for more than a year angry hateful
letters were sent to a first grade
school teacher in a small mountain
village in Pennsylvania many were sexual
in nature some threatened v*olence when
scientists analyzed the letters they
found evidence that the stalker knew a
lot about the victim more than anyone
could possibly imagine
in 1993 some hate mail began to arrive
at the cool ball Learning Center a
public elementary school in the Pocono
Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania the
letters were unsigned and sent to the
principal making serious allegations
against a first grade reading teacher
jo-ann chambers she had been teaching in
the school district for the past eight
years I thought it was just somebody a
disgruntled employee I just wanted to
know who it was and I thought it was a
thing you could you know sit down with
that person and talk it out and fix it
soon letters were sent to Joanne
chambers herself at both home and at
school I can get you one try letters
were also distributed to other teachers
found in mail slots in the faculty
lounge
Joanne chambers was popular with
students and was an unlikely target of a
hate campaign she was married with a
ten-year-old son and had no known
enemies I can speak with assurance about
Joanne's teaching abilities she's highly
recommended by other teachers in the
district
she was also highly respected by parents
she was an outstanding teacher all her
recommendations show that it appeared
that someone had a grudge against her
looking shoes desk
she seems to like Jack Daniels chambers
found the whiskey bottle in her desk
drawer and said personal items were
missing there were things missing from
my drawers the picture of my child and
myself and my friend and her daughter
was taken from my desk the police
suspected that a fellow teacher or
school employee was sending the letters
since they often alluded to activities
going on inside the school one of the
letters contained an interesting clue it
was a snide reference to the school
superintendent as Colonel Klink a
character in the Hogan's Heroes
television series a teacher in the
school was once overheard referring to
the superintendent in this way
her name was Paulin or rocky like Jo Ann
chambers Nawrocki also taught first
grade and had worked in the school
district for 18 years I was totally
surprised I was positive that it wasn't
anybody in the building that it could be
explained in some other way the letters
continued but soon there were other
incidents
the first was something Jo Ann chambers
found under her desk I went to start my
lesson with my children and sat down in
the chair and had a dress on and put my
hand underneath to straighten the dress
out I always covered with feces and I
couldn't even tell you what I felt like
I felt sick to my stomach I felt I was
like it was not happening was like this
could not happen the threatening letters
were sent to the FBI lab in Quantico
Virginia they found some partial
fingerprints on the letters but little
else one of the letters warned of
possible poison you really are a fish I
come right out and telling us
did you are you keep on doing the same
stuff I had four chances to drug your
coffee this week or did I buy you a
coffee
just a few days later a hidden camera
captured several teachers entering
Joanne chambers vacant classroom one
removed chambers coffee cup from her
desk
it was Paulin moeraki the photograph of
Joanne chambers stolen from her desk was
pasted onto a nude picture photo copied
and distributed throughout the school
yard mailed to parents phones and a copy
was taped to the door of a local store
there were phone calls to parents saying
that I was a lesbian
I had AIDS that you know that I
shouldn't be teaching their children I
can't tell you what I mean that was such
a violation of my being
the FBI suggested the Joanne chambers be
given a lie-detector test to validate
her various claims Paula Nawrocki also
volunteered to take a lie detector test
hoping to clear her name
after suspicions arose from the Colonel
Klink reference and the coffee cup
incident one of the two fails on the
most crucial question of all after ten
months of threatening letters x-rated
pictures and hidden video surveillance
police believed they had a break in the
stalking case
jo-ann chambers and Paula Nawrocki both
took lie-detector tests about their
knowledge of the threatening letters
each was asked whether they were
involved in making or sending any of the
harrassing letters one passed the other
failed I was told that I fail my
polygraph
Paula Nawrocki became the primary
suspect I was very upset I couldn't
believe that it was making things worse
instead of better she was questioned
about the incidents at the coolbot
Township police station and she told
