Louis R. Vitullo (July 2, 1924 – January 3, 2006) was a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

police

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

and chief microanalyst at the city's crime lab."Crime lab expert developed rape kits: Standard system to collect"
by Chris Fusco, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' (published January 12, 2006; accessed October 19, 2006). Vitullo helped to develop the rape kit, which standardized evidence collection in cases of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

. Marty Goddard, a victim advocate, had seen the need for more systematic evidence at trial, and brought her concerns and the idea for a kit to Vitullo. Vitullo helped develop Goddard's prototype. Although the resulting evidence kits were for a time called ''Vitullo kits'', this name has more recently come under criticism as part of a general push to honor Goddard's contribution to the kits.

Death

Vitullo died at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area featu ...

, on January 3, 2006, after he collapsed at his home in Cary.

Death

References

Further reading