Expands upon an examination of unsolved murders that appears in Chapters 3 and 4 of the Ninth and Tenth Editions.
In recent years, police in the U.S. have only been able to solve about 65% of all murders. That means roughly a third of all killers get away with murder each year, and still are on the loose, posing a threat to others.
FORGET WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN ON TV AND IN THE MOVIES: THE REALITIES OF CATCHING KILLERS
In a conversation about his new book, a veteran homicide detectives lays out some realities and shoots down some myths, as explained here.
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A SERIAL KILLER OF SEX WORKERS IS STILL ON THE LOOSE ON LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
Provides the latest details about a group of people – slain prostitutes – whose plight was formerly overlooked; see Box 2.2 on p. 55 in Ch. 2 of he Ninth Edition.Over the past decade, a number of sex workers were slain and their corpses were dumped in the dunes near Long Island’s well-known Jones Beach. Whoever killed them is still at large. Read about the ongoing investigation here.
As of 2020, this case remains unsolved. The police still have not identified all the bodies that have been recovered in the dunes. Read the latest developments here and view the website set up by the county police here.
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A LITTLE GIRL IS STRANGLED IN HER HOME. HER PARENTS WERE SUSPECTS UNTIL THEY WERE EXONERATED
Provides the latest revelation about an unsolved death described in the real-life example on p. 182 of Ch. 6; also see p. 44 in Ch. 2.A grand jury in Colorado was inclined to indict her parents for being responsible for her death, but the prosecutor chose not to press charges against them. If they were innocent, putting the grieving father and mother on trial would be adding terrible insult to injury. But there is no evidence of an intruder entering the home. So the case of the murder of the six year-old beauty queen on Christmas day in 1997 remains an unsolved mystery. View the video here, and an update about the grand jury’s willingness and the prosecutor’s reluctance to indict her parents for contributing to her death here.
JonBenét Ramsey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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A LITTLE BOY DISAPPEARS FROM A STREET CORNER IN MANHATTAN IN 1979 AND IS NEVER SEEN OR HEARD FROM AGAIN
Connects to the discussion of dramatic examples of children who went missing, spreading panic among parents across the country. This case could have appeared on p. 220 in Ch. 8.A mentally disturbed man has “confessed” to kidnapping the six year-old child, choking him, and disposing of the body in a garbage bag, but did he really do it? Read the latest developments here.
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THE FBI TAKES A SECOND LOOK AT MURDERS IN THE SOUTH COMMITTED DURING THE 1960’s
Illustrates the problem highlighted by the civil rights movement: that the authorities did not extend the Constitution’s promise of “equal protection under the law” to people of color, as stated on p. 40 of Ch. 2.In recent years, the FBI re-examined 112 unsolved killings of African Americans during the 1960’s in the South. Unfortunately, in all but 20 cases, the victims’ families have received letters expressing the FBI’s condolences but concluding that nothing more can be done. Read about some killings, including a suspected case of Klan terror, here.
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SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS CAPTURE IMAGES ON A BUSY MANHATTAN STREET OF A MAN BEING MURDERED
Illustrates the process of “victimology” as practiced by detectives, as described in Box 1.1 on p. 3 of Ch. 1.A newspaper reporter engages in what the police would call “victimology” – an effort to figure out who was a sworn enemy of a man who was shot in the head in broad daylight. Read about the journalist’s reconstruction of the victim’s life here.
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A LOOK AT UNSOLVED MURDERS IN WISCONSIN OVER RECENT YEARS
Examines clearance rates, as pictured in Figure 6.4 on p. 180 in Chapter 6.About 275 slayings committed between 2002 and 2012 remain open in Wisconsin. Most of the killers who remain at large murdered their victims in Milwaukee. Read the article about the cold cases and view the clearance rate statistics here.
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TWO CASES IN WHICH WOMEN MAY HAVE BEEN KILLED BY POLICE MEN ARE BEING INVESTIGATED
What was originally declared to be a suicide may actually have been a murder, according to evidence unearthed by a TV documentary team and newspaper reporters. The victim was a member of a law enforcement agency and the possible suspect was her abusive and intoxicated boyfriend, a deputy sheriff. The investigation of the death of “one of their own” allegedly by “one of their own” presented such a dilemma – to the detectives and then the special prosecutor appointed by the governor – that the cause of death remains unclear, according to this lengthy article and this hour long documentary.
In a parallel but unrelated case where a homicide may have been the culmination of domestic violence and a bitter break-up, she was a police officer’s wife and he was a rising star in the department. Read about their affair, and her beating and death by strangulation, and then about the reopened investigation 22 years later, when improved forensic techniques were applied. And yet her murder remains unsolved, as explained here.