chief little Tony if I'm doing it
I don't know I'm doing it and then she
later said you'll never prove it's me I
told him that I needed his help because
this didn't make any sense I needed
somebody to really look into the whole
situation accurately the way it
evidently needed to be done and I tried
to make it sound as ridiculous as
possible that if I had done whatever was
going on I didn't know I was doing it
which was totally absurd in in my mind
in my way of thinking
later on she would say that that she
meant it's not me and you never prove
it's me because it wasn't me Nawrocki
said she was videotaped taking joann
chambers coffee cup because Chambers had
asked Paula to get it for her the
surveillance videotape shows that Joann
chambers and Paula Nawrocki were both in
the classroom and left together just
moments before Paula returned for the
coffee cup police asked Nawrocki if they
could search her home and once again she
voluntarily complied they took with them
an old typewriter that we had they took
different kinds of paper and different
envelopes the analysis of no Rocky's
typewriter revealed that it was not the
one used to type the threatening letters
the paper and envelopes from the Rocky's
home did not match those used in the
threatening letters either
no Rocky's reputation as a by-the-book
teacher and strict disciplinarian was in
sharp contrast to Joanne chambers loose
and fun-loving classroom style the way
the police saw it paula was jealous of
June Chambers unconventional teaching
style and the popularity that she gained
from that style Pollock
he was more of a by-the-book
conservative teacher who favored
traditional teaching methods
whereas join Chambers would show up in
the classroom wearing jeans and a Mickey
Mouse t-shirt and she would do things
like stage water fights with the school
administrators which the police believed
angered Paula Nawrocki as the
investigation continued so did the
threatening letters letters about the
parents the parents saying I was
molesting their children I thought my
career was gone I thought I was gonna be
in jail I thought I didn't know what was
gonna happen all it would have taken was
one child you know misinterpreting a
touch and I was a touchy teacher I mean
I put my arms around my children I how
much other when they were crying by the
fall of 1994 the letters included death
threats for her own protection
Joanne chambers was transferred to
another school shortly after her
transfer a box in pink wrapping paper
was found at the front door of the
school inside was a Barbie doll the
throat slashed with a razor blade and
covered with paint the color of blood
the dress was identical to one often
worn by Joanne chambers the hair was cut
and styled like chambers as well I said
goodbye to my husband like I wanted him
to remember me saying goodbye I lived
every day thinking that it was truly
possible that it could be my last
in November of 1994 chambers said a car
tried to run her off the highway she
said she saw the face of the driver
ikurou and look she's looking right at
me I will never forget that look never I
will never forget it she looked right at
me she said the face she saw was a face
she knew when Joanne chambers called
police to report that a car forced her
off the highway
she said she recognized the face of the
other driver I saw her she looked at me
I know the ponies when a car
Paula Nawrocki denied the allegation but
was arrested and charged with harassment
stalking simple and aggravated as*ault
making terroristic threats and
recklessly endangering the life of
Joanne chambers over 100 counts and all
I was finding out that I was charged
with many many horrendous things I had
never heard about before the school
district suspended her from her teaching
position with pay if convicted she could
serve five years in jail after no
Rockies arrest the letters threats and
mailings stop
Nawrocki maintained her innocence and
hired both an attorney and private
investigator to help the investigator
was a former state policeman and even he
admitted that Paula's situation did not
look good my first thought was well
she's probably guilty
it just looked overwhelming when you
looked at the that the whole complaint
the FBI found some partial fingerprints
on the threatening letters but they did
not match Paulin or rockies the defense
team wanted to see if any DNA was
present on the threatening letters DNA
is the chemical substance which exists
in all of our cells it can be found in
blood skin hair bones saliva sweat semen
and mucus no two individuals have the
same DNA profile except for identical
twins the prosecutor would allow DNA
testing by the defense only if the
results were fully disclosed regardless
of the outcome
Paula's defense team wanted to make sure
