HC70A_W03 Class Play

When Science Takes the Witness Stand


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The Story

Vincent Wong and Fred Melroy were best friends and co-workers. They shared everything from toothpaste to girlfriends when they were Computer Science majors and roommates during their undergraduate years at UCLA. In fact, Fred was the one who introduced Vincent to the future Mrs. Wong, a woman he had grown up with in a small Amish town in Pennsylvania.

More recently, Vincent and Fred were hired by the same small internet start-up company in Santa Monica. Their cubicles were right next to each other, as were their apartments in a small duplex just outside of Santa Monica's exclusive Amish district. As far as anyone could tell, they were the best of friends, and had been so for quite a long time.

This comfortable picture was shattered one day at work when Vincent and Fred got into a violent struggle at the office. Witnesses overheard Vincent yelling "I'll kill you if you ever come near my house again!" Fred's reply was muffled because of the fight, but several witnesses reportedly heard him moan "Only if I don't kill you first…" Once their coworkers were able to pry them apart, they were taken to separate hospitals to be evaluated, treated, and questioned by the police.

The next morning, Sheila Wong placed a frantic call to the police department. She reported that her husband Vincent had left the house sometime during the night, and had not returned. When the police arrived at the scene, they found Vincent's blood-soaked body hidden in the bushes separating the two sides of the duplex. He had obviously been murdered, and Fred was the only suspect.