NCJ Number
220044
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 20,22,25
Date Published
August 2007
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article suggests options for reinvestigating a "cold" case (a case, usually a homicide, that has been unsolved for years and is then reopened for further investigative work), accompanied by a description of procedures used in a particular "cold" case of murder in Toledo, OH, in 1980 that was reinvestigated in 2003.
Abstract
When a "cold" case is reopened, it is usually because a new circumstance has arisen that provides a reason to reopen the case. The Toledo murder case was reopened because an initial suspect in 1980 was implicated in a sexual molestation case in 2003. When a case is reopened, one of the first steps is to go to the property room and re-examine all the evidence for fresh insight. Every witness who is still alive should also be contacted. As time passes and relationships between witnesses and suspects change, witnesses may be more willing to share information that was withheld in the initial investigation. Other options include an examination for DNA and fingerprint samples in retained evidence. In some cases, matches can be found in CODIS (for a DNA match) and AFIS (for a fingerprint match). This is possible because these databases are being continually updated as suspects from a "cold" case may have committed new crimes in which their identifying DNA and fingerprints were collected and added to these nationwide databases. The development of new directions in a "cold" case can also be developed by enlisting the aid of "cold" case experts, who may have particular expertise relevant to the evidence in a case, such as the analysis of bloodstain patterns and techniques for linking murder weapons to crime scenes. The Toledo "cold" case was solved through a combination of these "cold" case investigative methods.