Herbert Leon MacDonell Papers (Ms. 245)

Biographical/Historical Note

Herbert Leon MacDonell was born on July 23, 1928 in Wellsville, NY. He attended Alfred University where he studied chemistry and received a Bachelor’s degree in 1950. He married his wife, Phyllis, on August 19, 1950. MacDonell was offered a teaching position at Milton College in Milton, WI shortly after completing one year of graduate School at Alfred. There he served as a professor of chemistry as well as head of the chemistry department. After three years at Milton, MacDonell was accepted into the graduate chemistry program at the University of Rhode Island (URI) where he earned a Master’s degree in 1956. During his time at URI, MacDonell worked as a graduate assistant in the chemistry department as well as in the Rhode Island State Crime Lab located on URI’s Kingston campus. At the Crime Lab, MacDonell worked in the fields of analytical chemistry, spectroscopy, microcopy, and criminalistics honing his interest and his skills for his future career in forensic science.

MacDonell took a job as a research chemist with the DuPont Company in 1956 and then with Corning Glass Works, also as a research chemist, a short time afterward. Although much of his time was taken up with his work at Corning Glass Works, MacDonell began his forensic consulting career in 1958. In 1969, MacDonell gained national attention because of his work on a case involving the Black Panthers and the Chicago Police Department. As he became a more well-known figure, MacDonell received an increased number of calls and letters requesting the benefit of his expertise in criminal cases. In light of the frequency these requests, he established the Laboratory of Forensic Science in 1970 in order to have a place to conduct experiments and research on his own terms. He left Corning Glass Works in 1972 and joined the faculty of Corning Community College where he served as a professor of police science and later criminalistics; a post he held until 1992. MacDonell also taught criminalistics at Elmira College from 1972-1983.

During the past 60 years, MacDonell has worked on several hundred cases ranging from homicide to burglary to driving while intoxicated. A few of the more famous ones include Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Alexander McLeod-Lindsay, Joanne Chesimard, Jean Harris, Lindy Chamberlain, and O. J. Simpson. His professional travels include all 50 states, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. One of MacDonell’s most significant contributions to the field of forensic science is his invention of the MAGNA Brush, a latent fingerprint revealing device that uses magnetic powder as bristles to avoid degrading fingerprints as traditional bristles can sometimes do. In addition to numerous papers and articles on bloodstain patterns and analysis, MacDonell has also published two books detailing some of the cases from his long career: “The Evidence Never Lies: The Casebook of a Modern Sherlock Holmes” (1984) co-written with Alfred Allan Lewis and “After Holmes: Dr. MacDonell’s Forensic Casebook” (2011) co-written with Allan Eaglesham.

MacDonell is currently semi-retired and still takes the occasional interesting case. He lives and operates the Laboratory of Forensic Science in Corning, NY.