Skip the Butter: The Forensic Analyst New Hampshire Kept Putting on the Stand

Skip the Butter: The Forensic Analyst New Hampshire Kept Putting on the StandFor 43 years, a New Hampshire State Police forensic analyst kept getting walked up to the witness stand — sworn, trusted, in the most serious cases this state has ever tried. This is what his own employer's records say about him. And what the public was never shown.This week on The Gracie Gato Podcast we trace the documented record of Kevin G. McMahon, a longtime criminalist at the NH State Police Forensic Laboratory: a man his own employer formally warned, sent to harassment training at least five times, and ultimately suspended — and who admitted under oath that his own DNA kept turning up on the evidence he was testing. We follow what's in the public file, what's missing from it, and the Right-to-Know request now ticking on a five-business-day clock.No spin. No mob. A citizen, a statute, a deadline, and a paper trail. Receipts first — vibes never.In this episode:The Personnel Appeals Board decision the State signed off on (Docket #2024-D-010)The contamination history he admitted on cross-examination — that prosecutors never raisedState v. Owen Labrie: the case where the system's backstop held, and why that's the scariest partState v. Adam Montgomery: how the pattern completesColorado, Massachusetts, New York — the national crime-lab reckoning McMahon is part ofThe RSA 91-A request that asks the State for the whole file — and starts the clockChapters (adjust to final cut):00:00 — Cold Open: Skip the Butter01:00 — Meet Kevin05:30 — The Contamination File10:00 — The Net Held (State v. Labrie)15:00 — The Pattern Completes (State v. Montgomery)20:00 — Not Just Here: A National Pattern23:00 — The RequestSources & public records:NH Personnel Appeals Board, Appeal of Kevin McMahon, Docket #2024-D-010 (decided March 20, 2024)State of New Hampshire v. Owen Labrie — trial transcript (2015)Nashua Telegraph reporting, State v. Harvey Martel (June 2014)State of New Hampshire v. Adam Montgomery — trial coverage (February 2024)Colorado (Yvonne "Missy" Woods / CBI) and Massachusetts (Annie Dookhan, Sonja Farak) crime-lab casesNH RSA 91-A (Right-to-Know Law)For 43 years, a New Hampshire State Police forensic analyst kept getting walked up to the witness stand — sworn, trusted, in the most serious cases this state has ever tried. This is what his own employer’s records say about him. And what the public was never shown.This week on The Gracie Gato Podcast, we trace the documented record of Kevin G. McMahon, a longtime criminalist at the NH State Police Forensic Laboratory: a man his own employer formally warned, sent to harassment training at least five times, and ultimately suspended — and who admitted under oath that his own DNA kept turning up on the evidence he was testing. We follow what’s in the public file, what’s missing from it, and the Right-to-Know request now ticking on a five-business-day clock.No spin. No mob. A citizen, a statute, a deadline, and a paper trail. Receipts first — vibes never.In this episode:* The Personnel Appeals Board decision the State signed off on (Docket #2024-D-010)* The contamination history he admitted on cross-examination — that prosecutors never raised* State v. Owen Labrie: the case where the system’s backstop held, and why that’s the scariest part* State v. Adam Montgomery: how the pattern completes* Colorado, Massachusetts, New York — the national crime-lab reckoning McMahon is part of* The RSA 91-A request that asks the State for the whole file — and starts the clockChapters (adjust to final cut):00:00 — Cold Open: Skip the Butter01:00 — Meet Kevin05:30 — The Contamination File10:00 — The Net Held (State v. Labrie)15:00 — The Pattern Completes (State v. Montgomery)20:00 — Not Just Here: A National Pattern23:00 — The RequestSources & public records:* NH Personnel Appeals Board, Appeal of Kevin McMahon, Docket #2024-D-010 (decided March 20, 2024)* State of New Hampshire v. Owen Labrie — trial transcript (2015)* Nashua Telegraph reporting, State v. Harvey Martel (June 2014)* State of New Hampshire v. Adam Montgomery — trial coverage (February 2024)* Colorado (Yvonne “Missy” Woods / CBI) and Massachusetts (Annie Dookhan, Sonja Farak) crime-lab cases* NH RSA 91-A (Right-to-Know Law)The Owen Labrie Transcripts. Get full access to The Gracie Gato Podcast at gracieformermrsgato.substack.com/subscribe