Former FBI agent discusses forensic science, weapons of mass destruction

By Katie Gault / For The Pitt News

published: Thu, 5 Nov, 2009

Across the nation, television viewers tune in to watch stars use forensic science to crack cases on shows like “Law & Order,” “CSI” and “Bones.”

But how realistic are these depictions?

Randall S. Murch, a former special agent for Federal Bureau of Investigation and currently the associate director of Center for Technology, Security and Policy at Virginia Tech University, set out to answer that question last night in a lecture he gave in Alumni Hall.

“There is a fairly substantial difference between what forensic science can do and what people think it can do,” Murch said yesterday during his lecture, titled “Forensic Science and Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

The lecture was part of a series hosted by the Pitt’s Center for National Preparedness.

Murch said that on television, the audience only sees the consequences of forensics work, while he sees the side of investigation and intelligence.
“There are a great number of uncertainties along the way ... Intelligence is rarely perfect,” Murch said.

Rather than use forensics to solve a problem after the fact, Murch said forensics should be a tool used “during the fact” to help prevent, disrupt and defeat a second problem. The goal is attribution, “essentially, whodunnit,” he said.

Often, people don’t consider alternative explanations for the physical evidence provided by forensic science, which in an investigation leaves room for reasonable doubt. Murch pioneered an FBI forensic investigative program to solve this problem.

“Fourteen years ago when I started this crusade, I was alone in thinking this [was important],” Murch said.

He said the importance of understanding reasonable doubt in forensic evidence gained recognition after what Murch described as the “most unfortunate hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

“There were some misunderstandings,” Murch said about the weapons. With forensic science and attribution, however, Murch said one can also prove what isn’t as well as what is.

Murch established the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction forensic investigation program and the agency’s Hazardous Materials Response Unit, which uses forensics to investigate weapons, threats and hoaxes.

The lecture offered some Pitt students insight to the world after college.

“It’s a good way to get information outside our little bubble of the university, especially if this is something you’re going into,” graduate student David Nawn said.

Murch said his lecture opened student’s eyes to the vast realm of career possibilities they faced and shared with them matters of national concern. He listed four specific mission areas to reduce national threat, vulnerability and risk: prevent, pursue, protect, prepare.

Jessica Malzahn, a graduate student in the School of Public Health, said, “We’re all members of this nation. We’re all responsible for keeping it safe.”