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.
He probably has a couple of baby mommas who will turn him in for the right money.
shame on the Durham,NC area....
“if he kills a black girl and leaves her in the street I will assume he is race neutral until then I would be suspicious that this might have been part of the motivation”
I see. I’d be MUCH more likely to assume that the perp picked out somebody who looked like they had money and would be easy prey.
"Skank"? You don't even know the meaning of the word.
It will guarantee that the case is DEAD to the media now.
Maybe. Maybe not. That may be face paint. Who wears a batting helmet under a hood? He’s hiding.
If you murder a person the way Eve Carson was murdered anywhere south of the Mason/Dixon line, you will be tried as an adult unless you are under 13.
Whoever is convicted of this crime will get life without the possibility of parole. And noone will be taking the weight for anyone else in this scenario once the police are through with the interviews.
Police in my area also give the race of a suspect and it’s put out by the media, although not necessarily when you’ve got a picture this clear. Some of the posts about race on this thread are in a completely different vein than what you and I are talking about.
if robbery was the motive he would have robbed her, he went ahead and killed her and judging from the fact that he did not hide his face from the camera I doubt that it was to prevent her from IDing him
“It will guarantee that the case is DEAD to the media now.”
What will?
Police believe the suspect to be wearing this hat.
It's not a batting helmet.
The current fashion trends in the inner city include wearing a brand new baseball cap one full size too large for one's head, with the visor completely unbent and flat to preserve the look of newness. Most wear it with the MLB hologram sticker still on the visor.
Another fashion trend is the oversized, zip-up front hooded sweatshirt.
An oversized hood over an oversized baseball cap is de rigueur in many neighborhoods.
Because that’s what the ATM camera captured. Doctoring a digital image and embedding an “H” doesn’t make it so (and is easy to do), it’s falsifying evidence. Let the perp hang on the facts.
He probably had no clue that the drive-thru ATM had an embedded camera. He may have used the drive-thru specifically to avoid the security cameras he knew would be present in a bank building ATM vestibule.
We're not dealing with a diabolical genius here, just a street punk.
“if robbery was the motive he would have robbed her, he went ahead and killed her and judging from the fact that he did not hide his face from the camera I doubt that it was to prevent her from IDing him”
Come on now. No matter what his motive I think he would have hidden his face if he had known he was on camera. You think the guy didn’t care if he was identified in what will be a capital case? The guy was either too stupid or too high to know that some ATMs have cameras.
As for why he killed the girl, he might have done it for fun, to keep her from IDing him, or because she fought back or screamed.
ok......sure looked like a helmet to me. Don’t people know they are on camera at ATMs.?
“Let the perp hang...”
In a just world...
The H is clearly visible in the black-and-white security camera photos. It's right there.
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