

Meet One Of The Nation's Top Crime-fighting Artists

Law enforcement often relies on sketches to help identify suspects, but how accurate are they? And what other ways do detectives try and give the nameless a face?

Washington's Most Wanted's Parella lewis introduces us to one of the best known forensic artists in the country.

"I've solved cases on the east coast, west coast, all over the country." John hinds was one of the first forensic scientists in Washington state, and has helped solve hundreds of cases with his art.

Many of then have gained national attention. "The Paul Kenneth Keller case - the worst serial arsonist in U.S. History - my drawings helped identify him."

One drawing wasn't a dead ringer, but close enough that the suspect's father recognized him and turned him in. "Within a few days, his father had looked at the drawing and thought, 'Oh man, this looks like my son'."

John received training from the FBI, and also does facial reconstruction which he says can be less accurate. "Facial reconstruction is only about 50% accurate, because you have the skull and the shape of the head and placement of where the eyes, nose and mouth are."

He says because he often doesn't know the size of the nose or lip structure, it makes it harder to identify. "So, you're just giving it an average look and hope that it strikes a nerve with someone and they'll call and say, 'hey that's not quite right, but it may be my next door neighbor, my sister', or whoever."

John points out that science has come a long way over the years and is helping put more details into facial reconstructions. "Scientists have done studies on skin depth of deceased people using cadavers. They've done skin tests in different areas around the face to show the depth of say, a 30 year old male who was average height, what the skin depth would be in certain areas."

One of his latest projects is a cold case over 30 years old, a female shot to death after accepting a ride from a stranger in Everett. She was originally believed to be in her 20's or older, but her body was exhumed last year and her remains were looked at again. She is now believed to have been between 15 and 21 years old, and this picture provides new life to an old case. Only time will tell who "Jane Doe" is.

John hopes to add her to his collection of success stories. Still though, he's quick to point out this type of drawing isn't his favorite. "I would rather sit down with a witness and have that person describe to me and do a drawing of what they look like. That seems to hit it on the head. I've had witnesses, I've done a drawing and then shown them. They actually started crying and said 'oh my gosh, that looks just like him'. and we caught the guy who did it."

And, he's helped catch hundreds of criminals. Not just with a gun, but with this retired detectives most powerful weapon of all - his pencil and paper. "It gives me a good feeling when I do a drawing and the witness or the victim looks at it and gets real emotional and says, 'oh my gosh, that looks just like the guy'. That gives you a real good feeling like you're doing some good."

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