Welcome to Sum it Up #14. He always handled cases for victims but one day, he became one. In this Dum it Up the story of a UK police man who one day became a rape victim. He now wonders whether what we do during investigations (even with the best intentions) might not be the best we actually can do.
“My experience has led me to seriously contemplate whether I or other officers investigating similar serious sexual assaults put undue pressure on victims. Do we push victims to go through the court process? Do we do it for the right reason – because we want to fight crime – but, in doing so, not listen to what the victims are telling us? The pressure my colleagues put on me was conscious – but I think there’s a risk that we do it subconsciously in other cases. That worries me deeply.”
The ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights, asked Turkey why it failed to investigate the suspected murders of three men in 1989 by gendarmerie intelligence unit JITEM. The existence of this unit has been denied by the Turkish military authorities. It is an interesting article worth reading.
Victoria Police (Australia) is going to relaunch a homicide cold case unit. The Herald Sun reports that “the force today said details of who would be in it, how large it would be and which unsolved cases would take priority were still being worked out. But the Herald Sun believes it will consist of a Det-Sgt and four detectives and its operations will be overseen by veteran homicide squad detective Ron Iddles. Det-Sen-Sgt Iddles will continue to be in charge of his current homicide crew as well as heading up the new cold case unit.” I wish the unit best of luck and hope to read about great results very soon!
Wiltshire Police (UK) is picking up a series of cold cases of five missing women that could be related to the murders of Sian O’Callaghan and Becky Godden-Edwards Murders, Swindon, UK. Will try to follow their endeavours.
While surfing the news, Jacques came across the story of Reyna Marroquin, from El Salvadore, who has been missing in New York for 30 years. After three decades, the family finally got answers. “The case cracked open in the fall of 1999 in Jericho, Long Island, when a house was sold. The new owners wanted some debris removed – especially a large drum they found in a crawl space underneath an addition. Over the years other families had noticed it as well. “It weighed a ton, and I said, ‘Why, who cares?'” said Arthur Ebbin. Arthur and Judith Ebbin – and three other families – lived in the house over the years. No one ever suspected that the barrel held a horrible secret. “We did roll it into the corner, forgot about it,” Arthur Ebbin said. “And it was out of sight, out of mind for 12 years.”
A secret was discovered only when curious movers opened the airtight drum about a year ago. Police were called immediately.
“I saw that there was a 55-gallon drum on the curb-line outside the house,” said Detective Robert Edwards. “I opened the drum up and I could see…what appeared to be a human hand with a ring on it,” he added. Inside was the mummified remains of a young woman with long black hair. An autopsy showed she was pregnant and had been bludgeoned to death. Detectives Dennis Ryan, a veteran, and Joan Fiertner, tackling her first big forensics case, found an abundance of leads left by an apparently careless killer. One important clue was an address bok, according to Fiertner. “Some of the pages you can actually visually see very faintly.” But it wasn’t possible to actually read them.”
DCC found itself in the news this week as well. I was pleased that Cornell University is using some of my materials. The post they refer to ties into the Skinner case and it is called “DNA, a civil right?” I also found DCC listed in the top 25 Forensics Blogs on the CJDS’ website. Very pleased to be listed, much appreciated!
Last but not least, I’d like to draw your attention to two blogs. Both are very recent but noteworthy. The first one is called “Surviving Murder” and is written by Brenda Martinez’ daughter. I mentioned her in my recap of #cclivechat March 25, 2011. Please follow Stephanie’s blog and help her find answers. Her mom, Brenda, was only 23 years old when she disappeared. She was later found snow-covered and frozen near Tobaggan Hill, Holloway Reservoir Regional Park, Richfield township, Michigan.