Joseph Leo Gormley (May 22, 1914 – June 6, 2004) was the chief of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...

for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

.Joseph L. Gormley Obituary http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/md/montgomery/obits/gazettenet/gnet200409.txt Born in

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...

, he was raised in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. Gormley received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. With his wife Frances he fathered and raised nine children. In 1940, he moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Gormley earned two law degrees from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and a master's degree in forensic science from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. He spent more than thirty three years with the FBI, investigating some of the agency's most famous cases, including the

Great Brinks Robbery The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. The $2.775 million ($ million today) theft consisted of $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, m ...

in 1950 and the 1964 murders of three young civil rights workers, which became known as the "

Mississippi Burning ''Mississippi Burning'' is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker that is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI ...

" case. He served as an expert witness in numerous

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

, testifying on his knowledge of

and

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. For more than 20 years, Gormley supervised a program that developed the use of

lie detector A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked and ...

tests for investigative purposes. He retired from the FBI in 1973, and moved temporarily to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

to direct the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory. After returning to the Washington, D.C., area he worked in the research and training divisions of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. In addition to his work at the IACP, Gormley worked as a consultant for law enforcement matters in his later years. The former president of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists, Gormley also taught at George Washington University and the University of Maryland College Park. He is remembered as one of the fathers of modern

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormley, Joseph L. 1914 births Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni American forensic scientists Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty 2004 deaths