In 1997, Louise Reynolds, a 28 year old single mother living in Kingston, Ontario, was charged with 2nd degree murder for having killed her seven-year old daughter Sharon.
Prosecutors said that she stabbed the child more than 80 times with a pair of scissors, “because she was angry at her for having head-lice.” There was dog excrement found near the girl’s body, and it was noted the dog appeared to be covered in ketchup.
Much of the case rested on a 10-page autopsy report by Dr. Charles Randal Smith, the head pediatric forensic pathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, from 1982 to 2003.
In January 2001 prosecutors abruptly dropped the charges, after numerous experts, including prosecution witnesses, disagreed with Smith and agreed that a pit bull had mauled the girl.
By then, Reynolds had spent three and a half years in jail awaiting trial. While she was in prison, her other daughter was adopted.
To read more about the disgraced Dr. Smith, click here.