Mark Benecke
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Mark Benecke is a forensic biologist.
Benecke was born in Germany in 1970. After receiving a Ph.D. at Cologne University in 1997, he worked in the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Manhattan, New York from 1997–1999. As of 2008, he works internationally on forensic cases as a freelance expert witness. He also teaches at various police academies and acts as a visiting professor to universities in Germany, England, Vietnam, Colombia, and the Philippines.
Benecke has worked on the identification of Adolf and Eva Hitler's skull and teeth in Moscow, and is the only forensic scientist to work with Columbian serial killer and rapist Luis Garavito. Some of his forensic cases have been covered by the National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.
Benecke has published several popular science books about the biology of aging, criminal cases and forensic biology. He is a member of the editorial board of the Annals of Improbable Research (Cambridge, USA), guest editor for Forensic Science International (Forensic Entomology Special Issue), and scientific advisor to the German skeptic organization GWUP, where he publishes skeptical articles on various topics, including his attempt to explain alleged signs of vampirism.
Using the pseudonym "Belcanto Bene", Benecke was a member of the German punk band Die Blonden Burschen between 1989–2000.
[edit] Books
- The Dream of Eternal Life, Columbia University Press, New York 2002. ISBN 0-231-11672-1
- Mordmethoden. Ermittlungen der bekanntesten Kriminalbiologen der Welt, Lübbe, Bergisch-Gladbach 2002. ISBN 3-7857-2099-8 (German)
- Lachende Wissenschaft. Aus den Geheimarchiven des Spaß-Nobelpreises, Lübbe, Bergisch-Gladbach 2005. ISBN 3-404-60556-X (German)
- Murderous Methods, Preface by Michael Baden. Columbia University Press, New York 2005. ISBN 0-231-13118-6
- Dem Täter auf der Spur. So arbeitet die moderne Kriminalbiologie, Lübbe, Bergisch-Gladbach 2006. ISBN 3-404-60562-4 (German)
- Mordspuren (with original text of serial killers cases Bartsch and Garavito), Lübbe, Bergisch-Gladbach 2007. ISBN 3-7857-2307-5 (German)
