Defrosting Cold Cases

Welcome to Vidster’s blog about unsolved homicides from all over the world.

What is new?

The past few weeks, I have been busy plotting and planning for DCC. It will be an exciting year with new collaborations, expanding the existing ones, more themed live chats, and of course, lots of blogging!

We are still awaiting Judge Whitehead’s ruling concerning the request for more DNA testing in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. I will update his case as soon as there is any news.

If you have a Twitter account, join me for cold case live chat. Starting January 6, 2012, all cold case chats are on Fridays from noon-1pm EST. During those chats, we are joined by cops, ex-cops, authors, cold case investigators, DNA experts, scientists, private investigators and anyone else interested in helping solve or discussing cold cases worldwide. Join us (follow hashtag #cclivechat on Twitter) and see where you can help.

The next themed #cclivechats will be on the following dates:

2012

February 3: Our very own in-house DNA expert Sue Carney will discuss fluid patterns with us and in particular, blood patterns. Her Twitter account is here.

February 10: Andrew Wade, a UK forensic scientist, will discuss his specialist areas in fire investigation and physical (marks) evidence. He too is more than happy to answer all your burning questions! His Twitter account is here.

February 24: Peter W. Mullen from Kemic Bioresearch in Nova Scotia, Canada, will discuss postmortem toxicology and pharmacokinetics with us. Peter was a tenured member of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Manchester prior to establishing Kemic Bio-research. His Twitter account is here.

March 2: Vassilios Manoussos will educate us about mobile phone forensics and explain how his expertise can be used by law enforcement. He will gladly take questions! His Twitter account is here.

March 23: Professor Ian Rivers join us. His Twitter account is here and his blog can be found here. Details will follow!

April 20: Gary Lee Walters will discuss child abuse, national databases and how they could help in cold case re-investigations. His Twitter account is here.

May 4: Retired DC cop David Swinson joins us to discuss the re-investigation methods for cold cases. He will of course speak in general about cases from his career but also highlight some from around the nation. His Twitter account is here.

The themes and/or guests for the rest of 2012 will be announced as soon as possible so please check back here for details.

This month one year ago, these cases were foremost on my mind: the Crewe Murders, the disappearance of Laura Henderson-Ibach, and the murder of Trey Noah.

I update the blog (and home page) frequently but if you want to know what I am working on right now, then tune in to Twitter!

Cheers, Vidster

A great chat in which the case of the missing Beaumont Children featured. They disappeared 46 years ago without a trace. Other topics we touched on where Joe’s interview with Marguerite Ashton, the age of blood found at crime scenes, and the advancement in tests to determine how old blood is. Bill brought us a [...]

Forty-six years ago, Jim and Nancy Beaumont were confronted with a nightmare that has been ongoing ever since. Their beloved children, all three of their children, vanished without a trace. It broke their hearts, their hopes, and their marriage. Over the years, South Adelaide Police did investigate more leads. They checked into child serial rapist [...]

Get Loaded is the latest tour from Blog Tour de Force! This tour runs from January 23rd to January 27th, 2012 and  will give DCC readers the opportunity to get free eBooks from a variety of authors. This five day blog tour will feature one author each day. This blog tour is set up like a treasure hunt. [...]

We were joined by Gavin Ward to continue the crash course on blogging that he had started last November 11, 2011. You can read that recap here. Today, we discussed Google+, Search Engine Optimization, the advantages of using the right keywords, pros and cons of guest bloggers and of course, how to promote our blogs outside of Twitter. [...]

    By now you should have heard or read about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). On Wednesday January 18th, there will be a hearing about this web-crippling law in Congress. And although you might have heard that some politicians halted their support, the bill is NOT cancelled. Neither is it Senate’s equivalent, called PIPA. [...]

Infographic courtesy AmericanCensorship.org

Friday the 13th! It was tempting fate and indeed something happened. Air plane delays messed up Richard Case‘s travel plans. Our #cclivechat therefore began much early with questions and answers send via email and Twitter. At the noon hour, several other CSI folks jumped in and we learned a great deal today! 1: Can you [...]

When I finished reading “A Detailed Man,” my first reaction was a sigh of relief that David Swinson is no longer a cop. You see, the last thing that you want to happen to your friends is that they become “damaged.” David Swinson‘s first book introduces you to a cop who is damaged, literally and [...]