Cold Case - What Information Might You Release Publicly?

[ehbowen]

Reference: I'm working on the story idea I originally discussed here.

As I'm putting it together now, the last officer who worked the scene of the death of the young girl in 1984 has done his thirty-plus, moving up along the way to senior detective of his small town's police force before retiring. He had no 'breaks' to lead him to the new alias of the perpetrator who successfully went on the run after the underage girlfriend's death. Here's what he has:

• The full details on the victim, including the autopsy which showed her as three months pregnant...but all tissue samples which might have given a DNA match to the perpetrator were lost/destroyed before the detective assumed the responsibility for managing the investigation.
• Fingerprints lifted from the victim's dress (vinyl trim on sleeves) which probably (they do) belong to the perpetrator, four of which (right thumb and middle finger, left middle and ring finger) are classifiable and could be admitted into evidence, if there was anything to match them to (there isn't).
• The birth identity of a 'person of interest' who disappeared immediately following the killing and who presumably (has) adopted a new identity. This person cleaned his apartment and car carefully before disappearing, perhaps leaving a few fragments which he missed but nothing which would stand up as evidence. The person of interest's parents both died before this detective came to be in charge of the case and he was unable to obtain DNA samples from the parents. The person of interest's sister is still alive and willing to cooperate; he should have DNA samples from her.

About four years back this detective was ready to retire, but still wanted to make one last push to close out this case before hanging it up. Presuming that he talked to the press, what information could he (legally) release without jeopardizing the case, and what information would he most likely release (Florida law)?

Presuming that the detective is still alive in retirement when my characters look into the cold case, what additional information might he give them in the role of private investigators if he considers them trustworthy?

[Aidokea]

I don't know where you come up with all these wacky ideas.

How about something MUCH more realistic, like:

A 50 year old patrol officer/triathlete/professional model, lets his young bikini model wife custom-order a new BMW Track Pack car, scheduled for European Delivery in Munich Germany at the BMW factory "Welt", as a gift from him to her.

He's working the graveyard shift, and has a one month block of vacation approved, with his last shift ending at sunrise on the morning of their 5:00 p.m. flight to Paris- they built a one-month long trip around the delivery of her car, and since it's so difficult to have a car in large European cities, they're planning to do Paris and Rome before flying to Munich for her delivery.

Shorty before sunrise, three days before they are scheduled to leave for Paris, a nice Sergeant calls him and asks him to hold over to work the day shift, unexpectedly turning his 9 hour scheduled shift into 17 hours on zero notice, and reducing his potential sleeping time to no more than three hours, at best. He agrees to volunteer to cover the shift.

Things don't quite work out, and he only gets one hour of sleep before having to go back to work for his next scheduled shift.

Shorty before sunrise, two days before they are scheduled to leave for Paris, another nice Sergeant calls him and asks him to hold over to work the day shift. He's dog tired, but he agrees to cover the shift, making it 34 hours of work punctuated by one hour of sleep.

Things don't quite work out, and he only gets one hour of sleep before having to go back to work for his next scheduled shift.

The next morning, the day they are scheduled to leave for Paris, the watch commander goes on the air shortly before sunrise, asking for volunteers to hold over. Nobody volunteers, because everyone is beat. 50 year old officer is p!ssed, because the Millenial youngsters have all been trained that it's their responsibility to volunteer first, to give the old guys a break. His cell phone rings, and it's a sergeant, telling him that the watch commander went through the rotation list for ordered holdovers, and it's his turn. He tells the sergeant that he held over the last two days in a row VOLUNTARILY, but the sergeant tells him the watch commander says that doesn't count. He tells the sergeant that today is his first day of scheduled/approved vacation and he has a flight to Paris that afternoon, but the sergeant tells him the watch commander says that because his shift started before midnight, this is simply a continuation of that shift. The sergeant reluctantly ORDERS him to hold over again, for the third unscheduled 17 hour day in a row (51 hours of work punctuated by one hour of sleep per day).

On the way home that afternoon, 50 year old officer puts the top down on his bright red custom-ordered Porsche convertible, hoping the wind will help him to be alert enough to drive. He has double-vision, so he drives with one eye closed.

They Uber to the airport, get on the plane, and 50 year old officer explains to the stewardess that he's a cop, he just worked 51 hours on an hour of sleep a day, that he has a MAJOR problem being able to sleep on airplanes, and asks her to bring him alcohol. She takes sympathy upon him, and brings him alcohol non-stop, for free, for the entire flight. He still can't sleep. The same thing happens on their connecting flights.

When they get off their last flight in Paris, having basically been up for about five days straight, he's drunk, hallucinating, and having substantial difficulty forming individual words. Sentences are out of the question. He may have peed on the wall in the women's restroom at the airport, thinking it was a urinal.

After the shuttle drops them off at their hotel in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris, his young bikini model wife picks up a bottle of Champagne nearby, they split it in their hotel room, and he finally passes out.

[Zeitgeist1]

Reference: I'm working on the story idea I originally discussed here.

