In my post “Missing in small towns” I wrote about women who disappeared and were later found murdered. The cases were from North Carolina and Louisiana. I am more than pleased to be able to update you now on the North Carolina cases: Investigators in North Carolina have reason to believe that Antwan Maurice Pittman […]
DNA
Colorado’s Cold Cases go online!
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Cold Case Unit, in partnership with Colorado.gov, announced the launch of an online Cold Case Database that citizens may access via the official state Web site at www.colorado.gov/coldcase. This is the first time the public will have online access to this data, which was previously managed in paper and computer […]
Zeigler, Part XIII the crime scene
Zeigler, Part XIII WARNING: this post contains graphic crime scene photography. They are not included to sensationalize the case but because they tell a story. View at your own risk. ________________________________________________________________ Zeigler’s first trial attorney Ralph “Terry” Hadley III had suggested that the motive for these murders was not robbery or insurance money as the […]
The 1985 murder of Vincent Paul Caciola
Vincent Paul Caciola (known as “Vince”) was reported missing on August 14, 1985 by his wife, Kimberly Rene Caciola (now Ms. Kimberly Grubbs). She said she left him at home late in the evening to get some items from her office on Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. When she came back around midnight, […]
Daniel Dougherty and Forensic Arson Detection
Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of deliberately igniting fires in his home that killed his two sons, Danny(4) and Johnny(3) in 1985. Police arrested Dougherty 14 years later, when his estranged wife came forward and claimed he confessed. A jury found him guilty on capital murder charges in 2000. He is awaiting his execution. His case […]
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 […]
Why deny DNA testing?
“I can think of no good argument why anyone would be denied DNA testing” Prosecutors have opposed testing, and judges have refused it, but Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Attorney General Richard Cordray wrote today to prosecutors in seven criminal cases urging them to allow DNA testing that could confirm guilt or prove innocence. The […]
Michael Green freed by DNA after 27 years!
Michael Green was convicted of rape in 1983 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. But last Wednesday, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas announced that new DNA testing proved that Green was not involved in the assault. Green said he can’t help but be angry about the time that he lost. The process Green […]
Allen Porter free after 19 years
He spent half of his life in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit. But last Friday, at the age of 39, Allen Porter is finally a free man. Porter’s case stemmed from a robbery and sexual assault at an apartment in southwest Houston on June 18, 1990. Three masked robbers burst […]
The 2004 Willingham execution
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze — but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic […]