The 1966 cold case of Valerie Percy: on September 18, 1966, Valerie Percy (21) was murdered in her parental home in Kenilworth, Illinois, by an unknown intruder. Her case remains cold. Valerie was the daughter of former senator Charles Percy and Jeanne Valerie Dickerson. Jeanne passed away in 1947. Percy remarried Loraine Diane Guyer in […]
Illinois
Joseph Halpern Part 3 by Silvia Pettem
Joseph’s nephew had started his search for his uncle, Joseph Halpern, missing since 1933, by contacting the sheriffs’ offices in the four Colorado counties that border Rocky Mountain National Park. The nephew asked about unidentified remains that might be identifiable with DNA comparisons. In 2009, when the NamUs System was inaugurated, the nephew, as a […]
Joseph Halpern Part 2 by Silvia Pettem
For six days in August 1933, park authorities searched drainages and followed all possible trails for the missing 22-year-old hiker, Joseph Halpern. Authorities also checked the registers on Taylor and nearby peaks, but none showed Joseph’s signature––a customary procedure for climbers, once they reach a summit. Perhaps trying to be encouraging, a writer for the […]
Joseph Halpern Part 1 by Silvia Pettem
In the summer of 1933, twenty-two-year-old Cook County, Illinois, resident Joseph Halpern was vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park with his parents and Samuel Garrick, a college friend. The motorists had driven Joseph’s Ford sedan and had stopped in the Black Hills and at Yellowstone National Park on their way west. Even though the country […]
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 […]
National Police Week 2011: Tribute to Tatman
Champaign, Illinois: On November 25, 1967, police found patrol officer Tatman lying on his back in front of his own squad car, the motor still running, it’s revolving lights still on, and the front door at the driver’s side open. His flashlight was lying on his left side. His hat was on the ground near the […]
Illinois abolishes capital punishment
He finally did it. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn abolished capital punishment. Quinn also commuted the sentences of all 15 inmates remaining on Illinois’ death row. They will now serve life in prison. From the Washington Post: “State lawmakers voted in January to abandon capital punishment, and Quinn spent two months reflecting on the issue, speaking […]
Update Betty Gene Hull
Investigators will check if any materials found at the Betty Gene Hull crime scene can be tested with modern technology for touch DNA. On Christmas Eve, Dec 24th, 1991, Mrs. Betty Gene Hull was found dead. She was 68 years old. When police arrived, it was immediately clear that whoever is responsible for her death was in […]
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 […]
False Confessions
Lisa Black and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune have written an excellent piece about false confessions. False confessions are not so uncommon as you would think. Why would a parent confess to raping their own three-year old or murdering their own grandmother? If you really are not guilty, nothing in the world could make you […]