Probing Into Cold Cases A Guide For Investigators

The investigative experience offers many challenges in reconstructing past events and in discovering the persons, entities, and organizations involved in a crime or a civil wrong. The discussion begins with explaining the nature of cold cases and the major problems associated with these investigations. A cold case investigation progresses from the internal (the caseOCOs center), proximal (contact evidence), distal (immediate vicinity) to the limbic (the world at large) realms of information. The text stresses the importance of gathering basic identifiers about the victim, suspect, product, or object that constitutes the OC centerOCO of the case. Fifteen keys exist that act as collection points for evidence, and these keys are discussed, including the role they play in the evolution of an investigation. The following topics are featured: identifying the differences between physical evidence, traceable evidence, and information resources; the differences between the goals in criminal cases and in civil investigations; working with the medical examiner; the importance of visiting the locus or crime scene even after a considerable period of time has elapsed; the basics of computer forensics and tips on cyberprofiling; technical assistance and how to locate expert help; tools for uncovering witnesses; locating OC hiddenOCO information archives relevant to a particular case; financial evidence; managing a case; and response when using a combination of traditional and forensic techniques, which constitutes a modern synthesis of investigative methods. Despite analytical methods, it is necessary to understand when to stop an investigation. The text covers this issue and makes recommendations regarding the writing of reports on a case. The Appendix contains a Master Checklist that provides a wealth of information and expertise. This book will be a valuable resource for police investigators, private investigators, and governmental/regulatory investigators."

Designed for use by investigators in any agency, large or small, Practical Cold Case Homicide Investigations Procedural Manual provides an overview of the means and methods by which previously reported and investigated—yet unresolved—homicides might be solved. Written by an experienced cold case investigator and consultant, this convenient handbook is drawn from the author’s previous work, Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques and follows the successful format of Vernon Geberth’s Practical Homicide Investigation: Checklist and Field Guide. The book examines the basics of case identification and reactivation, providing insight into file retrieval and review. It discusses the legal aspects of cold case investigation and prosecution and explores how to take advantage of technology and forensics advances developed since the case went cold—including forensic and people-searching databases. Readers will learn how techniques used in current homicide investigations have an expanded role in cold case investigations. The convenient format features a summary and checklist template and includes simple, step-by-step instructions. While cold cases are frustrating for investigators and victims’ families, this book shows how modern cold case homicide investigation can best exploit the primary solvability factors of changes in technology and changes in relationships—turning the concept of time as an enemy into time as a friend.

Written by a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in law enforcement, Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques provides effective and accessible information to those responsible for investigating and resolving previously examined - but still unsolved - cold case homicides. The book merges theory with practice through the use of case histories, photographs, illustrations, and checklists that convey essential, fundamental concepts while providing a strong, practical basis for the investigative process. It combines proven techniques from forensics, psychology, and criminal investigation, and focuses on technologies that may not have been available at the time of the crime. This guide defines the characteristics of a cold case homicide; details various investigative methods used by law enforcement agencies; explores the actual experiences of detectives in re-opening case files; and presents current technologies such as ViCAP, HITS, and TracKRS used in the identification of cases related to the re-opened case, or its perpetrator. It also highlights technological changes that contribute greatly to law enforcement's abilities to solve cold case homicides such as computerized print technology, the specificity of DNA, and the expanding data banks that enable the linkage of previously unknown suspects to the crimes they committed. Addressing methods particularly valuable to cold cases, Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques assists the investigator in being prepared, focused, objective - and successful in obtaining the truth.

Nearly 185,000 homicides since 1980 remain unsolved, yet with limited staff and resources, it is no surprise that law enforcement units place the bulk of their efforts on current cases where victims’ family members and the media demand answers. Cold Cases: An Evaluation Model with Follow-up Strategies for Investigators provides a comprehensive roadmap for digging those cold cases out of the file room and getting them resolved. Practical and concise, the book is an invaluable tool for police officers and detectives attempting to solve crimes that would otherwise be forgotten. Evaluating the Case Divided into three sections, the book begins with a historical perspective on how cases get to the point where it appears all investigative leads have been exhausted. It includes a chapter on understanding the process of homicide and those who kill — critical information for the homicide investigator. Next, the authors explain the evaluation model. They demonstrate the key elements of organization, thoroughness, and the value of the scientific method. This section validates theories of the crime, raises evidentiary issues and concerns, addresses the informational and behavioral aspects relative to the crime and the participants in the crime, and documents investigative strategies for future efforts on the case. Investigating and Solving the Crime The third section discusses the investigation that follows the evaluation. The book considers questions investigators must ask, including what should be looked at beyond the case file itself, and how the growth in technology since the date of the incident might provide new opportunities to uncover clues. This section also explores the choice of interview/interrogation techniques based on the behavioral aspects involved. Finally, the authors suggest how investigators can maximize their efforts and obtain not just an arrest, but a conviction. Useful appendices include sample standard operating procedures from three different agencies to use as a guide for setting up a cold case unit and a list of additional resources a department may look to for assistance. By following the cold cases evaluation model in this volume, those charged with resolving long-forgotten crimes can increase their chance of an accurate resolution, or at least be able to say that everything that can be done has been done.

