The dollhouses of death that changed forensic science 

"Why did she make them perfect?" They misunderstand the drive of a perfectionist

Toy Story: Deleted Scenes

This is something Sherlock Holmes would get for his daughter.

As a miniature artist, I am impressed. As a sensitive baby, I am horrified.

A stabbing with... an adorable knife.

if the Dolls are dead... well then that means... THEY WERE ALIVE

Everybody gangsta until the quiet kid has a doll house like this.

Imagine looking at one of the doll houses with one other stranger, and suddenly you hear the person whisper "so that's where I left It.."

It'd be fun to shrink down and explore these doll houses, but then I would be afraid of tiny murderers roaming around.

And the case remains: u n s o l v e d *Buzzfeed noise*

CLASSIC AMERICAN STORY: "They were living the American dream, until the murders happened"

Is it just me or is anyone else scrolling down the comments just to see if anyone “solved” the murder mysteries lol

theres nothing wrong with a dead doll. its wrong if the doll starts coming to life .

“These cans are all labeled... accurately” *dun dun*

i deduced that the kitchen death was caused by gas poisoning because from the few shots I can see the gas stove is on, the windows are locked, the doors are also locked and the small space between the door and the door frame is jammed with paper or cloth or newspaper. this is fascinating

imagine how fun it must have been to make these houses

This is actually impressive, as creepy and weird as it is.

Me: lets watch some relaxing video before bed RU-vid: *Not on my watch*

6:55 imagine being the only woman in that room 💀

Why do I actually want this- like this seems like a really good thing to have if you’re bored so you can spend your time in solving this instead of wasting your time

*tHe BaBy DiD iT*

Girl: Daddy, I want a doll house! Dad: *Here.*

I took a forensic science class in high school and previous students created their own dioramas just like this. The next classes created stories and did all the measurements to try and solve the crime. Very interesting assignment and one of the more memorable classes I took for sure.

Me: hear the words “where the milkman stopped by.” Also me: IT WAS HIM, IT WAS THE MILKMAN. despite not even knowing if someone had died or been killed. The milkman is just sus

*_A D O R A B L E K N I F E_*

"Stabbing" and "adorable" do not belong in the same sentence....

There’s such a beautiful creepiness to these doll houses, more creepy than some horror media in my opinion

I remember watching the episode of CSI Las Vegas where the murderer made these and left them at the crime scene along with the real life murder. That’s my favourite episode.

PLOT TWIST the lady who made the doll houses killed them 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

'you don't commit suicide while you're in the middle of making dinner' I can't stop laughing at this and I feel terrible for it XD

"mom can we have a dollhouse?" "we have dollhouses at home" dollhouses at home:

“They were living the American dream, until the murders happened.”

_"there is no 'solution' to be determined"_ me: noooooooooo

"-unexplained deaths" *doll has a knife stuck in the stomach* me: what a mystery

I love seeing someone talking about the amazing woman because unfortunately not a lot of people know who she was and the importance of what she did for forensic science. She is and was the first C.S.I . It all started with her dollhouses of horror. I hope by spotlighting her more people can appreciate what she devoted her life to. Good job

As a miniature builder and lover this is an amazing and exciting opportunity to have a window into a moment of time that otherwise might be forgotten. The woman who designed this exercise is brilliant, to use 1:12 scale to make the point that every small detail has a very large impact on the bigger picture. And can in fact be the detail that can solve a problematic case.

Makes me want to study forensic science

I kind of want to play with them, but that would be tampering the evidence.

Her attention to detail is untouched. She did such great work, truly amazing and a little scary too.

I honestly love this, like, it's so hecking cool! The idea of using dolls in order to recreate murders is such an interesting concept to me.

I was waiting for "Frances Glessner Lee died in 1962 of natural causes... or did she" *Law and order sound effect*

Vox keeps making me interested in things that I never knew existed/ never knew I'd be interested in.

This has been in my recommended for two years, I finally decided to watch it.

Doll houses like these always reminds me of that movie "Hereditary"

“A stabbing with… an adorable knife”

What are these? MURDER SCENES FOR ANTS?!

Is it just me or that I wanna collect some of these items in these “dollhouses” like the chairs and props and stuff... just me alright

I’ve seen these in person and they’re even better! The amount of detail is extraordinary

This play set looks like a real... *puts on sunglasses Die-O-Rama. “yeeeeeeeaaaaahhhh”

"A stabbing... with an adorable knife"

RU-vid literally made me watch this when I was about to sleep. Now I can't sleep.

