Gerard Homer Soules (Aug 3, 1936 – June 4, 1992) was a famous trapeze artist with Ringling Bros. He performed in the center ring for five years. His last performance was for Queen Elizabeth. His signature move was a forward somersault off the trapeze catching the bar again with his heels. Soules never missed until […]
Barbara Mendez trial update
UPDATE April 30, 2019: Robin Mendez was found guilty. Marathon County Circuit Judge Jill Falstad determined that Mendez did have a motive to kill his wife, explaining that he feared the discovery of his sexual abuse of then minor Jodi (Lesert) Rolloff. Judge Falstad said that the “court finds the two inmates’ information credible.” The […]
Anita Mae Carter Lukander (Oct 21, 1965 – March 18, 1988)
On March 17, 1988 Anita Mae Carter Lukander (22) vanished from her Atlantic Beach home in Florida. Her remains were found ten days later. Her case remains unsolved. Missing When Anita did not report for work, the authorities went to her house. They found her door unlocked and the lights were on. A few days […]
Mary Emsley and Marion Gilchrist
After I finished reading Mrs. Sherlock Holmes, I picked up Caleb Carr’s The Italian Secretary. It is a Holmes & Watson story but told by Carr and he did it very well. All the familiar characters are in there and the story is worth a read. It set off my Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reading […]
Moira “Holly” Branagan murdered 40 years ago
Moira “Holly” Branagan (Dec 8, 1962 – March 28, 1979) was murdered 40 years ago today. In 2014, it looked like the 1979 case was breaking open. However, Det. Thomas Galloway, in charge of the investigation, did not release any information except for this: “I have developed a suspect, but we’re not ready to move […]
Daniel Dougherty: third trial
On March 27, 2019, the third trial started for Daniel Dougherty. In 2000, Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of the 1985 arson that killed his two sons, Danny (4) and Johnny (3). Police arrested Dougherty in 1999 after his estranged wife and mother of the two children claimed he had confessed. A jury found him guilty […]
The Ethics of Forensic Genealogy
Introduction Lately, we have seen numerous cases that were unsolved for decades, where the use of forensic genealogy provided authorities with answers. Checking people’s family trees based on characteristics from the DNA sample on file has given us a string of cases where a suspect has now been identified. The media started to pick up […]
Lapointe seeks $13.5M in state compensation
In 1992, Richard A. Lapointe was sentenced to life plus 60 years for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin who was found stabbed, raped, and strangled in her Manchester, Connecticut apartment that was set on fire. Lapointe has Dandy walker Syndrome, a congenital brain malformation that made him gullible and vulnerable to giving a false […]
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca is a book about Mary Grace Winterton Quackenbos Humiston (September 17, 1869 – July 16, 1948) and the Ruth Cruger case. Humiston Humiston was the first female Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York meaning she was the chief federal law enforcement officer for […]
DeKalb County GA John Doe 1999
Investigators have named him Dennis, a well-taken care off little boy whose remains were found on February 26, 1999 in DeKalb County, Georgia. But they don’t know his real name or his official cause of death. His case can be found in NamUs. We know this: the boy’s remains were found in a DeKalb County […]