Dr. Oscar Amoëdo—The Bazar de la Charite, 1898

Considered by many to be the father of forensic odontology, Dr. Oscar Amoedo
was born in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1863. He began his studies at the University
of Cuba, continued at New York Dental College, and then returned to Cuba
in 1888. He was sent as a delegate to the International Dental Congress in
Paris in 1889. Paris was very appealing to him and he decided to stay. He
became a dental instructor and teacher at the Ecole Odontotechnique de
Paris in 1890 and rose to the rank of professor, writing 120 scientific articles
on many topics (Figure 2.1). A tragic fire at a charity event, the Bazar de
la Charité, stimulated his interest in dental identification and the field of
forensic odontology.

Winfield Goss—Mr. Udderzook

In 1873 outside of Baltimore, Maryland, a body was found in the ashes of
a burned cottage. The body was tentatively identified as Winfield S. Gross,
who was known to have used the cottage for his chemistry experiments.
His widow and ten witnesses were certain that the body was that of Gross.
Mr. Gross had insured himself for $25,000 eight days prior to the fire. The
insurance companies refused to pay the widow’s claim.

Dr. John Webster—Dr. George Parkman

Dr. George Parkman, a respected professor at Harvard University, failed to
return from dinner on November 23, 1849. Dr. Parkman was a physician, but
also a real estate speculator and moneylender. He was sixty-four years of age and
a man of very regular habits. When he failed to appear as expected, suspicion
of foul play fell on his colleague, John White Webster, a professor of chemistry
at the same university. Dr. Webster had been behaving somewhat irregularly
of late, and it was known that he owed Dr. Parkman a considerable sum of
money.