On Friday, March 6, 2009, Officer Mike Silcock from the Greater Manchester Police, was killed. Mike was off duty when he was killed on Didsbury Road, Heaton Mersey, around 11:30pm. He was taken to Stepping Hill hospital with a serious head injuries. He died shortly later. A yellow BMW Three Series M3 Coupe, registration number […]
Archives for 2010
Catching Colette Aram’s killer
How police caught Hutchinson for the murder of Colette Aram Colette Aram (Feb 3, 1967 – Oct 30, 1983) featured on the new program “BBC Crimewatch.” The program showed forensic evidence including a taunting letter Hutchinson wrote to police in which he bragged about the crime. In 1983, police managed to get fingerprints from the letter but no […]
Parole for the “Onion Field Killer” or not?
Parole for the man who killed Ian James Campbell and indirectly Karl Hettinger? He is known as the “Onion Field Killer.” On March 9, 1963, Gregory Powell and his accomplice, Jimmy Lee Smith, drove around Los Angeles looking for a liquor store to rob. Officers Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger were on patrol in Hollywood. […]
Arson Case Not on Agenda
Arson Case Not on Agenda as Texas Panel Reconvenes: the Innocence Project Online reports that after a long hiatus and months of national controversy, the Texas Forensic Science Commission will meet on Friday January 29, but the controversial case of Cameron Todd Willingham is not on the agenda. New commission chair John Bradley said he […]
Crime Scene Preparations
Crime Scene Preparations: Forensic Magazine has a good article describing the proper way to handle a crime scene. The best way for a successful chain of evidence starts by doing your homework. In this case, by stocking up! “Also remember that working a crime scene should be a team effort for you and your department. One of […]
FBI reviews cases where flawed evidence was used
FBI reviews cases where flawed evidence was used but it still hasn’t completed the review. Five years after the decision to drop the disputed comparative bullet lead analysis, the FBI has not completed the review of almost 2500 cases. In all those cases police used the disputed comparative bullet lead analysis. “So far, the agency has found 187 […]
Who really killed Mrs. Bernice Martin?
On March 8, 1987, fire fighters were called to the Mayfair Gardens Elderly Housing Complex, Manchester, Connecticut. They found Mrs. Bernice Martin, 88 years old, barely breathing, and badly beaten. She died later that evening in the hospital. To many the case is closed. Convicted for her murder is her granddaughter’s former husband, Richard A. […]
DNA does not solve 1984 murder of Vickie Long
DNA does not solve the 1984 murder of Vickie Long. Todd Campbell, who was arrested for her murder was acquitted. “During the investigation, DNA from the victim’s clothing was entered into CODIS – the Combined DNA Index System, which stores DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crimes and missing people. In October 2009, Campbell had to provide […]
Suspect in 1974 Anita Andrews case
Napa Police identified a suspect in the 1974 cold case of Anita Elizabeth Fagiani Andrews. “A man serving a life-term in a Colorado prison for killing a female hiker is a suspect in the unsolved slaying of a Napa bar employee in 1974, Napa police said. DNA links 70-year-old Roy A. Melanson, a drifter, to […]
In search of Jane, Grant and Arnna
Jane Nartare (9), Arnna Kathleen (7), and Grant Ellis (4), known as the Beaumont Children, disappeared from Glenelg Beach, near Adelaide, South Australia, on January 26, 1966. Their disappearance is to this day Australia’s best known cold case. The Beaumonts lived on 109 Harding Street, Somerton Park, which is a suburb of Adelaide. Five minutes […]