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. […]