Workshop: Ransom Notes, Counterfeiters & Other Paperwork

One of the 9/11 anthrax letters.

Part of the Hitler Diaries (later proven to be counterfeit)

The JonBenet Ramsey ransom note.

"I cannot watch CSI."

Basically, she says, "If it can be made, it can be counterfeited."

Enhance. Enhance.

Enhance!

who: Ellen Schuetzner

what: Forensic Document Examiner

where: Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore

why: Sisters in Crime meeting, Chicagoland

It's never boring when my local chapter of Sisters in Crime gets together. From crime scene cleanup to maggots to cops, murder meds, and more, we know how to have a good time. Our last meeting was no exception.

Ellen Schuetzner is a veteran document examiner who has worked on countless cases over the years from medical malpractice to the mob. She spoke to us about the dying art of handwriting and how difficult it is to forge a signature.

"Two questions I always ask first," she says. "What is the age of the writer at the time of the sample and what is the medical situation."

She's worked on numerous IRS cases, as well as assigned an intern to reassembling shredded documents. (That case took two people three months.) A truly engrossing talk on a fascinating subject.

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