No-Body Homicide Cases

No-Body Homicide Cases PDF

Author: Thomas A.(Tad) DiBiase

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-11-17

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1482260069

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

How do you prove someone guilty of murder when the best piece of evidence—the victim’s body—is missing? Exclusively dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of no-body homicide cases, this book provides the author’s insight gained from investigating and trying a no-body case along with what he’s learned consulting on scores of others across the country. A practical guide for police and prosecutors, it takes an expansive look at both the history of no-body murder cases and the best methods to investigate, solve, and bring them to court. Taking readers step by step from the first days of a homicide investigation through the trial, the book explores the history of confessions, the use of jailhouse snitches to get information, and CSI-style forensics utilized in solving a case. It delves into the psychological profile of the type of defendant who murders someone and then hides the body and reviews methods criminals have used to dispose of bodies. It also discloses the investigative techniques police must use to catch these devious killers. Using real-life case studies, No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Guide to Investigating, Prosecuting, and Winning Cases When the Victim is Missing summarizes and analyzes the nearly 400 no-body murder trials in U.S. history, enabling readers to leverage the similarities in these cases with their own scenarios. The book is an essential resource for all investigators and a roadmap to a conviction for prosecutors.

Murders without Bodies

Murders without Bodies PDF

Author: Robert J. Sullivan

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2020-10-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1627343148

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Each and every year, thousands of people go missing, over one-third of them are victims of murder, and their bodies are never recovered. These cases are seldom investigated, much less prosecuted due to lack of evidence and lack of resolve by prosecutors. This book takes a deep dive into actual investigations and prosecutions of murders without bodies and is intended for those with interest in criminal investigation and risky prosecutions. The reader will learn the complexities of evidence identification, witness testimony, forensics, legal maneuvering, courtroom tactics, and the psychology of jury selection. Though many books are written about murder investigation, this book is unique as it delves into six actual real-life cases from the initial missing person report through the murder investigation and ultimate prosecution of the killer. The book chronicles the work of America's top no-body murder prosecutor Cass Castillo. This passionate prosecutor has dedicated his career to taking on the cases other prosecutors shun due to the unwritten rule of "No body, no crime." Castillo has successfully prosecuted more bodiless homicides than any other prosecutor in the United States and has been called the “Man who returns a voice to the voiceless.” Castillo's case files, investigator's reports and interviews provide the foundation for this compelling and suspenseful compilation of Castillo's most significant works. The book concludes with a very insightful chapter on the psychological issues surrounding what makes a good juror. Jurors are the ultimate decision-makers, and having the ability to assess that person's bias, personality, and demeanor is key to a prosecutor's success. In Castillo's own words, he describes the character and psychological analyses he conducts on each potential juror and what drives his decisions on whether to accept or reject, that prospective juror.

No-Body Homicide Cases

No-Body Homicide Cases PDF

Author: Thomas A.(Tad) DiBiase

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-11-17

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1482260077

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

How do you prove someone guilty of murder when the best piece of evidence the victim‘s body is missing? Exclusively dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of no-body homicide cases, this book provides the author‘s insight gained from investigating and trying a no-body case along with what he‘s learned consulting on scores of others across t

Cold Case Research Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases

Cold Case Research Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases PDF

Author: Silvia Pettem

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2012-07-27

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1439861692

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Cases in which all investigative leads appear to be exhausted are frustrating for both investigators and victims’ families. Cold cases can range from those only a few months old to others that go back for decades. Presenting profiles and actual case histories, Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing and Cold Homicide Cases illustrates how investigators can successfully apply resources that will enable them to reopen and solve cases gathering dust in the file room. Today’s investigators have found that, to solve cold cases, they need to be internet savvy and make the best use of the rapidly changing methodologies of the twenty-first century, but they also have to be time travelers and open the door to the past. This volume weaves together the nearly forgotten skill sets of traditional historical researchers with the latest online tools, including TLO, a premier investigative system; and NamUs, the revolutionary database for missing persons and unidentified remains. Along with practical applications, Cold Case Research gives investigators the tools they need to save time and money and to jump-start their cold cases, while keeping others from going cold in the future. Topics discussed include: Implementing cold case units People searches and working with databases Overlooked DNA in PKU cards The plight of the missing and unknown Applying historical and geographical context Online and off-line newspaper research Public and published records The use of volunteers Contact with co-victims Cold-case review teams and information-sharing resources Taking advantage of the media Using a thinking-outside-the-box approach, this volume helps fill major gaps in traditional cold case investigation training and techniques, enabling investigators to confidently reopen and crack the mystery of cases long thought unsolvable. Silvia Pettem was quoted in a January 29, 2012 article on missing persons in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Darker than Night

