The Doctor Calls on the Library

O.J. Simpson had means, motive and opportunity to commit murder, but the Los Angeles Police and the prosecution team bungled the probe, leading to acquittal, according to Dr. Jerry Labriola, who has teamed with famed forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee in analyses of several criminal investigations.

The 1963 assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy? It was a conspiracy, possibly Mafia-related. And there was another gunman.

Labriola, a medical doctor for more than 35 years, speculated on the two cases to 13 listeners at the while promoting his latest book, Scent of Danger.

"What are the secrets hidden in the Egyptian temples? In the tomb of Lady Beckett? In the tiny perfume bottle? What is the connection to bioterrorism, Islamic extremists, and to the rainforests of the Japanese Yakuza?", asks the book jacket.

The doctor said the library was the fourth stop on his book tour.

Labriola explained his beliefs after outlining the facts of both cases.

"There are a lot of irregularities here," he said of the trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in the ex-football player's home in 1994.

First, much of the blood found at the scene belonged to the victims and little to Simpson. The little blood of Simpson's that was found contained an anti-clotting agent used in labs.

Police might have planted evidence to bolster their case but not to frame Simspon, Labriola said. The couple had fought frequently before the murders, and Simpson had beaten his ex-wife until she was unrecognizable at times, he noted.

Still, the blood spatter was inconsistent with the prosecution's theory and police mishandled the investigation by failing to bring blood evidence to the lab immediately, Labriola said.

"That's a no-no," the doctor said.

The discrediting of LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman also helped the defense sway the jury in the nine-month trial, he said. Regardless, Simpson was later found liable for their deaths in a civil suit.

In the case of Kennedy, analysis showed Lee Harvey Oswald could not have fired twice in the space of time Kennedy would have been vulnerable.

Further, the "magic bullet" theory doesn't work, he added.

"There were all sorts of rumors swirling around," Labriola said of the time after the killing.

He argued that the Mafia was a likely candidate for the killing because Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald, was a known mafia associate. JFK's brother Robert was also prosecuting the mob, which was also upset at being forced out following the Bay of Pigs incident in Cuba, Labriola said.

The Kennedy brothers also shared girlfriends with the mob, the doctor said.

Regardless, the details of the death were covered up or destroyed, such as the original autopsy notes and real photos of the wound to Kennedy's head, Labriola charged.

"What was released to the public was a farce," the doctor said.

"After nearly 50 years, an abundance of theories abound in this case," he added. But what has changed after near 50 years is the reach of forensic science.

"So many people can be brought under the umbrella of forensic science," Labriola said.

While television crime scene investigation shows are correct, they are overdramatized. But they have highlighted the importance of the field.

"They're one of the reasons why it's become so popular," said Labriola, who sold and signed books after the talk.

That's the case for Trumbull High School senior Jillian Wyckoff, 18, who plans on studying the field after the graduation this year.

"I've been watching those shows for years," she said. She likens the work to "fighting crime with science."

Her mother, Lynda Gabrielson, said the field allows all kinds of people to serve in law enforcement.