Defrosting Cold Cases

There is a new and exciting turn of events in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. As loyal readers know, Mr. Zeigler has been on death row for the 1975 quadruple murders that took place on Christmas Eve inside his family’s furniture store in Wintergarden, Florida. When I started my posts about this case in [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Police are taking new action in the Canadian cold case of Sharron Prior. According to this newspaper article: “This week, police announced an anonymous donor has stepped forward to offer a $10,000 reward. Police also set up a fresh command post in Point St. Charles, and set up a dedicated phone line.” Sharron disappeared on [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Canada, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Point-St-Charles, Police, Rape kits, Sharron Prior, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

There is a lot that bothers me in Tess‘ case so this is a brainstorming session to get things clear in my mind: 1: Tess’ travel checks were found in the parking lot and her billfold was found near the rail tracks, both to the south of the apartment complex. It leads you to believe [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Missouri, Police, Rape kits, stabbing death, Teresa Sue Hilt, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

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 [...]

Tags: Austria, Beaumont Children, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Missing Person, Police, South Adelaide, Victim, Witnesses

Tragedy has struck the Meredith family again. Very early this morning, Brandon Meredith was found dead at his sister’s home. Brandon was Trisha‘s brother whose cold case can be found here on DCC. The cause of Brandon’s death is still unknown and details will follow later. Trisha’s case is not forgotten. During his life, Brandon [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Indiana, Investigations Division, Police, Trisha Meredith, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

Since 1974, the Caughlin Family has been wondering why their beloved 14 year old Karen had to die. To this date, there are no answers. Maybe we will never get the answers we need but then again, it might be possible with the help of some special people. The Caughlin Family would like to have [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Canada, Crime Scene, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Karen Caughlin, Michigan, OPP, Police, Sarnia, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

From the New York Times: “In an opinion that harshly criticizes the tactics of the police and prosecutors, an Illinois appellate court on Friday night reversed the conviction of Juan Rivera, who has spent 19 years in jail for the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old baby sitter in a suburb of Chicago. There [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Illinois, Investigations Division, Juan Rivera, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Another case of senseless violence that costs a police officer his life. Yesterday, Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse was shot in the head and killed during a routine traffic stop. He had not even exited his car yet. The driver of the car stopped was a third party. The shooter could be seen on [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Ballistics, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Police, Victim, Virginia, VT Police Officer Deriek Crouse, Witnesses

  Rockford Police (IL) are going to set up a cold case website next year! “Over the years in Rockford, hundreds of murder cases have gone unsolved and many leads have now gone cold. The Rockford Police are in the process of setting up a new website they hope will help them close the book [...]

Tags: Crime Scene, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Illinois, Investigations Division, Missing Person, Police, Rockford, Unidentified, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

This is the original crime scene diagram made by private detective George Anan who was hired by the defense in 1976 and who searched the furniture store together with attorney Vernon Davids. In a two-week examination of the store, Davids and Annan found a .38 caliber slug and a .38 caliber exit hole in the [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Crime Scene Diagram, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions