Louis R. Vitullo

Louis Vitullo
Louis Vitullo investigates a knife supposedly used by Richard Speck in the murder of eight nurses.
Born(1924-07-02)July 2, 1924
DiedJanuary 3, 2006(2006-01-03) (aged 81)
Barrington, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)police sergeant, microanalyst

Louis R. Vitullo (July 2, 1924 – January 3, 2006[1]) was a Chicago police sergeant and chief microanalyst at the city's crime lab.[2]

Vitullo helped to develop the rape kit, which standardized evidence collection in cases of sexual assault. Marty Goddard, a victim advocate, had seen the need for more systematic evidence at trial, and brought her concerns and the idea for a kit to Vitullo. Vitullo helped develop Goddard's prototype.[3][4][5][6] Although the resulting evidence kits were for a time called Vitullo kits,[3][5] this name has more recently come under criticism as part of a general push to honor Goddard's contribution to the kits.[3][6][7]

  1. ^ "Louis R. Vitullo (obituary)". Northwest Herald. January 5, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2021 – via Legacy.com.
  2. ^ "Crime lab expert developed rape kits: Standard system to collect" Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine by Chris Fusco, Chicago Sun-Times (published January 12, 2006; accessed October 19, 2006).
  3. ^ a b c Ravitz, Jessica (November 21, 2015). "The Story Behind the First Rape Kit". CNN. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  4. ^ T. Christian Miller; Ken Armstrong (6 February 2018). A False Report: The chilling true story of the woman nobody believed. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4735-3943-3.
  5. ^ a b Freudenheim, Betty (2 December 1978). "Chicago Hospitals Are Using New Kit to Help Rape Victims Collect Evidence". The New York Times. p. 48. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b Kennedy, Pagan (17 June 2020). "Opinion | The Rape Kit's Secret History". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  7. ^ Shelby, Renee (December 2018). "Whose Rape Kit? Stabilizing the Vitullo Kit Through Positivist Criminology and Protocol Feminism". Theoretical Criminology. 24 (4): 669–688. doi:10.1177/1362480618819805. S2CID 149793380.