Charles "Stephen" DeFrance

Charles S. DeFrance had a 29-year career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He started in 1996 in the Firearms-Toolmarks Unit of the FBI Laboratory where he was certified as a firearms-toolmarks examiner. In 2001, he graduated from the FBI Academy as a special agent and served in field divisions in Washington, DC; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Denver, Colorado. He was a member of the Evidence Response Team (ERT) from 2002 until he retired in 2025. He served as a team leader for 9 years and as the senior team leader of the Denver Division ERT for 8 years. As the senior team leader, DeFrance was responsible for a team of 32 primary members and up to 12 alternates who covered an area of responsibility covering the states of Colorado and Wyoming.

During his career with the FBI, DeFrance had the opportunity to respond to a wide variety of crime scenes across the country and around to the world to include homidices, sexual assaults, shootings, bombings, clandestine grave searches and body recoveries, officer- and agent-involved shootings, kidnappings, and major accident scenes; among others. DeFrance has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina; a Master of Forensic Science from The George Washington University; and a Master of Science in Materials Science from the Colorado School of Mines.