Ogeechee Technical College Forensic Science instructor, Jerry Findley, is a nationally known crime scene investigator and expert in reconstructing scenes by analyzing blood patterns and other evidence.  One of Findley’s many cases is one from north Florida which involved the death of a woman, and the subsequent conviction of her husband for the murder.  With the husband claiming innocence and appealing his conviction, the case came to the attention of the Discovery Channel which decided to feature the case on a new show called Forensics: You Decide.  Since Findley did work for law enforcement and prosecutors investigating the case, he was contacted for the show as well.  The Discovery Channel asked that he recreate the crime scene and duplicate the tests he performed in developing his expert analysis for the prosecution on the case. 

The crime took place on a beach in north Florida, but since Findley lives in the Statesboro area the Discovery Channel film crew met with Findley at Tybee Island, Georgia to try to replicate what may have happened at the beach on the fateful night of the murder.  Following the outside filming, the crew moved to a biology lab on the Ogeechee Technical College campus to demonstrate various tests related to the blood splatter analysis and other evidence collected during the course of the investigation.  With a director, videographer, technical assistants, and others helping, Findley became the focus of what will be two different segments of the show which will air sometime in August 2009.

Aside from the obvious excitement of having a production crew on campus, the greater importance to Ogeechee Tech is the fact that someone with Findley’s expertise and national reputation is teaching students at the College.  “We are very fortunate to have someone like Jerry teaching our students.  His level of expertise in the field of forensics is hard to duplicate, and he can provide insight to our students that they will be hard pressed to find anywhere else,” stated Dr. Dawn Cartee, President of Ogeechee Tech.  Findley teaches Forensic Science program courses at OTC’s main campus, as well as teaching at Ogeechee Tech’s Regional Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) in Claxton.  Findley’s son, Chris, is also an instructor at the Regional LEA.

With a career spanning many years, Findley at one time served as a homicide investigator in Chatham County, Georgia, and also taught at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth for a number of years.  Upon retiring from full-time employment at the state training center, he concentrated his efforts on his consulting work and teaching at OTC.  “Teaching classes is a great way for me to share the experience I’ve gained through the years.  Helping develop the next generation of investigators is very important to the continued apprehension and conviction of criminals,” stated Jerry Findley.

“Just as Jerry has unique and valuable experience in crime scene investigation, we have many instructors who have equally impressive backgrounds in their respective careers and areas of instruction.  That is what technical education is all about, having someone with extensive hands-on experience teaching students.  Our people do not just know theory, they know application,” said Cartee.