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.
Worthless vermin that took the life of a beautiful, talented young lady.
I am also horrified that this evil person took this young lady’s life. I will be sending my daughter off to college in a few years and I worry for her safety. But, I wonder if this young lady had been black would the story be as big in some people’s minds. My husband and I plan to take our baby to the shooting range when it is legal in our state and encourage her to arm herself.
Did you read the article?
“Mathis provided the Raleigh Chronicle two colorized versions of the original grainy black and white photos that Chapel Hill Police provided to the media”
Translation for those with reading comprehension difficulties: Mathis worked with and colorized the B/W photos.
“Mathis said it would be better to work with a higher resolution version of the photo than the one handed out to the media.”
Mathis did this to be helpful, and worked with the newspaper’s photos, he wasn’t working with with the police. He provided the enhanced photos to the paper who published them in an attempt to help catch a murderer.
...that is a mighty big “if”
Urban legend.
I think it is and my first thought isn’t that he is a Houston native, but a Katrina refugee.
I was just killing time before I went to bed but the electric company decided to finally fix a tree that fell onto some wires near my house and POOF...no more electricity. That stopped my freepin' and hurried up my bedtime.
Me thinks someone on this thread had some doctored evidence used against him in the past.
Repeating it over and over is highly suspicious. Once is more than enough, and when we have a photo to see we can be our own judges.
Who?
The pregnant marine who was murdered? I’m assuming you lived in the United States in January.
I don’t remember that story. I remember the Peterson story
You’d be wrong. North Carolina native, former UNC-A student and Houston resident.
Nice technique, lurk 164 posts and take a swing after the bell.
Nice “drive by media” technique on the inuendo BTW, very liberalish of you.
Good.
He was just about to turn his life around. He signed up for Sunday School and College and bought some Nicorette Patches...was going to start next week...
Complete urban myth.
Actually, there are some ripples being generated as to why the murder of this young lady is getting so much attention when a young black woman was murdered at NCCU a little over a year ago and there was no such attention paid by the media. I suspect this has not gone unnoticed by the dynamic duo.
“But, it is also well known that initiation into some gangs requires the ‘sacrifice’ of a ‘maiden’.”
Everything I’ve seen now confirms this is a complete urban myth. Do you have evidence that indicates otherwise? Still waiting.
Better to lurk than to post the same unfounded assertion about "evidence" that should be thrown out at trial over and over and over.
Durham may not be the ideal city in which to live but it's not fair (yet) to associate it with this trash. The crime occurred in Chapel Hill.
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