If there were a Forensic Science Hall of Fame, Ed Cutchins would certainly be in it.

Ed figured prominently in our episode entitled “Shear Luck,” which is about the murder of Julie Snodgrass. Julie’s husband, Joe, was a sergeant in the Air Force, and military investigators were convinced he was responsible for her death. They suspected that two 5-1/4” floppy disks (the standard of the day) found among Joe’s belongings contained incriminating evidence. Unfortunately, the disks had been cut into little pieces before investigators could examine them.

Investigators asked Jim Christy of the U.S. Military Computer Forensic Laboratory for help. Jim was stymied. He couldn’t find anyone, either in the military or the private sector, who had successfully reassembled a damaged floppy disk. One federal agency offered to try, but they said it might take as long as a year and cost close to a million dollars. Even so, there were no guarantees.

Finally, when Jim Christy convened a meeting of his staff to discuss this bad news, Jim’s deputy, Ed Cutchins, offered a suggestion: “You gonna give me a shot?” Jim asked, “What are you gonna do?” “I’m gonna Scotch tape them back together.”

No one in the meeting gave this any chance for success. But with nowhere else to turn, Jim Christy allowed Ed to give it a try.

Ed Cutchins’ first task was to find a Scotch brand tape thin enough to work inside a computer, yet strong enough to hold together and leave no adhesive residue. For that, Cutchins needed to find a tape with adhesion similar to a “post-it” note.

After those tests were complete, came the arduous task of putting the pieces together.

Cutchins and his technicians used heat to flatten the rumpled edges of the damaged pieces. In many instances this worked, but some pieces were beyond repair.

To create a perfectly round disk, they cut pieces from a blank floppy disk and taped those into the remaining holes they had left from the damaged disk.

Miraculously, Cutchins’ experiment worked!

On the disk, investigators found portions of an email Snodgrass sent to his housekeeper, asking for her help to find a hit man to kill his wife.

The cost of Ed Cutchins’ solution? $131.

When we look at history and innovation, some qualities seem to be consistent among innovators and inventors. They have the ability to look at a problem in a different way. They have the courage to try things never before tried. And they aren’t afraid of being embarrassed, to risk failure and perhaps ridicule.

That’s why I admire people like Ed Cutchins.

He recovered a valuable piece of evidence used to convict a killer, and in doing so made forensic history. At the same time, he saved the tax payers more than a million dollars.

Now that, my friends, is an outstanding achievement.

And check out these links to two different articles indicating Forensic Files is among the top ten true crime shows:

Forensic Files Rated #1 True-Crime Reality Show

Forensic Files Among 10 Best True Crime Shows

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Paul Dowling
Executive Producer