Case of the Month: Jackie Johns (20) was last seen alive on June 17, 1985. The next day, her sports car was found abandoned. The backseat was covered in blood as were the clothing police found there (a top, jeans, and underwear all soaked in blood). On June 22, 1985, Jackie’s nude body was pulled from […]
Evidence
Case of the Month: the Sodder Children
Case of the Month for February 2015 comes from Fayetteville, West Virginia: the Sodder Children. They went missing on Dec 24, 1945 after a fire destroyed their family’s house. The case is well-known so I will not summarize it. You can find more about this case below in the resource section. I will point out though what […]
“Chase Your Shadow; the trials of Oscar Pistorius”
“Chase Your Shadow; the trials of Oscar Pistorius” by John Carlin is a must read. The title is well-chosen. We learn about Oscar, his family, his disability, and his career. His life was indeed filled with trials and they started well before 2013. Carlin clearly wrote this book with compassion in his heart. Some might […]
Case of the Month: the Zeigler wrongful conviction
Case of the Month: the Zeigler wrongful conviction has been part of my life since 1993 when I started working for Amnesty International in Switzerland. I am appalled that the injustice endures. In December 1975, a quadruple murder took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store in Wintergarden, Florida. The victims were Charles Mays, Virginia and Perry […]
The Grahlman murders
The Case of the Month for April 2014: the Grahlman murders from April 5, 2003. I read about the Grahlman arson/double homicide case on Jody Ewing’s Iowa Cold Cases. Please read the circumstances of the crime there. No need to repeat Jody here. After I read the overview, many questions popped up in my mind and […]
Help needed in Karen Caughlin case
OPP seeks help in 1974 cold case of Karen Caughlin as her death nears the 40th anniversary on March 16th. From CBC News: “Ontario Provincial Police hope a new appeal to the public will help reinvigorate an investigation into a four-decade-old homicide. Police on Thursday released a seven-minute video detailing the events of the day Karen Caughlin […]
Wet-Vacuum Forensic DNA Collection Continues to Gain Support
Wet-Vacuum Forensic DNA Collection Gaining Momentum, a guest post by Jared Bradley. Scientific related industries have been my focus the majority of my adult life. In all that time, I don’t remember a device, product, service or method that has garnered more support in a shorter amount of time than the M-Vac System, with the […]
Case of the Month: Julia Wallace
Case of the Month: Julia Wallace. One of the most famous unsolved homicides in UK history is the murder of Julia Wallace. Her case inspired many movies, books, and television programs. Julia Dennis married William Wallace in March of 1914. She was older than Wallace. By how many years exactly is not clear to me. […]
Sum it Up! #46
Sum it Up! #46 is a life-saver today because I am swamped. My editorial calendar was heavily neglected this week. All kinds of post ideas popped up that were not planned. Hehe, back to blogging free style for me! Great news from Jared Bradley, the Colorado Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is the latest to join […]
Case of the Month: Josephine Backshall
Case of the Month: Josephine Backshall (39) who was last seen at about 6pm on Tuesday October 29, 1974, when she left her home to keep an appointment in Witham, Essex, UK. She was found dead Nov 1, 1974. Today marks the 39th anniversary of her unsolved murder. Josephine Backshall left three children: Christopher, Sarah, and Emma. Her […]
Recap #CrimeChat Oct 25, 2013
Recap #CrimeChat Oct 25, 2013 with Shaun Kaufman & Colleen Collins a.k.a. the Writing PIs. It is always a pleasure to talk to these two. There are always new stories, new books they are working on, and they have a great sense of humour. While Shaun was driving home from court, Colleen and I started […]
Follow-up False Confessions Post
After posting “False Confessions: Why & How” I got an email from Mr. Joseph Buckley, President of John E. Reid and Associates. He wanted to alert my readers to a few things. A technique is a tool and the tool is only as good as the one handling it. In other words: yes, false confessions […]
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013
Recap #CrimeChat Sept 16, 2013. Today’s #CrimeChat was about real CSI. Retrieving DNA from certain surfaces can be done by swabbing and taping but those methods may not work 100% on porous surfaces, brick, concrete or, wet surfaces. The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum sampling system. Jared Bradley, tweeting as mvacsys, said: “think of a medical […]
Alfred Moore; first impressions
As you know, Pam alerted me to the Alfred Moore campaign to have this case, a wrongful conviction, examined again. I have done some checking on the web, found the eBook by Steve Lawson, and have started mulling this case over. Those familiar with my blog know that my first take on a case usually […]
Updated information about Danny Goldman
Paul Novack alerted me that the site has been updated. I like to draw your attention to some important official documents. I quote: “In 1968 and 1972, statements were made that implicate who was involved and what was done. Danny was murdered on Miami Beach shortly after his abduction from Surfside, and his remains were cast into […]
RTI International Webinar on backlogs in crime labs
RTI International webinar on backlogs in crime labs and their impact on the justice system This morning I attended this webinar and learned more about the backlogs in crime labs, what causes them, whether all labs have a case acceptance policy, the costs involved and much more. The live discussion took place in Washington DC […]
Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask
Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask: by request, I post all three parts that I wrote as guest posts for other bloggers here for readability. ___________________________________ I like to read about old unsolved cases. We usually refer to them as historical mysteries. One of them is the story of the unknown prisoner or the man […]
Recap #crimechat Feb 10, 2013
Crimechat recap from Feb 10, 2013. Our subject: Richard III & the Princes in the Tower. There was so much to talk about. We did not even have time to talk about the recent discoveries, the facial reconstruction, where to rebury the King and more. Richard III (October 2, 1452 – August 22, 1485) was King of England […]
Update Marianne Vaatstra
Update in the case of Marianne Vaatstra: according to Marianne’s father, his daughter did not know the man, Jasper S., whose DNA matched the biological materials left on Marianne’s body. He doubted that they knew each other especially if you consider the age differences. Marianne’s father did know Jasper’s children as they went to school […]
No longer cold: the 1999 murder of Marianne Vaatstra
The 1999 cold case of Marianne Vaatstra is defrosting in the Netherlands. Marianne was only sixteen years old when she was found murdered. Police arrested many people and even held a large scale DNA search but, the perpetrator was never found. On September 29, 2012, police began a “DNA relationship testing” in a 5 km […]