Defrosting Cold Cases

“All the Commissioner’s Men” by Chris Birt is a book about the cold cases of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe who feature on my blog. They have this prominent place not in the least because they are tied to the wrongful conviction of Arthur Allen Thomas or, to the call from their only child Rochelle Crewe to finally get [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Book Reviews, Chris Birt, Crewe Murders, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, New Zealand, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rochelle Crewe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Vivien Harrison, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Supplementary statement by Chris Birt regarding the alleged viewing by Bruce Roddick on 1 June 1972: This 1 June 1972 statement was produced, for the first time, at the crucial February 1973 First Referral to the Court of Appeal which granted, against all odds, Arthur Thomas his re-trial. The retrial was held in April 1973. [...]

Tags: arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Bruce Roddick, Chris Birt, Crime Scene, Evidence, Forensics, Gun Fire, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Len Demler, New Zealand, Police, Rochelle Crewe, the woman who fed Rochelle, Unsolved Homicide, Victim

This post is Chris Birt’s rebuttal to the statement that investigative reporter Bryan Bruce released to the media. Bruce claimed Roddick made it clear that Mrs Norma Demler was not the woman that he saw at the Crewe Farm. Chris Birt explains in detail why he disagrees. __________________________ Media statement by Chris Birt, long-time Crewe [...]

Tags: arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Book Reviews, Bruce Roddick, Crime Scene, Evidence, Forensics, Gun Fire, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Len Demler, Miscarriage of Justice, New Zealand, Norma Demler, Police, Rochelle Crewe, the woman who fed Rochelle, Unsolved Homicide

For decades, rumours circulated that it had to be Norma Demler who fed Rochelle Crewe in the time period between her parents’ murders and her being officially found in 1970. The fact that Norma was Len Demler’s second wife and a very closed, reserved woman, who refused to talk about the Crewe Murders, only added [...]

Tags: arthur allen thomas, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Len Demler, New Zealand, Norma Demler, Rochelle Crewe, William Thomas Zeigler

A new book by Chris Birt is out to shed more light on the Crewe Murders. From the web: “Researcher Chris Birt says he has finally cleared up one mystery – the timing of when detectives planted the cartridge case that pointed to Thomas, who spent 10 years in prison before being released, pardoned and [...]

Tags: arthur allen thomas, Chris Birt, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Len Demler, New Zealand, Rochelle Crewe

The lid has been lifted on the extent of police malpractice in New Zealand’s most controversial homicide inquiry. In a new book, released today Friday 15 June long-time Crewe murders researcher and writer Chris Birt chronicles a significant list of what he determines are acts of malpractice and ropes more of the original homicide squad [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Book Reviews, Chris Birt, Crime Scene, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Miscarriage of Justice, New Zealand, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rochelle Crewe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

In the magazine “North & South,” Chris Birt makes a  strong case for an in-depth review of Len and Norma Thomas Demler’s involvement in the case. Note that Norma is not related to Arthur Allan Thomas! Strong ties have existed between the Demler and Thomas family for quite some time. The siblings in the family married [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Book Reviews, Capital Punishment, Chris Birt, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Len Demler, Miscarriage of Justice, New Zealand, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rochelle Crewe, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions