Being a police sketch artist is a tricky job, requiring an artist with ears as discerning as his or her eyes, with the ability to take the vague details of a witness and shape them into a likeness that helps identify a suspect. Most of the time, they are skilled and accurate. But sometimes the sketch artist just completely and utterly bottles it.
In 2014, Rabbi Joseph Raskin was shot dead while walking to a synagogue in North Miami Beach, Florida. In an effort to help the local officers catch the killer, the police department released the above sketch to the public, essentially telling them to look out for a startled Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort from the Harry Potter film franchise.
The police later arrested 15-year-old DeAndre Charles for the crime, charging the teen with first-degree murder and attempted robbery. While police officers have yet to release what evidence links him to the murder, and his family continues to protest his innocence, local prosecutor Katherine Fernandez-Rundle has said that the case against Charles is “evidentially poor, but factually rich.”