Darker than Night PDF

Author: Tom Henderson

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2006-10-03

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1429997087

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In the bitter cold of 1985, two buddies embark on a hunting trip from suburban Detroit to rural Michigan, unaware they would soon become the hunted. Darker than Night tells the chilling true story of the mystery that haunted a community and baffled the police for two decades. The eerie silence surrounding their sudden disappearance is broken after nearly two decades when a relentless investigator inspires a terrified witness to break her silence. The witness narrates a haunting scene that had unfolded years back, pointing fingers at the prime suspects–the Duvall brothers. With no bodies unearthed, the justice system is riveted by the startling revelations during an electrifying trial in 2003. The brothers, Raymond and Donald Duvall, had bragged about the murders, evocatively explaining how they dismembered their victims and fed them to pigs. Despite the shocking confession, the case holds its ground purely on a single witness's account, taking the courtroom through a labyrinth of dark secrets and sinister acts. This gripping thriller presents a vivid tale of crime that reveals the devastating power of evil.

Under the Trestle

Under the Trestle PDF

Author: Ron Peterson Jr.

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2018-12-20

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1532063504

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

“Under The Trestle” is the true story of the most compelling murder case in Virginia history. In 1980, beautiful Gina Renee Hall, a Radford University freshman, went to a Virginia Tech nightclub on a Saturday night. She was never seen again. Her abandoned car was found parked beneath a railroad trestle bridging the New River, with blood in the trunk. The investigation led police to a secluded cabin on Claytor Lake, where there was evidence of a violent attack. Former Virginia Tech football player Stephen Epperly was charged with murder, despite the fact that Gina’s body was never found. In Virginia’s “trial of the century,” prosecutor Everett Shockley presented an entirely circumstantial case. Key witnesses against Epperly included his best friend, his mother and a tracking dog handler later believed by many to be a fraud. Three former Virginia Tech football players testified, including a Hokies quarterback once featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Would Epperly become the first person in Virginia history convicted of murder without the victim’s body, an eyewitness or a confession? And would authorities ever find the body of Gina Renee Hall?

Anatomy of Injustice

Anatomy of Injustice PDF

Author: Raymond Bonner

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-01-08

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0307948544

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From Pulitzer Prize winner Raymond Bonner, the gripping story of a grievously mishandled murder case that put a twenty-three-year-old man on death row. In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally retarded black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim's body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Elmore had been on death row for eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. With the exemplary moral commitment and tenacious investigation that have distinguished his reporting career, Bonner follows Holt's battle to save Elmore's life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. Moving, enraging, suspenseful, and enlightening, Anatomy of Injustice is a vital contribution to our nation's ongoing, increasingly important debate about inequality and the death penalty.

The Innocent Man

The Innocent Man PDF

Author: John Grisham

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2010-03-16

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 0307576019

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence. • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free. Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss. Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder

Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder PDF

Author: Vincent Bugliosi

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2008-02-17

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 9780393075700

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"Provocative and entertaining…A powerful and damning diatribe on Simpson’s acquittal." —People Here is the account of the O. J. Simpson case that no one dared to write, that no one else could write. In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Vincent Bugliosi, the famed prosecutor of Charles Manson and author of Helter Skelter, goes to the heart of the trial that divided the country and made a mockery of justice. He lays out the mountains of evidence; rebuts the defense; offers a thrilling summation; condemns the monumental blunders of the judge, the "Dream Team," and the media; and exposes, for the first time anywhere, the shocking incompetence of the prosecution.

The Woodchipper Murder

The Woodchipper Murder PDF

Author: Arthur Herzog III

Publisher: Arthur Herzog III

Published: 2001-05-06

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 0595183549

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Even though the Newtown, Connecticut, police listed Helle Crafts' disappearance as a routine missing person case, Keith Mayo, a private investigator, knew the Danish-born mother of three hadn't skipped town nine days before Thanksgiving.. Rita Buonanno remembers the words exactly: "If anything happens to me don't think it was an accident." Helle Crafts was last seen on November 18, 1986. In the style of a brilliant detective novel, Arthur Herzog skillfully re-creates the hour-by-hour circumstantial details that inform this grisly true-crime narrative. We observe dispassionate Richard Crafts as he buys a truck with a pintle hook for towing heavy equipment, promised for delivery before November 18. A day later he reserves a Badger Brush Bandit woodchipper.