Cold Cases

As you probably already know by now, cold cases are my passion.  I put my heart and soul into the cold cases I worked as a detective and continue to do so now that I am a consultant and author.  I believe victims and their families deserve as much closure as is possible and the only way that can happen is a lot of hard work.  Here is another excerpt from my first book:

It is time for Congress to pass legislation that would require all police agencies to enter their unsolved homicides into VICAP.  As it stands now, the use of VICAP by agencies is on a voluntary basis and from experience, not many agents enter their unsolved homicides into the system.  Many more cold cases could be solved if this crucial information were in one database for comparison purposes.  It would also be beneficial to regulate the manner in which records are maintained, evidence is maintained, and how crimes are labeled as often crucial records and property are destroyed.

 Cold case victims and their families are often “forgotten” victims and most resources are allocated to solving “fresh” crimes.  But solving cold cases should be a priority as well because it brings not only some “closure” to the families but also to the communities.  Detectives who work cold cases employ “outside-of-the-box” techniques and network with various experts in a wide range of fields.  These detectives are better equipped to solve current homicides due to the experience gained from working these tough and complex older cases.

I worked on many cold cases while I was a detective.  One of the high profile cases that I worked on was the Walker family homicides.  This is a very tragic case in which a family of four was murdered back in 1959.  I worked on the case for several years and developed two infamous suspects, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the two men immoratlized in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.  There have been several movies produced about the book including Infamous,  Capote, and In Cold Blood, the film.

In 2012, I went out to Kansas and exhumed Hickock and Smith.  Unfortunatlely our DNA samples were contaminated which left all involved a little frustrated.  However, there was other physical and circumstantial evidence linking the two men to the crime.

One of my favorite cases that I worked on is the Art Heist of 1969.  It was my only cold case that does not involve murder and therefore was much more exhilirating to investigate.  However, it is still a tragic case.  Ben Stahl spent years working on his Stations of the Cross paintings and he was devastated when they were stolen.  Also, thousands of people flocked to his Museum of the Cross and were inspired by the majestic pieces.  I often wonder how many more people would have been inspired by the works had they not been stolen.  If anyone has information on the whereabouts of these paintings, please contact me.