As I'm putting it together now, the last officer who worked the scene of the death of the young girl in 1984 has done his thirty-plus, moving up along the way to senior detective of his small town's police force before retiring. He had no 'breaks' to lead him to the new alias of the perpetrator who successfully went on the run after the underage girlfriend's death. Here's what he has:

• The full details on the victim, including the autopsy which showed her as three months pregnant...but all tissue samples which might have given a DNA match to the perpetrator were lost/destroyed before the detective assumed the responsibility for managing the investigation.
• Fingerprints lifted from the victim's dress (vinyl trim on sleeves) which probably (they do) belong to the perpetrator, four of which (right thumb and middle finger, left middle and ring finger) are classifiable and could be admitted into evidence, if there was anything to match them to (there isn't).
• The birth identity of a 'person of interest' who disappeared immediately following the killing and who presumably (has) adopted a new identity. This person cleaned his apartment and car carefully before disappearing, perhaps leaving a few fragments which he missed but nothing which would stand up as evidence. The person of interest's parents both died before this detective came to be in charge of the case and he was unable to obtain DNA samples from the parents. The person of interest's sister is still alive and willing to cooperate; he should have DNA samples from her.

About four years back this detective was ready to retire, but still wanted to make one last push to close out this case before hanging it up. Presuming that he talked to the press, what information could he (legally) release without jeopardizing the case, and what information would he most likely release (Florida law)?

Presuming that the detective is still alive in retirement when my characters look into the cold case, what additional information might he give them in the role of private investigators if he considers them trustworthy?

I'm not clear exactly what your asking. What can be released publicly? Is this it?

I suggest that you go through some of the sites online for cold cases. Review the information that is typically provided in some of these cases
and go from there.

[tanksoldier]

[*]The full details on the victim, including the autopsy which showed her as three months pregnant...but all tissue samples which might have given a DNA match to the perpetrator were lost/destroyed before the detective assumed the responsibility for managing the investigation.

Exhume the body. Local coroner here identified a John Doe buried over fifty years prior by exhuming the body and sending samples to the FBI. You probably could get samples from the fetus, too.

Are the victim's cloths still in evidence? Plenty of things you can get DNA from today that you couldn't in 1984.

[*]Fingerprints lifted from the victim's dress (vinyl trim on sleeves) which probably (they do) belong to the perpetrator, four of which (right thumb and middle finger, left middle and ring finger) are classifiable and could be admitted into evidence, if there was anything to match them to (there isn't).

Your suspect is a lawyer. In most states, to be admitted to the bar, you must be fingerprinted. Most state bar associations require members to report convictions, or even any law enforcement contact, and the fingerprinting is a means to verify that. Florida is a state that requires fingerprinting.

[*]The birth identity of a 'person of interest' who disappeared immediately following the killing and who presumably (has) adopted a new identity.

Why were they a person of interest?

This person cleaned his apartment and car carefully before disappearing, perhaps leaving a few fragments which he missed but nothing which would stand up as evidence.

What could be processed in 1984 compared to today?

DNA from archived fingerprint body oils have been successfully matched as of a few years ago:

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/dna-our-fingertips

The person of interest's parents both died before this detective came to be in charge of the case and he was unable to obtain DNA samples from the parents.

Irrelevant

The person of interest's sister is still alive and willing to cooperate; he should have DNA samples from her.

More than sufficient, especially when combined with the results from DNA databases like Ancestry.com.

About four years back this detective was ready to retire, but still wanted to make one last push to close out this case before hanging it up. Presuming that he talked to the press, what information could he (legally) release without jeopardizing the case, and what information would he most likely release (Florida law)?

He wouldn't release any information, his department's Public Information Officer would, and only if the release would in some way benefit the investigation. The more you release, the more likely you are to get false confessions. The sheriff's office here releases cold case homicide info on the anniversary of the case, but they give a name, a picture, what month & year the murder occurred and the general location.

Presuming that the detective is still alive in retirement when my characters look into the cold case, what additional information might he give them in the role of private investigators if he considers them trustworthy?

No peace officer can really act as a private individual, even outside their jurisdiction. Their department policies, and what a judge ultimately thinks, are what matter. An officer from another jurisdiction violating someone's 4th Amendment rights because they are a "private individual" will probably be frowned on even if technically permissible.

[Zeitgeist1]

^ This +1000

[Joe2845]

Obviously, any details of the case that would be known by the perpetrator alone wouldn't be released.

[tanksoldier]

Obviously, any details of the case that would be known by the perpetrator alone wouldn't be released.

Which details are those? ANY detail if the crime would only be known to the perpetrator, witnesses and those involved in investigating the case.

Think about it. You’re an average Joe Blow sitting at home about to watch the news. What do you know about the case before the news comes on? Nothing. You don’t even know there IS a case. ALL the facts of the case are only known to the perp, any witnesses, the victim, and the investigators. There is almost never any advantage to changing that.

It’s actually more common to release false information to weed out false confessions than actual case details.

You’re also potentially contaminating the jury pool.