Content description:
Univeristy of California Criminologist Paul Kirk giving testimony for the prosecution in the Abbott murder case. Kirk gave important testimony that scientifically linked Burton Abbott to Stephanie Bryan's gravesite. For example, a May 7, 1995, San Francisco Chronicle special retroview of the Abbott case described Kirk and his testimony like this: "...the trial turned on the testimony of Dr. Paul Kirk, a University of California criminalist. Kirk put Abbott at the grave site through dirt clots from the defendant's boots. Kirk also put Stephanie in Abbott's Chevrolet through hair samples found in the car. Kirk testified that the chances that the hair belonged to someone other than Stephanie were one in 135,000." Moreover, the Oakland Tribune of December 13, 1955, reported that "Kirk...testified that bits of tissue paper found in a pack rat's nest near Stephanie's grave were Kleenex and that he found the same brand of cleansing tissues in Abbott's car and jacket pockets." In this photo Kirk is using special magnifying eyewear to look at the slides of the materials that he identified and linked (hair, dirt, Kleenex fragments, etc.).