Posted on 03/09/2008 4:35:40 PM PDT by abb
A photography expert with over 30 years of experience says that a second person can be seen in the back seat of the SUV in a photo provided by police regarding the murder of UNC student Eve Carson.
William Mathis of Mathis & Jones Communications near St. Louis, Missouri initially contacted the Raleigh Chronicle newspaper to provide a color enhanced version of the ATM surveillance photos that were provided by Chapel Hill Police.
UNC student body president Eve Carson, age 22, was found murdered on Wednesday morning in Chapel Hill and police are looking for the man whose photo was taken while using her ATM card.
According to his bio, Mathis is an award-winning expert in photography with over 30 years of experience and works to enhance digital photographs for a living. He uses large format cameras, printers, and other specialized equipment to do his work which has included architectural photography for large architectural firms such as HOK, worked as an official photographer for historic site renovations, and has performed graphic arts design in the sports industry.
Mathis saw an interview with the editor of the Raleigh Chronicle about the case on MSNBC on Sunday morning and decided to help out, especially since he is originally from North Carolina.
"I have daughters at Vanderbilt and University of Maryland and this type of heinous crime has to be stopped," said Mathis. "It is the least I could do."
Mathis provided the Raleigh Chronicle two colorized versions of the original grainy black and white photos that Chapel Hill Police provided to the media on Saturday. He also improved upon the color of the "retro" Houston Astros baseball cap that the suspect appears to be wearing.
However, while working on the photos, Mathis noticed something else in the background, which he did not notice until he started examining the photos closely.
"It also looks like there is a very large person in the backseat," said Mathis, who said he noticed the figure when he printed out a very large copy of the photo.
Mathis has large format printers that can print copies of pictures several feet across, to the point of being life-sized.
"When I blew them up, I noticed...hey, there's another person back there," said Mathis.
Mathis said an outline of a shoulder can be seen in the back seat and although no face can be seen, he feels that after reviewing the photo that another person is in the vehicle.
"[The figure] is a very big man," said Mathis.
Mathis said he believes the second person in the back seat is also wearing a baseball cap.
Indeed, looking at the original black and white photographs provided by police (see below), a very dark outline against the light-colored leather seats of the SUV in the back can be seen. The outline blocks all light and does not seem to be a shadow.
The outline seems to be in the shape of a person, although that is certainly not confirmed by Chapel Hill Police at this time. It could be something else that simply appears to be a person in the photographs.
Mathis said it would be better to work with a higher resolution version of the photo than the one handed out to the media.
Chapel Hill Police have not mentioned a second person in their discussions of the case, but the Raleigh Chronicle will notify police of the photo expert's opinion.
The official spokesman for the Chapel Hill Police Department, Lt. Kevin Gunter, was not immediately available for comment in the case. Two messages were left with the police department on Sunday afternoon including one with the staff duty officer at the front desk.
It matters because its a material fact that will lead the cops to the killer(s).
True.
If you had taken the time to read the story, you would have realized the colorized photo isn’t “evidence.” Get over yourself, and read the story before you type more foolish incriminations.
I think all atms have cameras that has not been news since 1932, also if it is silly to speculate that he killed her for being white why do you run off three reasons that you speculate may have been the motivation
“Don’t people know they are on camera at ATMs.?”
You certainly should assume you are, although some “cameras” are dummies. I once had a bank call and ask if I remembered anything about a guy in front of me (I remembered a tiny bit) because he had used a stolen card, but the camera was a dummy. They knew by time stamps that I was right behind him.
The color simply helps others to come up with his name and turn him in for a reward.
Aren’t you glad we don’t use judges to investigate killings. You can just imagine how many murderers get away in Europe because so many places do exactly that.
Yes it is. But the “enhanced” image is fake and enough to get a jury to acquit. There is no need to create evidence to hang this thug.
If this was some toothless hick redneck, the media would be on it like one of Vick’s dogs. But they can’t milk this story now. It will fade away.
I doubt that is true in 2008, you can get a camera for less than $100, if I had a big box o money sitting around I would invest in a cheapo camera to keep an eye on things, then again some sort of logic would enter the situation
Ignore her.
In fact, not all ATMS have cameras. Nonetheless, it sounds like your theory is that this guy knew he would be on camera and still made no attempt to hide his identity. That makes a lot of sense.
I’m curious, when a white criminal kills a black vic, do you assume race is the most likely reason?
That seems like a recipe for creating a task force with unlimited resources specifically for the purposes of putting you out of business.
I did read the story and you get over yourself. I didn’t type any foolish incriminations.
yes I think that until there was some proof to the contrary alot of people would wonder if that might be part of the motivation, especially if there was no other obvious motive
“If this was some toothless hick redneck, the media would be on it like one of Vick’s dogs. But they can’t milk this story now. It will fade away.”
Last time I looked, the media LOVE stories about beautiful, affluent, accomplished white girls who have been murdered.
Yes I am glad we don’t use judges to investigate murders. I’m also glad that phoney evidence can be thrown out of a trial.
“We have a troll who wishes to portray FR as being some sort of “race crazed” Identity type website.
Ignore her.”
Gotcha.
I'd be surprised if he didn't have a sort of a tan given his other facial features.
Maybe this guy is stupid and doesn’t know ATMs take photos.
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