Please note: one room took YEARS to make. These days, we have a lot of prefab stuff (like baseboards, railings, stairs...) so a whole house can take 3 years. I know a guy who was working on his house over 20 years! Making all the parquet floor by hand! Biggest house Real Good Toys makes. It is enormous.

It was Miss Scarlet in the Library with the candlestick.

*HERE’S EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE* Three Room Dwelling: -The husband first shot his wife, leaving the stain in front of her head. - He then walked to the baby’s room and shot the baby, leaving the stain behind it. - He shoots himself, but doesn’t die. - After shooting himself, he leaves the mysterious stain on the baby’s floor. - He steadies himself using the chair in the room, which is why it’s tipped over. (The chair is blurred) - He grips his wound to try and prevent leaving a bloodstain and leaves the room. Gripping the wound leaves blood on his hand. - In the dining room, he stops to take a break and releases his grip, leaving the stain on the ground there. Alternatively, he shoots himself again. - He lets the blood drip as he enters his own room, leaving the footprints. - He loses his footing again and grips the rocking chair, tipping it over and leaving the cluster of prints suggesting he stumbled. - He shoots himself through the head and falls on the bed, which leaves the massive stain across it and brings the blanket down with him. - The two larger stains on his legs suggest he’d shot himself there. Once when he was in the baby’s room, the second time may have been in the dining room. - The crime had to have taken place after the milkman arrived, since the bottles are on the porch and he would have been disturbed by the gunshots. - Or maybe the shots were fired during his arrival, and after placing the bottles he heard the gunshot and stumbled backward, which toppled the blocks that were on the porch. - However we don’t know where the weapon went or the explanation for the smaller stains across the man’s back. Kitchen: - Before leaving for work, the husband knocks his wife out using an object in the room (likely rolling pin or iron) - Since the wife had been holding an ice cube tray, we can make a rough guess as to when the crime happened. The tray doesn’t appear to have any ice in it, so it is either empty or melted. If it’s melted, it happened father back. Depending on when the husband leaves for work, we can assume whether or not he was in the house at the time. (Or maybe it was the heat from the stoves?) - The husband jams the door shut with the paper. The knife near the door could have been used for this. - He turns the stove on and leaves through a window, leaving the tablecloth crooked. - The wife’s cheeks look a little red. It may be makeup, but it could also suggest she suffocated. Edit: Alright, lets try explaining three room dwelling as a murder by an intruder - The intruder shoots the wife and runs to the baby’s room before the husband can react. He then shoots the baby. (He may have left the husband alive since he only had a vendetta against one of the two in the couple - he hates the husband so he shoots the the people he loves most, or he hates the wife so he kills her and her child. Not sure why he wouldn’t kill the husband in that last one, though. Maybe he just didn’t see him under the covers in his rush..?) - The husband follows the sound of the gunshot and fights the intruder. This is where the first shot into his leg is fired, where the chair is tipped over, and where the extra bullet ends up on the floor. It may also be where the bloody prints are left on his back. - The husband realizes he doesn’t have a chance here and grips his leg while running (or doing his best to run) back to his room. - Another shot into his leg is fired in the kitchen. - Once they approach the bedroom, there’s another scuffle that tips the second chair and leaves all the prints. - The husband either goes right to reach the phone or left to get a weapon in a drawer (assuming he has one). - If he goes right, the killer shoots him and wraps him in the blanket to put him back in the bed (an attempt at a red herring, maybe?). The husband rolls out of the bed due to the dead weight, which leaves the bloodstain across the sheets (however it’s a bit too big to have resulted by rolling over). Alternatively, the intruder knocks the husband out by forcing him against the chair. Then he wraps him in the blanket and shoots him while he‘s in the bed. He still rolls over, but the stain is now caused more by the shot itself than by a trail. - If he goes left for a weapon (a more likely explanation), he is shot by the intruder there. He falls on the bed, leaving the stain. The blanket may have been left by him earlier as he got out of bed in a panic. - Our milkman explanation still works, but the disappearing weapon and back prints are explained.

Years ago I read an article in "The Boston Globe" on the nutshell case studies. The first line was "Barbie is dead and Ken did it". I had lived in Maryland in the '90s and had known about the dioramas when they were housed in Maryland ME's office.

