Guest Post: “There are monsters that walk among us” by Darren Bruce. Darren is a married father of three and has been a police officer for seventeen years. “I am a Detective Sergeant who has taken on various roles and am soon to undertake a change to run a Serious Sexual Offences Investigation Team. Over the years […]
Evidence
1983 cold case of Louise Bell re-opened
Police in Adelaide, South Australia, have announced that the 1983 case of Louise Bell has been re-opened. “The unthinkable had happened — a little girl was abducted from her bedroom in a quiet, friendly neighbourhood, never to be seen again.” Police have re-submitted evidence for DNA testing to see whether it can be linked to a […]
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 […]
Adam has been identified
“The five-year-old’s identity has remained a mystery after he was smuggled into Britain and murdered in a voodoo-style ritual killing. He was drugged with a ‘black-magic’ potion and sacrificed before being thrown into the Thames, where his torso washed up next to the Globe Theatre in September 2001. Detailed analysis of a substance in the boy’s […]
Penn State CSI Students on the Zeigler Case
Penn State CSI Students on the Zeigler Case: a review of Zeigler Project. During their final spring semester twenty five (25) undergraduate and five (5) graduate students from Penn State University (PSU) reviewed documents pertaining to the trial and conviction of William Thomas Zeigler. Mr. Zeigler was convicted in 1976 of murdering his wife Eunice Zeigler, […]
“Who Killed Betsy” by Derek Sherwood
“Who Killed Betsy” by Derek Sherwood is about the Betsy Aardsma case. Derek Sherwood has worked hard to collect all the available information and to add his thoughts about this case. He generously agreed to make an excerpt available for DCC’s readers from the chapter entitled “As Time Goes By” from his book. “In the years […]
Guest post: David V. Neily
Guest post: David V. Neily. A case overview by Sue Carney David Neily at his daughter’s wedding, July 2005 “Love has no boundaries of time or space. It survives forever without nourishment or encouragement to flow forth as the pure water from the blossom of the Earth’s Heart.” David Neily This poem was written by David […]
OPP defends decision in Karen Caughlin case
The Sarnia Observer reports that Commissioner Lewis stands by his decision in the 1974 unsolved murder of Karen Caughlin. “OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis is defending his decision not to hand over the investigation of the Karen Caughlin murder to another police agency for external review. Lewis, who was in Point Edward Sunday speaking at a […]
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 […]
Follow-up #V Karen Caughlin
We still need to find out in what condition Karen Caughlin’s clothes were found and whether the paint chips were on the back or the front of her bomber jacket. We did find that there was blood and a tire impression on Karen’s coat. We do not know as of yet whether the collected DNA […]
Sum it up! #16+17
A sober Sum it Up. Frank Bender, forensic artist/sculptor, is battling lung cancer. He spent a lifetime helping authorities solving crimes by contouring the faces of murder victims and the unidentified. Frank Bender primarily works in clay and then casts his pieces into plaster and paints them, but he has also aged fugitives using pastels. […]
A message from the Caughlin Family
The Caughlin family has been very cooperative and courageously opened up the lines of communication with me. I have alerted them to every post and and every comment and they have read everything. This message was sent to me and is for all who work on the case, for all DCC readers, and especially for […]
Laura Henderson-Ibach: Mac’s van
One of the issues in the Laura Henderson-Ibach case has been Mac’s van. Did a live or death struggle take place here or not? As you have been able to read in our post, the van doubled as a temporary home to Jim Kerwin. Please take a look at these pictures. They were taken before […]
Laura Henderson-Ibach: Who else was involved?
Laura Henderson-Ibach, Part 3. Who else was involved in this case? by guest blogger Tiah ________________ Ruble’s reputation was sullied by all his actions and lies and he chose to leave Kodiak. He has refused to speak to anyone regarding this case ever since. I strongly suspect that Ruble was somehow involved in Laura’s disappearance […]
Hal’s answers 1
I am starting a new category so it will be easier for you to keep track of Hal Brown’s answers to your questions. WARNING: This post includes a graphic image. ____________________________________ Tiah asked: “Is there much the eyes can tell us about cause of death, other than the obvious of petechiae?” Excellent question, Tiah! First, […]
Laura Henderson-Ibach, A life lost and many lives destroyed
Please welcome guest blogger Tiah who will be covering the cold case of Laura Henderson-Ibach. Unlike most guest bloggers on my site, Tiah is not involved in the legal world. Instead, she is an accountant, a far leap from the world of forensics and law! Tiah has assisted on appeal cases in the past; she was […]
Post-mortem ocular changes are not conclusive post-mortem interval evidence.
Please welcome my fifth collaborator and guest blogger, Hal G. Brown. Hal Brown is the Deputy Director of the Delaware Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and states Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Wilmington, DE. Brown is also the Delaware Case Manager for NamUs Unidentified/Missing Persons. Hal will be educating us about post-mortem and autopsies. He will be indicating what the […]
Follow-up #III Karen Caughlin
Just to have a better image of what type and colour of vehicle we are talking about in the Karen Caughlin case, I post a few pictures here. Please note that these are random web pictures. The only purpose is to show you the make and model car to jog memories. Example number 1: Example number […]
The role of Fingerprints in Cold Cases
The role of Fingerprints in Cold Cases is a guest blog post written by Richard Mark Case. He is a registered UK “Fingerprint Expert” and has gracefully agreed to a guest post for DCC. This blog post contains his own personal views and may not reflect those held by the National Policing Improvement Agency or The Fingerprint Society. You […]
Follow-up #II Karen Caughlin
B: Karen Caughlin Autopsy results and Previous Injuries From the OPP’s website we learn that “the autopsy revealed that Karen Caughlin’s injuries were consistent with having been struck with a vehicle, but may also have been assaulted. Due to the circumstances of the manner in which the body was found and the evidence collected this […]