The Arizona Daily Star published an appeal for help in the 1996 shooting of Juan Antonio Espinosa. “The 19-year-old construction worker and his friend went cruising on June 23, 1996. Around 10 p.m., the friend pulled his 1986 Cadillac into the parking lot of a Checker Auto Parts store on South Sixth Avenue to make a U-turn […]
Archives for 2010
Vidocq presents… Rita Handrich!
Rita Handrich is trained as a psychologist and has been a trial consultant with Keene Trial Consulting since 2000. Starting in 2008, she became Editor of the The Jury Expert (a free on-line trial skills publication of the American Society of Trial Consultants). Rita tweets at her firm account @keenetrial (sometimes) and @thejuryexpert (always). Get […]
No grants for Tacoma, Pierce County Cold Cases
The News Tribune brings us the sad news that the Tacoma Police and Pierce County Sheriff’s departments in Washington will not get the federal funding that would enable them to set up full-time “cold case” squads. The National Institute of Justice recently announced the 2010 grants that will allow law enforcement agencies to devote detectives exclusively […]
Zeigler, Part XV
Zeigler, Part XV: “Just testify that you were Zeigler’s homosexual lover and we’ll help you out!” A Florida, Orange County woman in her 80’s, reads an affidavit that she signed alleging that the state tried to get her son to testify that he was William Thomas Zeigler’s homosexual lover. As you know, the state went through great […]
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing!
Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing! The Orlando Sentinel reports that an Orange Circuit Judge has granted long-time death row inmate Tommy Zeigler an evidentiary hearing more than a year after the man convicted of killing his in-laws, his wife, and another man on Christmas Eve 1975 filed a Petition_and_Proposed_Order[1] in his case. The order granting […]
Dennis Anderson found dead
Dennis Anderson, a convicted killer that federal authorities believed was in Escambia County, was found hanged in a Pensacola motel room last Friday, according to The Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office. He was wanted for obstruction of an investigation by tampering with evidence of a human corpse and was a suspect in a woman’s murder in […]
“It’s not about the conviction or the sentence.”
Sundeep Bhatia’s observation is one I agree with: “But the request to test the DNA evidence is not really about the conviction or sentence. It’s about the evidence and the possibility that it may shed some light on who the real killer is. Skinner hopes it is exculpatory. But it may be inculpatory. Skinner doesn’t know. And that’s […]
Indictment in 1974 Anita Andrews murder
Roy Allen Melanson has been indicted for the 1974 murder of Anita Elizabeth Fagiani Andrews: during a two-day hearing earlier this month, the grand jury found there was enough evidence to hold Melanson in connection with the crime. UPDATE: Melanson was found guilty of first degree murder. The hearing, which was held in secret, without […]
My interview with Natasha Phillips
The tables were turned today, and Natasha sat down with me for some serious questions. See here, or scroll down! 1: Where did your passion for unsolved/ wrongfully solved crimes stem from? The curiosity started in law school where we focused a lot on police interrogations. During classes my mind would wonder around the question […]
BabyBarista “Law and DisOrder”
BabyBarista “Law and DisOrder” a.k.a. BabyBarista and the Art of War is one of the books I grab when the spirits need to be lifted by being transported to a different time. The book is about a pupil barrister who will have to work hard to outshine his fellow pupil barristers in the race for tenancy in chambers. […]
Latest on the Blakelock Murder
Following in his father’s footsteps, Lee Blakelock is now also a police officer, serving with Durham Constabulary, UK. He was eight years old when his father was killed. Pc Blakelock and his colleague Pc Richard Coombes were attacked during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in 1985. Coombes was seriously injured but survived. They were trying […]
Vidocq presents… Scott Dickson
Scott Dickson is a crime analyst in central Texas and a former police detective. He publishes The Crime Analyst’s Blog and one day hopes to escape the normal workday world by becoming a hack writer. Scott tweets under the account name @scott_dickson. For DCC, he answered the following questions: 1: What is your most favourite part […]
Night Stalker’s DNA confirmed
The Night Stalker a.k.a. Richard Ramirez terrorized California in the early 80s with a string of rape-murders. His DNA has now finally been retested allowing San Francisco Police to close the case of the 1984 murder of a 9-year-old girl in the Tenderloin. Though the retesting of the serial killer’s DNA was largely a formality — meant simply […]
NYT Editorial on Skinner and DNA
In my post “DNA: a civil right” of March 26, 2010, I described why I firmly believe that (post-conviction) access to DNA testing for the condemned (in this case Henry Skinner) should not hinge on how formalistic the question to the courts is phrased. It should be implied. Today, the New York Times published an editorial that […]
Arrest in 1979 murder of Kathy Jo Baker
Richard L. Boswell Jr., a convicted sex offender, has been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in the 1979 murder of Kathy Jo Baker (20). That case was recently reopened by the Indiana State Police. He made his initial appearance this morning in Vigo Superior Court 6 to face the allegation that he abducted […]
Stephen Saloom: Texas science panel chairman John Bradley is biased
Stephen Saloom, the policy director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said prosecutor John Bradley shows “a critically important lack of objectivity” in his approach to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Bradley has publicly called Willingham a “guilty monster.” Bradley is the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is investigating whether fire […]
Vidocq presents Tim Kevan
Tim Kevan is the author of Law and Disorder (Bloomsbury) which is available at www.amazon.co.uk. The sequel Law and Peace will be published next May. The books are based on the BabyBarista Blog which he writes in association with The Guardian. He is also the co-author of Why Lawyers Should Surf (with Dr Michelle Tempest). […]
Willingham court of inquiry postponed until Oct 14, 2010
The district attorney of Navarro County sought the recusal of state District Judge Charlie Baird in a high-profile court of inquiry that was set to start today to determine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for the deaths of his three daughters. The motion raised the possibility that the two-day hearing […]
Vidocq presents… Simon Steggles!
Simon Steggles is a UK data computer forensic specialist. His company, Disklabs, is specialized in hard disks and associated services. From the initial data recovery service, computer forensics were added. After computer forensics came mobile phone forensics, satellite navigation forensics, data destruction, and forensic data recovery, (specifically for law enforcement agencies). Simon tweets under the account name @Disklabs. For DCC, he […]
Arrests in 1985 Blakelock case
Pc Keith Blakelock (40), married with three children, was murdered by a machete-wielding gang during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, north London, in October 1985. Detectives believe that now the net may finally be closing in on the killers and revealed that ten people – ages 42-52 – have been questioned in recent months. […]