final credits - louis r. vitullo
Fans of modern crime TV programs often hear orders for the use of an "RA kit" (rape-assault kit) or an "SAE kit" (sexual assault evidence kit).
They were once known as "Vitullo kits."
Louis R. Vitullo joined the Chicago Police Department in 1952 as a beat cop and became the city crime lab's chief microanalyst in the mid-1960s.
He handled evidence in the famed mass-murder case of eight nurses in 1966. Richard Speck was convicted of that crime based on witness identification and evidence processed by Vitullo and his lab.
In the early 1970s, an Illinois sexual assault victim by the name of Martha Goddard lobbied for a standard method for gathering evidence.
It was Vitullo who developed the kit, consisting of microscopic slides and cotton swabs to collect sperm; collection devices for samples of hair, nails and blood; and bags for clothing.
Chicago is widely recognized as the first city to standardise rape-evidence collection. The kits initially bore his name, and were soon adopted across the United States and Canada, resulting in tens of thousands of convictions.
Louis R. Vitullo died January 3rd, 2006 at the age of 81.