Updated on: March 28, 2026 / 7:40 PM EDT
Henry C. Lee, the high-profile forensic scientist whose methods and courtroom testimony helped shape modern crime-scene investigation and who was a witness in the O.J. Simpson trial, has died at 87. His family and the University of New Haven said he “passed away peacefully” Friday at his home in Henderson, Nevada after a brief illness.
Lee taught at the University of New Haven for more than five decades, developing its forensic science program into a multidisciplinary department and later founding the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science to train practitioners and consult on cases. University leaders credited him with building one of the nation’s most respected forensic training centers and influencing generations of investigators.
He became nationally prominent after his 1995 testimony in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, where he raised questions about the handling of blood evidence. Over his career he consulted on many widely covered cases, including the 1996 investigation into the death of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, the 2004 murder trial of Scott Peterson, and the 2007 trial of record producer Phil Spector.
Born in China and raised in Taiwan, Lee earned a degree in police administration and became, at the time, the youngest police captain in Taipei. He emigrated to the United States in 1964 with his late wife and went on to earn advanced degrees in forensic science and biochemistry. In his native country, a multi-story museum has been dedicated to his work.
Lee first drew broad attention in the 1986 disappearance and murder investigation of flight attendant Helle Crafts. Microscopic fragments — including bone particles, a thumb tip, a tooth crown and hair — found near the home of her husband helped prosecutors argue that she had been dismembered and disposed of in a wood chipper. Prosecutors secured a conviction despite the absence of a complete body, and the case became an early example of how trace evidence can be decisive.
At various points in his career Lee served as head of Connecticut’s forensic laboratory. He was a prolific author, writing or co-authoring more than 40 books on forensic topics, and he hosted a 2004 Court TV documentary series titled Trace Evidence: The Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee. The university said that in his final days he was completing a book on missing-persons investigations that is expected to be published posthumously.
Lee’s contributions to forensic science were paired with controversies later in his career. In 2020, a state judge vacated the 1985 murder convictions of two men that had relied in part on Lee’s testimony about what were said to be bloodstains on a towel; later testing found the stains were not blood. In 2023 a federal judge found Lee liable for fabricating evidence in connection with that case. Lee denied fabricating evidence, saying the traces he observed might have degraded in the roughly 20 years between the original crime and later testing.
University of New Haven President Jens Frederiksen praised Lee’s impact, saying, “Dr. Lee was a remarkable individual. His contributions to our University as well as forensic science and law enforcement are extraordinary and unmatched. His legacy lives on in the generations of students and law enforcement professionals he impacted throughout his brilliant career.”
At the university’s spring commencement in 2025, Lee advised graduates, “There is no obstacle that cannot be overcome if you persist and believe.”