she understood the ramifications of such
an agreement he asked would there be any
possible reason that any my DNA should
be on any of it any possibility
whatsoever and I said no well if we do
this testing and your DNA is found on
these stamps or envelope flaps your
chances you're going to jail we
immediately said that we wanted to do it
if it was something that would finally
help shed some light on the whole thing
no problem with it at all the cost of
the DNA testing approximately seven
thousand dollars would have to be paid
by Paula Nawrocki
blood samples from both Paula and her
husband were sent to a local DNA lab
along with the threatening letters and
the envelopes the amount of DNA that
would wind up on the back of the stamp
or an envelope flap depends on how hard
you lick the envelope
how much cells that you shed from the
inside of your mouth they're variables
it's hard to predict exactly what the
value of day but it is there in some
cases there's more DNA than others first
scientists use team
to gently remove the stamps from the
envelopes the back of each stamp and
envelope flap was swabbed for epithelial
cells which come from saliva DNA was
found on the back of one set of stamps
and on one envelope flap the number of
cells recovered was so small that
forensic scientists performed a process
called polymerase chain reaction or PCR
which amplifies or copies the DNA in
those few cells to make enough for
testing the DNA from the stamps and
envelope flap were added to the PCR
mixture a chemical cocktail of enzymes
nucleotides and primers then placed in a
thermal cycler to amplify a colored
development process produces a series of
blue dots visualizing which variation of
the DQ alpha gene is present in the
genetic profile if there is even one
base difference in the 3.3 billion base
pairs on an individual's DNA strand the
DNA will not line into the corresponding
dot what we're looking forward to see is
how does this DNA that we've extracted
compared to somebody else's DNA now if
the DNA is from a similar source you'll
get the same pattern of blue dots on a
white strip this is the genetic profile
of the individual who licked the stamps
when the DNA profile of Paulin or Rocky
and her husband were compared to the DNA
from the back of the stamps there was no
match for example Paul Nawrocki has two
dots here and on the DNA from the back
of the postage stamp only has one so
therefore right away we can exclude Paul
and Iraqi with just this one genetic
marker we looked at five different
genetic markers and at four out of five
can exclude paul in iraqi DNA was found
and it did not match paul and it did not
match lemon right
which meant that someone licked that
stamps and it wasn't laying apart we
thought it was gonna blow apart the
whole case we thought we thought we were
done now armed with the DNA profile of
the stalker the manhunt had just begun
when DNA testing of the stamps and
envelopes lap did not match pollen or
rocky or her husband the defense team
went one step further they wanted to
find the individual whose DNA was on the
threatening letters if all I didn't do
it there's only one other person that
could have done it because there's only
one other person that knew the
circumstances of all these letters that
knew everything that was going on that
was joining chambers was it possible
that the alleged victim wrote the
threatening letters and mailed them to
herself
the defense uncovered some information
which pointed in that very directional
police in the neighboring town of
Carbondale Pennsylvania told defense
investigators that Chambers had a
history of reporting suspicious
incidents from burglaries to fires they
said every crime that she's been a
victim of us has some weirdness attached
to it and just off the top of their
heads they started relating different
crimes as supposedly she's been a victim
of when Anderson researched chambers
employment history he learned the
Chamber's reported similar threatening
letters and also reported finding feces
on her classroom chair while in another
school district years earlier she has a
pattern of being a victim and having a
pattern of being a victim shows one
thing to me I'm not expert at all this
but it shows me you want attention
from whoever she wants to be the center
of attention to find out if it was
Joanne chambers DNA on the threatening
letters
Jim Anderson needed her DNA profile for
that he looked in her trash once trash
is placed at the curbside the owner gets
up all legal rights to what's inside one
plastic drinking straw one used looks
like toilet tissue plastic straws used
tissues and a cotton swab with earwax
all items with possible genetic material
were sent to the DNA lab for testing
dr. lynton-wolfe ID to different DNA
