Book Review: High-Tech Terror: Recognition, Management, and Prevention of Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear Injuries Secondary to Acts of Terrorism

• Author: Michael Bachmann,Bruce A. Carroll
• Published date: 01 September 2011
• Date: 01 September 2011
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016811415101
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Review
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The Brown’s Chicken Massacre is the topic of the book’s second chapter. In 1993, seven people
were murdered at a restaurant in Palentine, Illinois. Dr. Lee was called in to work with the local task
force in an attempt to solve this cold case.
This chapter includes not only all the comprehensive information, pertinent to the case, but also
provides a window into the infighting among politicians, law enforcement, and the community,
among others, that impeded the resolution of this case. Many years after the crime, two suspects
were eventually brought to trial (and convicted) of the crimes.
The next case takes us to Ohio to investigate the murder of a nun. From the time of the murder,
until Dr. Lee was called in, 23 years had elapsed. Although he was initially a suspect, local priest
Father Robinson was not charged during the initial investigation. Efforts to conceal certain elements
of the crime resulted in impropriety on the part of the church and the police department. These
actions obstructed justice during the initial investigation. After Dr. Lee’s involvement, Father
Robinson was tried and convicted of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
The next case took place in Dr. Lee’s home state of Connecticut, at the same time he was the state
commissioner of public safety. The shooting and killing of an African American teenager, ignited
hostilities and racial tensions within the community, as questions were raised surrounding the
justification of the shooting. There were varying accounts of what occurred, depending on who was
interviewed. Dr. Lee worked to determine whether the young man was shot in the back while he was
running away or shot as he was running toward the officer.
Dr. Lee’s work in this case not only involved evidence and crime reconstruction but also the
sensitivity and diplomacy needed to address the potentially volatile situation.
While all of the book’s cases are riveting in their own way, the last chapter, which deals with
genocide in Bosnia–Herzegovina, is exceedingly poignant and compelling. Dr. Lee discusses his
involvement with a humanitarian project undertaken to identify victims of ethnic cleansing and war
crimes under Milosevic. A comprehensive historical perspective as well as a detailed account of the
project is...