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.
It may have been she was just an easy target.
It may have been because they figured she had plenty of money in her account.
But, it is also well known that initiation into some gangs requires the ‘sacrifice’ of a ‘maiden’.
I.E. One must kill a pretty white girl.
However, we can only speculate at this point.
Once again, photos of the perp and the vic have been published. The races involved are obvious. Why are you so obsessed with this?
I don’t know what that weird lump sticking out one side of his hood is.
If it is his ‘fro’, then he shouldn’t be hard to ID.
Of course, that may all be a moot point by this time, as his girlfriend has given the media leads on him.
“But, it is also well known that initiation into some gangs requires the ‘sacrifice’ of a ‘maiden’.
I.E. One must kill a pretty white girl.”
Never heard of this. Can you link me to more info?
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
“Somebody ought to be able to ID that goofy looking b@stard immediately. Although his momma won’t. “My baby never done no wrong.”
Your post brings to mind the recent quote from the kid who stabbed his mama:
“Why did you pee on me Pooh Bear?” A few moments later, the witness heard the son say “Mama you done stabbed me.”
There is definitely something big and black in the back seat.
Man or beast?
You don’t know much about photography.
Are you a detective working on the case? If not, how do you know that gut hasn’t been IDed?
“With a picture as clear as this, the tips should be just pouring in.”
And for all we know, they are.
There are some posts upstream which sugggest that he was ID’d by a “girlfriend”.
LOL
Thing is, I haven’t yet read a wanted report with height and weight guesses — which would, of course, include race. Maybe I just haven’t seen it. Releasing a picture is a heck of a lot better anyway.
I can see the “H” in the original also but if it’s not faked, why are the lines of the star blurry and the “H” looks like an overlayed font? Try saving the original and opening with MS Photoeditor, click “Image” and then “Balance” and work with the gamma. If the DA wants the evidence to stick, it better not be doctored.
Really? Tell me why the artificially colored image is accurate?
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