Key evidence is lost in the case of Hank Skinner so despite the fact that the state of Texas now backs further DNA testing, we still will not get all the answers we need. There are pictures of the jackets (see here) but the big blood- and sweat-stained tan jacket with snap buttons down the front found near […]
DNA Database
The Beaumont Children: 1966 – 2012
Forty-six years ago, Jim and Nancy Beaumont were confronted with a nightmare that has been ongoing ever since. Their beloved children, all three of their children, vanished without a trace. It broke their hearts, their hopes, and their marriage. Over the years, South Adelaide Police did investigate more leads. They checked into child serial rapist […]
Reversal Juan Rivera Conviction
From the New York Times: “In an opinion that harshly criticizes the tactics of the police and prosecutors, an Illinois appellate court on Friday night reversed the conviction of Juan Rivera, who has spent 19 years in jail for the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old baby sitter in a suburb of Chicago. There […]
Book alert: Cold Case Research
Book alert: Cold Case Research. In 2012 “Cold Case Research” will come out. The author is Silvia Pettem and this is how she describes her book: “Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases,” to be published by CRC Press in 2012. Topics include the latest search engine tools such as TLO, the […]
Bernard Jackson sentenced today
Bernard Jackson was sentenced today. He received 18 consecutive life sentences for rapes committed in the Waldo and Armour Hills neighborhoods almost 30 years ago. No trial date has yet been set for Jackson’s other unresolved criminal cases. Prosecutors accused him of two more recent sexual assaults in the Waldo area. The Case Jackson is […]
DNA techniques
Please welcome back guest blogger Sue Carney. Sue is my DNA expert. In my previous posts and in Cold Case Live Chats, a few other DNA techniques have been mentioned. It seems appropriate to provide a little detail on these techniques: How they work and when best to use them. Mitochondrial DNA Cells contain a […]
DNA in four hours
Forensic scientists have developed a test that can match a suspect’s DNA to crime scene samples in just four hours. The new technique could greatly speed up forensic testing, making the process almost as easy as matching fingerprints. Police could check whether a suspect’s DNA matches profiles in a database before a decision is taken […]
Michael VonAllmen: Cleared after 30 years
Cleared after 30 years in Louisville, KY: After 11 years in prison before being paroled in 1994 for being convicted of rape and other charges in 1982, Michael VonAllmen’s record is now clear. On July 15, 2010, a judge finally ruled to dismiss all charges with prejudice, which means the charges can never be brought back. […]
Conviction in 1987 Nancy Eileen Converse murder
A man who strangled Nancy Eileen Converse to death 23 years ago was sentenced to two decades in prison, after Portland’s Cold Case Unit dug into the case and matched his DNA to the crime scene. James Samuel Owens (67) plead no contest to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Nancy Eileen Converse (42). She was […]
Finland: DNA v. Fingerprint Analysis
The crime laboratory of the National Bureau of Investigation in Finland is examining DNA samples about twice as often as it resorts to fingerprint analysis. Last year the NBI crime laboratory examined 6,000 DNA samples. In the same period of time, the laboratory analysed 3,000 fingerprints. Finland is actively sharing its database with neighbouring countries […]