profiles from the mucus saliva and
earwax samples from the Chamber's trash
one of those DNA profiles matched the
DNA from the stamps and envelope flap
the DNA from the one of the household
members was similar to the DNA on the
back of the stamps in the other with
these DNA results the defense team
demanded that all charges against Paulin
or rocky be dropped the prosecution
refused and Joanne chambers provided a
blood sample for further DNA testing
once again Joanne chambers blood DNA
matched the DNA from the stamps and the
envelope flap you can see how all five
genetic markers line up perfectly
between the DNA of Joanne chambers and
the DNA from the back of the postage
stamps the odds of someone in the random
US population having the same
combination of five genotypes tested was
one in 14,000 925 the match was fairly
significant in that you know that's a
small community there so it's unlikely
that too many people are gonna be
walking around with a similar DNA
pattern
despite the second DNA test the
prosecution refused once again to drop
their case against Paula Nawrocki
during the trial
the prosecution presented the
circumstantial evidence against Paulin
or rocky including the coffee cup
incident and the Colonel Klink reference
in one of the threatening letters for
the defense teachers from Joanne
chambers former school district
testified that she made similar claims
of harassment years earlier but it was
the DNA evidence that stunned most
courtroom observers the DNA was
definitely the bombshell to hear that
Joanne chambers saliva was found on the
stamps of one of the the threatening
letters and the flap of another envelope
it was just unbelievable but on the
witness stand under oath
Joanne chambers had an explanation she
said the prosecutor left her alone with
the evidence and the stamps fell off one
of the envelopes
she said she licked the stamps to
reattach them and when that didn't work
used a glue stick at the very least she
showed poor judgment and at the most she
tampered with
important evidence the prosecution
offered no explanation for why Joanne
chambers was left alone with the
evidence and no explanation was given
for why her DNA was also found on the
envelope plan doctor licked involuntary
the she saw no glue stick residue on the
stamps when she removed them for DNA
testing as a lifelong stamp collector
she has experience distinguishing glue
stick residue from regular stamp
adhesive
I know gum from knowing stamps and it
would look to me just like the gum on
recent u.s. stamps and it's smooth and
glistening it looked just like that
there was no outward evidence that a
glue stick had been used the trial
lasted five days and it took the jury
less than two hours to reach a verdict
they found pollen or rocky not guilty
reaction after birth was the most
amazing thing I've ever seen
the alleged victim was being treated as
the defendant and the defendant was
being treated as the victim in the
hallway
jurors sought out Paula Nawrocki to hug
dirt I told her how much they loved her
while joint chambers left the courthouse
virtually ignored Joanne chambers denies
that she created the campaign of threats
against her
I have four chances to drug your coffee
this week or did I grow your coffee
bitch just a few days later a hidden
camera captured several teachers
entering Joanne chambers vacant
classroom one removed chambers coffee
cup from her desk
it was Paulin Meraki the photograph of
Joanne chambers stolen from her desk was
pasted onto a nude picture photo copied
and distributed throughout the school
yard mailed to parents phones and a copy
was taped to the door of a local store
there were phone calls to parents saying
that I was a lesbian
I had AIDS that you know that I
shouldn't be teaching their children I
can't tell you what I mean that was such
a violation of my being
the FBI suggested the Joanne chambers be
given a lie-detector test
to validate her various claims Paula
Nawrocki also volunteered to take a lie
detector test hoping to clear her name
after suspicions arose from the Colonel
Klink reference and the coffee cup
incident one of the two fails on the
most crucial question of all after 10
months of threatening letters x-rated
pictures and hidden videos surveillance
police believed they had a break in the
stalking case
jo-ann chambers and Paula Nawrocki both
took lie-detector tests about their
knowledge of the threatening letters
each was asked whether they were
involved in making or sending any of the
harrassing letters one passed the other
failed I was told that I fail my
polygraph Paula Nawrocki became the
primary suspect I was very upset I
couldn't believe that it was making
things worse instead of better she was
questioned about the incident at the
culotte Township police station and she
