Defrosting Cold Cases

18 years for Jasper S, that is what the judge handed down for the rape-murder of Marianne Vaatstra. The prosecution had asked for 20 years. The defense did not deny the rape but argued that the murder was not intentional hence a reduced sentence was in order. The court did not accept that defense strategy [...]

Update Robert Boulin: murder or suicide. In 2011, I posted that the death of Robert Boulin remains a mystery. Yes, he was in troubled waters. However, the manner in which he died and the way he was found, do not match suicide. While checking the papers and the Internet, I found an article from February of [...]

Guilty verdict re John Sohus for Gerhartsreiter. His sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2013. He faces 25 years to life in prison for the murder conviction, plus two additional years because the jury also found that he personally used a blunt object and a sharp instrument as weapons. It was not a death penalty [...]

Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013 Today we spoke about wrongful convictions with Nancy Petro. A short introduction to wrongful convictions started this crimechat. How do we find out about Wrongful Convictions in general? A: We discover that the victim is alive & well. Examples: India 2003, the Reena Devi case. Reena disappeared, her mother ID-ed her [...]

Death on Hold: Zeigler In the documentary “Death on Hold” you can see the trial and appeals in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. It explains why for the past 37 years, we have been trying to show you that he never had a fair trial. Judge for yourself whether there is room for doubt.

New developments in the 1966 case of Danny Goldman involve a connection to a known criminal and a link to Danny’s girlfriend. From CBS Miami: “Joe Cacciatore, Chicken Cacciatore, as he was known, was an accomplished thief and burglar closely aligned with mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr. A serious player, Chicken was known to be operating [...]

Verdict against Jasper S. expected April 19, 2013. Jasper S. is of course standing trial re the 1999 rape-murder of Marianne Vaatstra. The prosecution asked for 20 years however, his lawyer thinks that is too much and expects a sentence of 15 years. He does not consider Marianne’s murder proven beyond a reasonable doubt. He [...]

The Caughlin family: enough! Enough energy has been put into asking, begging the OPP to re-evaluate the cold case of Karen Caughlin. Their hearts broken since Karen’s murder in 1974, the family has decided to stop talking to the media. From the PetroliaTopic.com and sent to me by Kathy Caughlin: “Two years after calling for the [...]

Jasper S. faces the judge re 1999 Vaatstra murder in the Netherlands. The hearing took place on Feb 27, 2013. Jasper S. did not speak during this hearing. An ongoing debate in the Netherlands is of course, the punishment. Is Jasper S. insane? Should he go to a mental institution? How did he keep this crime [...]

Kathy Whorton’s case on TV March 10, 2013 Great news in the cold case of Kathy Whorton: her case will be discussed by Paula Zahn. The program is ”On the Case with Paula Zahn” and it will be on the Investigation Discovery Channel (I.D. Channel). Paula’s TV schedule is here but as I post this, the last [...]