I need the soundtrack in this video. This video is incredible. A wonderful job of script and editing. And the person honored and her work definitely had a great relevance.

I wonder if the CSI episodes where a murderer sends miniature doll houses of his/her crime scenes to the police were based off these.

Seriously though those dollhouses are really detailed man

Anyone remember the episode of CSI when Grissom and the team would find one at each murder, then get a clue to the next doll house? They had to figure out the scene before the murder.

“A stabbing with a ..... adorable knife” 😳 well it is a pretty adorable knife I guess

... are they called Nutshells because they can’t be cracked?

"She died of NATURAL causes." You say it like you have something to hide. Where were you during the 60's?

All I can think of is Sherlock solving them like it’s a child’s play

1:56 they were living an american dream until the murder happen !HAPPY MUSIC!

Vox: There’s no solution, these are merely tools for observing the right things :) Me: but what is the aNsWeRrRr

in the future, or maybe now... can we use VR to do a simulation like this one??

Ooo imagine if you could get a VR experience in these doll houses. That would be hella creepy but also a fun way of learning how to find these smaller details.

She clearly was an artistic genius .forward thinking in forensic analysis.A brilliant mind ,an artist who captures the minutiae of enviroment in absolutely beautiful period detail .A woman truly worthy of a documentary.

Vox dude: Stabbing.... Me: oh god... Vox Dude: ...by an adorable knife Me: WTF dude 😧

This is fascinating. I'd love to see a full length documentary on Frances and these doll houses!

This reminds me of the Miniature Killer character in season 7 of CSI: Vegas. In the show however, those nutshells were made by the MK to showcase their crimes.

I saw these in the Maryland Medical Examiners office during a forensics conference! They were incredible. I wish I had had more time to look them over.

This toy is olny approved for ages... Dead and older

this sounds like a _great_ date idea to me

As an artist I am completely in awe of the details and intricate creation of these little pieces of art masterpieces. This woman was far beyond her time she was an artistic genius.

Imagine being her daughter if she had one she would make a cool doll house.

this how melanie’s song “dollhouse” be like

Who else here just wants to know story behind the actual murders? I'm too curious.

I want a whole series on this please, I keep coming back to it!

The music is what elevates this video to a solid 10/10. I love it!

Everything about these dollhouses and the way this was filmed and narrated is beautiful...well done Vox!

When you have a love for miniatures but also murder

These dioramas are so interesting! I can imagine the forensic fun it must have been to create them. They are puzzles but never been solved. That’s what makes life.

"mom I want to see a real crime scene!" - "we have a real crime scene at home." crime scene at home:

That must be one of the best endings to a Vox video ever.

the music is amazing though

The Precision and Artistic side of this is Amazing 🥲

It always fascinating how artist can make these tiny houses with so much detail and make them so realistic. Absolutely amazing

The ending is incredibly frustrating. It like when your teacher used to tell you before a test that "there are no right or wrong answers".

🚨🚨I FOUND THE MUSIC🚨🚨 Artist- Christian Garrick Album-Violin: Motion Tracks- Time Lapse, Orbit, Synergy, and Race to the Finish I found it on Apple Music, enjoy!!

I mean i understand its for observation, but it breaks my heart to not see a solution for closure, even if it is just a doll

I can see the inspiration for the CSI story arc in which Grissom receives miniatures of actual crime scenes from the killer.

What are these, murders for ants?

Ok but the music in this is amazing

Why do i want these so badly The mature me is screaming "DUDE YOU'RE TOO OLD FOR DOLLHOUSES" And the immature me is screaming "IT LOOKS SO COOL THO" And the sensitive me is just crying and terrified in the corner

I remember last year in Uni we had to study this lady and make our own ones. Our group made one for the skeletal remains of an unknown woman found in a tree :D

No one: Frances Lee: *I* *can* *make* *toys* *based* *on* *actual* *deaths!*

8:05 "This toy is only approved for ages... For dead and older."- Music:*YAHHHHHHHH*

These are yet another example of what the human mind can accomplish. Their obsessive details caused a significant change in the methods used by investigators trying to solve cases of murder, which makes for a better society. Getting police to search for those that actually committed the crimes, rather than just arresting those that they were suspicious of, and then fitting facts to fit their suspicion. Truly artistic creations and teaching tools. Amazing

This is actually so creative.