A recent article in the Daily News begins:

“Manhattan prosecutors are dusting off yellowing files and using new technology to screen thousands of unsolved murders for DNA evidence that might finally nab a killer.

“An unsolved case shouldn’t be a forgotten case,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said of his new forensic science cold-case unit. Cold cases have been solved with DNA, but Vance’s office is the first in the city, and perhaps the country, to begin systematically reviewing unsolved murders through the genetic prism.

“Led by two of the country’s foremost DNA experts, Manhattan Assistant District Attorneys Martha Bashford and Melissa Mourges, the squad has reopened 95 murder cases since May.”

I don’t know anything else beyond what is in the article, and it doesn’t look like this is a group you can approach to have a case looked at, they won’t say which cases they’re working on, but bottom line this is good news. More unsolved murders are going to get a second look and that’s a very good thing. I’ll see if I can find out more after the holidays.

In the meantime, I post this picture every year … happy holidays!

It’s not often that I get to post about new discoveries that may help solve old crimes. From a BBC article yesterday, “Scientists have developed a technique to estimate the age of a suspect from blood left at a crime scene.”

“The work by a team in the Netherlands has been published in the journal Current Biology.”

The complete article is here. Very exciting! Great work scientists from the Departments of Forensic Molecular Biology, Immunology, Clinical Genetics, Epidemiology, Pediatrics, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This is an old picture of an NYPD Property Clerk warehouse, where evidence was stored.

I recently gave advice to a family member about contacting a cold case unit, and I thought other people might benefit from this advice. I’m only copying in the section of my email that might be useful to others, and I’m removing any identifying details.

“There are unfortunately so many unsolved murders, all of which deserve to be solved, and you said yourself that what you suspected was difficult to prove. It could be that the detectives on the case were thinking the same thing. ‘We know who did it and can’t prove it.’ Did you ever speak to them about this?”

“I can totally understand your wish to have new people look into your son’s case. The problem now is with so many unsolved murders the police are forced to make choices and they usually only pick up cold cases when there is new evidence, either physical evidence or someone who is willing to talk who wasn’t willing before. IE, people who were married to a suspect but are divorced from them now, people who aren’t friends any longer, and so on.”

“I’m not saying any of this is right or fair, it’s all horrible. You might try writing the cold case squad again, coming at it from a different angle. Put yourself in their shoes, and then answer this question: what can I say to them that will make them want to take a look at this case over the thousands and thousands of others? Why this one? Then, if you really think it’s this [particular person], say something like, “It’s been 20 years. Maybe there’s a kid who was loyal or afraid of [this person] who isn’t now?” You might go to the library and research which detectives have been successful solving similar cases and write to them. The only other thing I can suggest is hire a private detective, but I would only do that if you really think there are leads they can follow, otherwise this would not be a good use of your money.”

You might also contact the Vidocq Society.

Vidocq Society Case Referrals
1704 Locust Street, Second Floor
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
intake@vidocq.org
http://www.vidocq.org/

“But bear in mind you will be faced with the same terrible challenge, what can I say to make them want to look at this case over all others?”

Getting help if a friend or family member was murdered: If you look up and to the left there’s a section titled: GETTING HELP – CONTACTING A COLD CASE SQUAD. Start by reading the link, “Before You Contact a Cold Case Squad READ THIS.” And then you can get contact information in the next link, “Cold Case Squads & other Organizations Contact Info.”

Someone recently asked me how many detectives are in the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad. There are now only nine. There were twenty-seven when I wrote my book and I was told that there were around fifty when the unit started (although there are 40 in the early group shot below, minus the commanding officers).

The NYPD’s Cold Case Squad was once the largest in the country (probably in the world, but I didn’t call around to confirm that). The next largest squad was in Los Angeles and they had seven detectives.

But the LAPD’s Cold Case Homicide Unit is now up to 13. Other substantial squads are in Miami and Boston, and they do not have more than 13. So as far as I know, the LAPD now has the largest cold case squad in the country.