistry making it impossible for any kind of DNA analysis. An examination on the victim’s lungs showed no signs of inhalation which meant that the victim was dead before the fire. The internal organs revealed that the victim was an adult female . Dr. Larry Cheevers - they called a Forensic Odontologist to help with the investigation, who was asked to study the dental remains of the victim. A victim of INFERNO. Upon Dr. Cheever’s close examination , he saw that beneath the charred surface that the jawbone and teeth were intact. By studying the growth patterns of the teeth and skull, he estimated that the victim was between 24 and 30 years of age. When he looked closely at the X-RAYS , he discovered an important clue, that the victim had an extremely rare dental condition called, MESIAL DENS. It’s an extra tooth which never grew into place on top on the two front teeth inside the gum. The X-RAY also showed a lot of high-quality dental work . Greg Middleton - covered the search for the identity of the victim for the newspaper. When the police reviewed all the recent missing persons report, one in particular caught their eye. It was for a 30 year old woman, Lynn Breeden. Who was last seen on the day before the charred remains were discovered. When the dental records for Lynn Breeden were compared to those from the charred remains, doctors noticed the same extra tooth above the gum line on top of the front teeth and the dental work matched the burned victim as well. Dr. Cheevers was fully convinced that they got the identity of the victim. Lynn Breeden - was a part time model who once posed for the Playboy Magazine. She worked at a men’s club called Number 5 Orange, as a cocktail waitress. (She’s involved in cocaine) Police learned that Breeden’s former boyfriend lived on Robson Street, named Chris Peacock. Chris Peacock - a local drug trafficker. He admitted that he was with Lynn for most of the night on the Friday in question, they went to celebrities night club and afterwards in a small after-hours club. He said he became upset with Lynn for flirting with other men, so he left the club without her and that was the last he saw her. Then detectives received a tip from the manager of Lynn’s bank , a woman has posed as Lynn Breeden attempting to withdraw all of the funds from her account. Security photograph showed the imposter looking out the window, possibly to her accomplice but the glare of the sun obstructed a clear view outside. The woman left the bank quickly when her identity was questioned. Local newspaper published the photograph of the woman posing as Lynn Breeden at the bank, and within hours, an unanimous tip identified the woman in the photograph as, Tanya Forrester. Tanya told police that she was given Lynn’s wallet by a man named, Chris Cruz, who told her it was stolen. Together, they agreed to clean out her bank account before it was reported missing. Chris Cruz, - an unusual character who was a model and actor. A student of University of British Columbia, planning to attend medical school. Also went by the name, Tony Devin, the stage name he used as a stripper and professional escort. He’s also involved in COCAINE use. Cruz said he only stayed at the same club for 20 min and left to see a girlfriend. The next day, he said a friend offered him the contents of Lynn’s purse telling Cruz it had been stolen. Police asked him if they could search his car, he agreed, but he lied that it wasn’t working well and it was in his grandma’s place, but he actually rode it to the police station and parked right down the street. (Great Altima Beal). Experts reprocessed the bank photograph to remove the window glare from the Sun, police could see the individual standing outside, it was Chris Cruz. When forensic detectives inspected Cruz’s car, they found blood. Police also found a 22 caliber rifle, a 5 gallon gasoline container, and a suit jacket. He wore at the night’s club wherein inside the pocket, police found a Playboy bunny pendant stained with blood. Similar to Lynn wore from a photograph. Bloody items : Spare tire, clothing, photo album, tire iron (hair & blood with it). DESPITE the evidences, police had no way to compare the blood found in Cruz’s car to the victim, because the remains was too damaged. The fire not only incinerated Lynn Breeden’s body but also any chance of a DNA probe. (skin,blood,saliva, hair follicles) all possible areas for DNA testing had all been destroyed. Dr. David Sweet - a Forensic Odontologist, he suggested that scientists try a new approach, something which had never been done, that they tried to harvest the genetic material from inside Breeden’s teeth from the tooth pulp in order to generate a DNA profile. Particularly, the wisdom tooth because he sensed that those were more protected from the fire than the other tissues and other teeth because they were deeper in the core of the body away from the heat source. Blood cells were extracted from the tooth pulp and treated with a special chemical cocktail and the DNA floated free. The separated fragments are then visualized on x-aray film called an autoradiogram. When scientist compared the blood DNA found in Cruz’s trunk/jacket/photo album, it matched the DNA profile of Lynn Breeden. Based on the forensic evidence, Cruz was charged with the murder of Lynn Breeeden. CAUSE : Witnesses said that, Lynn was looking for cocaine that night and at some point, made the acquaintance with Cruz (the two already knew each other as both are models and shared a great appetite for cocaine). They left the club together and some sort of disagreement took place possibly over payment for some drugs Cruz may have provided. Police believe the argument escalated and Cruz stopped the car, in a rage, Cruz grabbed a tire iron from his trunk and hit Breeden on the head and face. As she lay on the ground, he proceeded to shot (3 times) her with his 22 caliber rifle. Took her body to the dumpster then burned her. The case broke new ground for forensic scientists since it was the first time that DNA evidence from a tooth was used in a criminal case. Chris Cruz was convicted of 2 nd degree murder in the death of Lynn Breeden, sentenced to life in prison. Teeth are considered to be the most indestructible components of the human body and they have the highest resistance to most environmental effects like fire, dessication and decomposition.