Texas Rangers Use Internet To Breathe New Life Into Cold Case Homicides 73
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by
samzenpus
from the new-life dept.
from the new-life dept.
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Katherine Rosenberg reports that the Texas Department of Public Safety has unveiled a new web site dedicated to unsolved cold case homicides to make sure the victims are not forgotten and to try to catch a break in even the coldest of cases. DPS spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger says continual strides in technology make focusing on cold cases more important than ever because there are more opportunities to solve them with each emerging process or device. The web site was created because the more readily available information is the more people may be apt to pick up the phone and report what they know. 'It helps to refresh these cases in the public's mind and hopefully we'll shed new light on it. In some cases, we can also re-examine evidence if there's an opportunity or need there as well,' says Cesinger. One featured case from 1993 is Kathleen Suckley who was 29 when her throat was slashed and she was stabbed about 40 times inside her rented duplex, while her two sons, ages 4 and 1, were home. Officials said they interviewed numerous witnesses but never got enough information for an arrest. Capt. Tim Wilson maintains that in any homicide case there always is someone who knows something. At some point, he believes, the murderer will tell someone out of guilt or pride, or simply the pressure of holding it in. Cesinger points out that over time as relationships change, if prompted by something like the website or a news article, that confidant finally may come forward. 'I think we owe it to Kathleen to be this tenacious. It drives me nuts that somebody can do this and get away with it,' says Kathleen's mother-in-law Luann Suckley. 'I think the website is great ... maybe someone will finally speak up because I'm tired of sitting back and waiting.'"
How, exactly? (Score:3, Insightful)
Aside from the bad grammar of TFA, I found this little puzzle: "DPS spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger says continual strides in technology make focusing on cold cases more important than ever because there are more opportunities to solve them with each emerging process or device."
How do "continual strides in technology" make focusing on cold cases "more important?" I can see how it might make focusing on cold cases more convenient or more efficient or more productive. It doesn't make it more important. Old unsolved cases become less important over time because it becomes increasingly likely that the perpetrator has either already been imprisoned on a different charge, has died or has changed their life so that they are less of a danger to the public.
Re:Didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (Score:4, Insightful)
Rat (Score:4, Insightful)
"At some point, he believes, the murderer will tell someone out of guilt or pride, or simply the pressure of holding it in."
Dostoyevsky gently smiles from his grave.
Re:That's nice, but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a few family members that work in the Texas justice system. The number of people that have sat in jail for years to later be exonerated by DNA or new modern evidence methods are staggering. Put to death even when there was only the most circumstantial evidence that they were even involved (or other evidence that suggested they were not).
Though adding the cold case site is a good measure, over time people who commit crimes do think they have gotten away with them and may give up information they shouldn't have (to stay free).
Re:Texas today (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that the "hate crime" aspect is a huge red herring. It's useful for ascribing motive in court, but criminalizing bigotry is just a 1984 thoughtcrime thing. We shouldn't be trying to police what people fear and hate. We should be policing what brutal and harmful actions they do in response to that fear and hate. One doesn't need to classify assault and battery as a "hate crime" in order to do that. It's already illegal with suitable punishments in store.
As to the accusation of the police department dragging its feet? There's not enough information out there yet for me to decide if the police department is ignoring the case (unless the poster I'm replying to has more information). It's worth noting that there's probably a couple of people who know a lot about who this man is, there supposedly was a female companion and presumably a child associated with this man, but the group may be unknown to the other people at the park. At that point, you're going on eyewitness accounts and whatever evidence was left behind by the assailant and his group. That might or might not be enough to go on.