I am very glad to report that police are waiting for DNA test results of Betsy’s red dress that she wore the afternoon she was killed. Betsy was stabbed in her heart and nobody heard her scream. She died on November 28, 1969. Betsy was a lively young woman, a reader, a great cook, and […]
Remembering Dana Bailey
Update: Dana’s sister Tracy told me that the young woman who appears in many newspaper photographs is actually not Dana but Dana’s roommate. Tracy kindly gave me a photograph of her beautiful sister. We hope that by publishing this photograph and this post the discussions in Dana’s case will pick up again. On March 5, 1987, Dana Bailey […]
The Killer of Little Shepherds
The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr is not just for readers interested in serial killers but foremost for those who love to read about forensic sciences. It is a book about the evolution of society, how good trusting people changed into cautious people filled with distrust for strangers. This is a book that […]
Zeigler, Part XVI
Zeigler, Part XVI: On misplaced pride, loyalty, and sacrifice On Nov 4, 2010, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley (a.k.a. the Memphis Three) will get their cases reviewed in a lower court hearing to see whether they should be granted a new trial. This means that they will […]
Riley Fox’s murderer gets life
Riley Fox’ murderer Scott Eby’s plea bargain was accepted yesterday by Will County (IL) Judge Richard Schoenstedt. Before his sentence, Eby rose and addressed the courtroom briefly. He apologized to Riley‘s parents saying that he wished he could trade his life to bring her back. In June of 2004, the body of Riley Fox(3) was pulled from a […]
Who killed Juan Antonio Espinosa?
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 […]
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 […]