RTI International webinar on backlogs in crime labs and their impact on the justice system This morning I attended this webinar and learned more about the backlogs in crime labs, what causes them, whether all labs have a case acceptance policy, the costs involved and much more. The live discussion took place in Washington DC [...]

The post RTI International Webinar on backlogs in crime labs appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

ReInvent Law London 2013 … I had never heard of this series of crowd-sourcing conferences until Brian Inkster told me about it. And he dropped the hint that I might want to go. I read up online what the conference was about. “we believe lawyers can change the world but to change the world we [...]

The post ReInvent Law London 2013 appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask: by request, I post all three parts that I wrote as guest posts for other bloggers here for readability. ___________________________________ I like to read about old unsolved cases. We usually refer to them as historical mysteries. One of them is the story of the unknown prisoner or the man [...]

The post Beyond the Man in the Iron Mask appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

18 years for Jasper S, that is what the judge handed down for the rape-murder of Marianne Vaatstra. The prosecution had asked for 20 years. The defense did not deny the rape but argued that the murder was not intentional hence a reduced sentence was in order. The court did not accept that defense strategy [...]

The post 18 years for Jasper S appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

R.I.P. Elizabeth Miles … my heart is breaking. A lovely old friend has passed away. Elizabeth Miles, founding director and chairman of Iken, passed away last weekend. My friend, Brain Inkster, just told me. He wrote a beautiful post about Elizabeth. I quote: “Elizabeth was one of my very early connections on Twitter – way [...]

The post R.I.P. Elizabeth Miles appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

Update Robert Boulin: murder or suicide. In 2011, I posted that the death of Robert Boulin remains a mystery. Yes, he was in troubled waters. However, the manner in which he died and the way he was found, do not match suicide. While checking the papers and the Internet, I found an article from February of [...]

The post Update Robert Boulin appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

Guilty verdict re John Sohus for Gerhartsreiter. His sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2013. He faces 25 years to life in prison for the murder conviction, plus two additional years because the jury also found that he personally used a blunt object and a sharp instrument as weapons. It was not a death penalty [...]

The post Guilty verdict re John Sohus for Gerhartsreiter appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013 Today we spoke about wrongful convictions with Nancy Petro. A short introduction to wrongful convictions started this crimechat. How do we find out about Wrongful Convictions in general? A: We discover that the victim is alive & well. Examples: India 2003, the Reena Devi case. Reena disappeared, her mother ID-ed her [...]

The post Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013 appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

Death on Hold: Zeigler In the documentary “Death on Hold” you can see the trial and appeals in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. It explains why for the past 37 years, we have been trying to show you that he never had a fair trial. Judge for yourself whether there is room for doubt.

The post Death on Hold: Zeigler appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.

New developments in the 1966 case of Danny Goldman involve a connection to a known criminal and a link to Danny’s girlfriend. From CBS Miami: “Joe Cacciatore, Chicken Cacciatore, as he was known, was an accomplished thief and burglar closely aligned with mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr. A serious player, Chicken was known to be operating [...]

The post New developments in the 1966 case of Danny Goldman appeared first on Defrosting Cold Cases.