Solving a cold case is extremely difficult and many are left unresolved. In this book, retired NCIS Special Agent Joe Kennedy details the methodology he created to solve cold case murders. He offers an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look into why cases go cold, how they are investigated and what is needed to successfully resolve them. Author Kennedy shares his motivations and the lessons he has learned while solving these challenging cases. Also examined are cold cases where other detectives have successfully implemented Kennedy's methodology. Many books delve into the perspectives of criminals who commit murder, but this text takes a fascinating gumshoe journey into the mind of a cold case detective and his passionate search for the truth. Helping law enforcement solve cold cases brings justice and resolution for the victims and their families, and this book provides detectives and true crime enthusiasts the tools to investigate cold cases in their own communities.

Double Exposure examines the role of film in shaping social psychology’s landmark postwar experiments. We are told that most of us will inflict electric shocks on a fellow citizen when ordered to do so. Act as a brutal prison guard when we put on a uniform. Walk on by when we see a stranger in need. But there is more to the story. Documentaries that investigators claimed as evidence were central to capturing the public imagination. Did they provide an alibi for twentieth century humanity? Examining the dramaturgy, staging and filming of these experiments, including Milgram's Obedience Experiments, the Stanford Prison Experiment and many more, Double Exposure recovers a new set of narratives.

"A practical guide for police, death investigators, and prosecutors, No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting, and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing, Second Edition takes an expansive look at both the history of no-body murder cases and the best methods to investigate, solve, and bring them to court. How do you prove someone guilty of murder when the best and primary piece of evidence-the victim's body-is missing? Exclusively dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of no-body homicide cases, this fully updated Second Edition provides the author's insight gained from investigating, consulting on, and trying scores of no-body case throughout the United States. Taking readers step-by-step from the first days of a homicide investigation through the trial, the book explores the history of confessions and discloses the investigative techniques police must use to catch these cunning killers. Chapters review methods criminals have used to dispose of bodies, delving into the psychological profile of the type of defendant who murders someone, then hides the body. Since the last edition published, the number of no-body murder cases investigated has skyrocketed, with more than 50 percent of all the no-body murder ever tried and prosecuted have occurred since the year 2000. New to this edition is a chapter on a full, singular high-profile case from start to finish, to illustrate the entire no-body investigative and adjudication process. A sample arrent warrant for a no-body murder case is provided in addition to Chapter 12 updating the prior edition's nearly 400 case summaries provided to the current figure, as of this publication, of 576 no-body murder trials in U.S. history. No-Body Homicide Cases, Second Edition continues to serve as an essential resource and the "how-to" manual for investigating, prosecuting, and winning no-body murder cases"--

Cases in which all investigative leads appear to be exhausted are frustrating for both investigators and victims’ families. Cold cases can range from those only a few months old to others that go back for decades. Presenting profiles and actual case histories, Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing and Cold Homicide Cases illustrates how investigators can successfully apply resources that will enable them to reopen and solve cases gathering dust in the file room. Today’s investigators have found that, to solve cold cases, they need to be internet savvy and make the best use of the rapidly changing methodologies of the twenty-first century, but they also have to be time travelers and open the door to the past. This volume weaves together the nearly forgotten skill sets of traditional historical researchers with the latest online tools, including TLO, a premier investigative system; and NamUs, the revolutionary database for missing persons and unidentified remains. Along with practical applications, Cold Case Research gives investigators the tools they need to save time and money and to jump-start their cold cases, while keeping others from going cold in the future. Topics discussed include: Implementing cold case units People searches and working with databases Overlooked DNA in PKU cards The plight of the missing and unknown Applying historical and geographical context Online and off-line newspaper research Public and published records The use of volunteers Contact with co-victims Cold-case review teams and information-sharing resources Taking advantage of the media Using a thinking-outside-the-box approach, this volume helps fill major gaps in traditional cold case investigation training and techniques, enabling investigators to confidently reopen and crack the mystery of cases long thought unsolvable. Silvia Pettem was quoted in a January 29, 2012 article on missing persons in the Colorado Springs Gazette.