Cold case
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Cold case refers to a crime or accident that has not been solved and is not the subject of current criminal investigation or civil litigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony or re-examined archives, as well as retained material evidence. New technical methods developed after the case can be used on the surviving evidence to re-analyse the causes, often with conclusive results.
Characteristics of a criminal cold case
Violent or major crime
Typically, cold cases are violent or other major felony crimes, such as murder or rape which unlike unsolved minor crimes are generally not subject to a statute of limitations. Sometimes disappearances can also be considered cold cases if the victim has been not seen or heard from for some time. Other cases are cold when the crime, usually through discovery of human remains, is discovered well after the fact. Some cases become instantly cold when a seeming closed (solved) case is re-opened due to the discovery of new evidence pointing the way from the original suspect(s).
Identifying a suspect
A case is considered unsolved until a suspect has been identified, charged, and tried for the crime. A case that goes to trial and does not result in a conviction can also be kept on the books pending new evidence. Many times, those investigating the case have a suspect in mind but have not been able to find evidence sufficient to charge the suspect with the crime -- especially since most suspects are not forthcoming with a confession.
Other times a viable suspect has been overlooked or simply ignored due to then-flimsy circumstantial evidence, the presence of a likelier suspect (who is later proven to be innocent), or a tendency of investigators to zero in on someone else to the exclusion of other possibilities -- known as "tunnel vision". On several other occasions a seeming closed or solved case is reopened when new evidence comes forward to clear the suspect already convicted.
- A notable example is the Peggy Hetrick Murder case in Colorado.
- Another example is the Carol Hutto murder case in Florida.
Even in other cases a suspect never even considered before or even unknown emerges mainly through forensic or DNA evidence. This is usually the case in brutally violent homicides where a suspect is either bludgeoned to death or in which rape or sexual assault is the underlying crime.
Recent improvements in forensics
With the advent and improving DNA testing and other forensics technology, many cold cases are being re-opened and prosecuted. Police departments are opening cold case units whose job is to re-examine cold case files.
- NOTE: DNA evidence helps in such cases but as in the case of fingerprints it is of no value unless there is evidence on file to compare it to.
Notable Points
Cold cases are given new looks through several factors: new forensic evidence (mentioned above), new circumstantial evidence, and a fresh look at old evidence.
Other factors include new witnesses coming forward with what they know, new suspects previously overlooked, or even alibi witnesses affirming or recanting their original stories.
Famous examples
A well-known cold case [1] is the case of Judge Joseph Crater, a judge who stepped into a cab in 1930, and subsequently became the "missingest man in New York". In April, 2005, police revealed that they had found some evidence in the 1950s which was related to the case: a handwritten note by Stella Ferrucci-Good, in an envelope reading "Do not open until my death", claimed to give the location of Crater's body.[2] Human remains were found at the location, but lacking technology such as Genetic Fingerprinting police were unable to confirm the identity of the remains, which were later reburied in a mass grave.
Another cold case is the unofficially unsolved murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor who was found murdered in his home in 1922. In spite of several suspects and even a deathbed confession it is still considered unsolved.
Recent well-known cold cases include the still-unsolved murders of rap artists Tupac Shakur in 1996 and the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. The Natalee Holloway case was recently declared a cold case by the Aruban authorities even though there are viable suspect(s) in mind -- none of whom are forthcoming with confessions.
Notable Solved Cold Cases
Cold Cases in Popular Culture
- The Canadian television series Cold Squad (1998-2005), the British television series Waking the Dead (2000-present) and the US television series Cold Case (2003-present) all follow groups of fictional homicide detectives who investigate cold cases. They are set in Vancouver, London and Philadelphia respectively.
- Cold Case Files (1999-Present) is a documentary-style television series recounting actual solved cold cases.
- New Tricks is a BBC series revolving around retired CID officers acting as consultants to serving officers and investigating unsolved cold cases.
- Waking the Dead is a BBC series about a cold case unit under the command of Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd, running from 2001 until the present.
See also
External links
- The Restless Sleep 2005 book on New York's Cold Case Squad
- Open Unsolved Independent investigations into high profile cold cases.
- The Restless Sleep blog A discussion group and information resource for cold cases
