Post by Helen Dagner on Apr 5, 2011 0:38:40 GMT -5
This is an excerp from:
Police, families never stop looking for the next hot tip
A special report by
Oakland Press staff writer Korie Wilkins
. . . other cases in Oakland County remain unsolved - with victims waiting for justice and family members and investigators hoping for tips that will blow the cases wide open.
What is a cold case?
Lt. Darryl Hill of the Michigan State Police said a cold case is basically any unsolved crime. But the ones that get the headlines are the violent ones: kidnapping, murder and sexual assault.
"We always maintain an interest in those types of cases," Hill said. "We never close an unsolved homicide."
"Cold cases are worked and worked until they are solved."
How to solve a cold case
First, detectives do a full review of the case file. They read reports, interviews and statements, reviewing photographs, lab reports and evidence.
"They are looking to see if there is anything there," Hill said.
Next, detectives run evidence and forensic data - such as fingerprints, ballistic reports and DNA - through national databases, hoping for a match.
If the case remains cold, detectives go out and re-interview witnesses, suspects, neighbors, associates of the victim and family members. They are looking for that tidbit of information that could open up the case.
"We are constantly reviewing old cases, looking for an inroad," said Detective Lt. James A'Hearn of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
The leads from the interviews are then followed up by detectives, who try to piece together the new information in the context of the case. The new evidence might mean other information needs to be reviewed by the crime lab.
With luck, detectives catch a break - and a criminal. But if they don't, sometimes law enforcement seeks the help of the media to drum up tips.
Tips and tipsters: The media's role
Investigators say media attention can help drum up tips in a long-forgotten case. But not every tip pans out. That's why investigators have to follow up on every lead, because they never know which tip is going to be the one that could make a difference and win a conviction.
Unsolvable crimes?
Are some cold cases simply unsolvable? Most investigators say no, although some cases are harder to crack than others.
Prosecuting a cold case
So what happens when charges are brought in a cold case? Trying to persuade a jury to convict someone in a decades-old case is a special skill, officials say, and often prosecutors have to contend with witnesses who have died or cannot be found, decaying or missing evidence and the perception that if the case was so strong, why did it take so long to file charges?
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Deborah Carley said prosecuting cold cases can be difficult, but getting a conviction for the victim's family is worth the effort.
Hoffa and the Oakland County Child Killer
Are some cases too highprofile to ever be solved? Has every lead already been tracked down? Investigators say every case can be cracked, and recent cases in the national media seem to back that up.
In March 2005, a 30-year reign of terror in Kansas ended after Dennis Rader was arrested for being the BTK serial killer. Rader, who later pleaded guilty to the crimes and is serving a life sentence, was ultimately identifi ed as the BTK through DNA evidence. His daughter, Kerri Rader, lived in Oakland County at the time of his arrest and is believed to have given a DNA sample that helped implicate her father.
Seeing a 30-year-old case solved gives hope not only to victims and family members, but also to investigators. It can be done, they say, and no case is ever a lost cause.
And a flurry of media stories earlier this year helped reinvigorate the county's other big unsolved case, the Oakland County Child Killer.
The killings, which started in Oakland County in 1976, horrified parents, who tried to keep their children indoors.
The victims were 12-yearold Mark Stebbins, abducted while walking near his Ferndale home Feb. 15, 1976; 12-year-old Jill Robinson, taken in Royal Oak on Dec. 22, 1976; 10-year-old Kristine Mihelich, snatched near her Berkley home Jan. 2, 1977; and 11-year-old Timothy King, kidnapped from a grocery store parking lot near his home in Birmingham on March 16, 1977.
The killer was dubbed "the baby sitter" because he kept his victims alive for days, feeding and bathing them before slaying them and leaving their bodies for others to find. Two of the children were raped.
Through the years, a series of strong leads has developed, but so far, none has resulted in an arrest.
Police, families never stop looking for the next hot tip
A special report by
Oakland Press staff writer Korie Wilkins
. . . other cases in Oakland County remain unsolved - with victims waiting for justice and family members and investigators hoping for tips that will blow the cases wide open.
What is a cold case?
Lt. Darryl Hill of the Michigan State Police said a cold case is basically any unsolved crime. But the ones that get the headlines are the violent ones: kidnapping, murder and sexual assault.
"We always maintain an interest in those types of cases," Hill said. "We never close an unsolved homicide."
"Cold cases are worked and worked until they are solved."
How to solve a cold case
First, detectives do a full review of the case file. They read reports, interviews and statements, reviewing photographs, lab reports and evidence.
"They are looking to see if there is anything there," Hill said.
Next, detectives run evidence and forensic data - such as fingerprints, ballistic reports and DNA - through national databases, hoping for a match.
If the case remains cold, detectives go out and re-interview witnesses, suspects, neighbors, associates of the victim and family members. They are looking for that tidbit of information that could open up the case.
"We are constantly reviewing old cases, looking for an inroad," said Detective Lt. James A'Hearn of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
The leads from the interviews are then followed up by detectives, who try to piece together the new information in the context of the case. The new evidence might mean other information needs to be reviewed by the crime lab.
With luck, detectives catch a break - and a criminal. But if they don't, sometimes law enforcement seeks the help of the media to drum up tips.
Tips and tipsters: The media's role
Investigators say media attention can help drum up tips in a long-forgotten case. But not every tip pans out. That's why investigators have to follow up on every lead, because they never know which tip is going to be the one that could make a difference and win a conviction.
Unsolvable crimes?
Are some cold cases simply unsolvable? Most investigators say no, although some cases are harder to crack than others.
Prosecuting a cold case
So what happens when charges are brought in a cold case? Trying to persuade a jury to convict someone in a decades-old case is a special skill, officials say, and often prosecutors have to contend with witnesses who have died or cannot be found, decaying or missing evidence and the perception that if the case was so strong, why did it take so long to file charges?
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Deborah Carley said prosecuting cold cases can be difficult, but getting a conviction for the victim's family is worth the effort.
Hoffa and the Oakland County Child Killer
Are some cases too highprofile to ever be solved? Has every lead already been tracked down? Investigators say every case can be cracked, and recent cases in the national media seem to back that up.
In March 2005, a 30-year reign of terror in Kansas ended after Dennis Rader was arrested for being the BTK serial killer. Rader, who later pleaded guilty to the crimes and is serving a life sentence, was ultimately identifi ed as the BTK through DNA evidence. His daughter, Kerri Rader, lived in Oakland County at the time of his arrest and is believed to have given a DNA sample that helped implicate her father.
Seeing a 30-year-old case solved gives hope not only to victims and family members, but also to investigators. It can be done, they say, and no case is ever a lost cause.
And a flurry of media stories earlier this year helped reinvigorate the county's other big unsolved case, the Oakland County Child Killer.
The killings, which started in Oakland County in 1976, horrified parents, who tried to keep their children indoors.
The victims were 12-yearold Mark Stebbins, abducted while walking near his Ferndale home Feb. 15, 1976; 12-year-old Jill Robinson, taken in Royal Oak on Dec. 22, 1976; 10-year-old Kristine Mihelich, snatched near her Berkley home Jan. 2, 1977; and 11-year-old Timothy King, kidnapped from a grocery store parking lot near his home in Birmingham on March 16, 1977.
The killer was dubbed "the baby sitter" because he kept his victims alive for days, feeding and bathing them before slaying them and leaving their bodies for others to find. Two of the children were raped.
Through the years, a series of strong leads has developed, but so far, none has resulted in an arrest.