told chief flugel Tony if I'm doing it
I don't know I'm doing it and then she
later said you'll never prove it's me I
told him that I needed his help because
this didn't make any sense I needed
somebody to really look into the whole
situation accurately the way it
evidently needed to be done and I tried
to make it sound as ridiculous as
possible that if I had done whatever was
going on I didn't know I was doing it
which was totally absurd in in my mind
and my way of thinking
later on she would say that that she
meant it's not me and you'll never prove
it to me because it wasn't me no rocky
said she was videotaped taking Joann
chambers coffee cup
because Chambers had asked Paula to get
it for her the surveillance videotape
shows that Joann chambers and Paula
Nawrocki were both in the classroom and
left together just moments before Paula
returned for the coffee cotton police
asked Nawrocki if they could search her
home and once again she voluntarily
complied they took with them an old
typewriter that we had they took
different kinds of paper and different
envelopes the analysis of no Rocky's
typewriter revealed that it was not the
one used to type the threatening letters
the paper and envelopes from Nawrocki x'
home did not match those used in the
threatening letters either no Rocky's
reputation as a by-the-book teacher and
strict disciplinarian was in sharp
contrast to Joann chambers loose and
fun-loving classroom style the way the
police saw it paula was jealous of
Julian chambers unconventional teaching
style and a popularity that she gained
from that style poner
he was more of a by-the-book
conservative teacher who favored
traditional teaching methods
whereas join Chambers would show up in
the classroom wearing jeans and a Mickey
Mouse t-shirt and she would do things
like stage water fights with the school
administrators which the police believed
angered Paula Nawrocki as the
investigation continued so did the
threatening letters letters lots of
parents the parents saying that I was
molesting their children I thought my
career was gone I thought I was gonna be
in jail I thought I didn't know what was
gonna happen all it would have taken was
one child you know misinterpreting a
touch and I was a touchy teacher I mean
I put my arms around my children I how
much other when they were crying by the
fall of 1994 the letters included death
threats for her own protection
Joanne chambers was transferred to
another school shortly after her
transfer a box in pink wrapping paper
was found at the front door of the
school inside was a Barbie doll the
throat slashed with a razor blade and
covered with paint the color of blood
the dress was identical to one often
worn by Joanne chambers the hair was cut
and styled like chambers as well I said
goodbye to my husband like I wanted him
to remember me saying goodbye I lived
every day thinking that it was truly
possible that it could be my last
in November of 1994 chambers said a car
tried to run her off the highway she
said she saw the face of the driver
I pull over I look she's looking right
at me I will never forget that look
never I will never forget it she looked
right at me she said the face she saw
was a face she knew when Joanne chambers
called police to report that a car
forced her off the highway
she said she recognized the face of the
other driver I saw her she would I know
the ponies remember Paulin or rocky
denied the allegation but was arrested
and charged with harassment stalking
simple and aggravated as*ault making
terroristic threats and recklessly
endangering the life of Joanne chambers
over 100 counts and all I was finding
out that I was charged with many many
horrendous things I had never heard
about before the school district
suspended her from her teaching position
with pay if convicted she could serve
five years in jail after know Rocky's
arrest the letters threats and mailings
stopped no Rocky maintained her
innocence and hired both an attorney and
private investigator to help the
investigator was a former state
policeman and even he admitted that
Paula situation did not look good my
first thought was well she's probably
guilty
it just looked overwhelming when you
looked at the that the whole complaint
the FBI found some partial fingerprints
on the threatening letters but they did
not match Paula nor Rocky's the defense
team wanted to see if any DNA was
present on the threatening letters DNA
is the chemical substance which exists
in all of our cells it can be found in
blood skin hair bones saliva sweat semen
and mucus no two individuals have the
same DNA profile except for identical
twins
the prosecutor would allow DNA testing
by the depends of
02x10 - Sealed with a Kiss
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.