Cold case

For the television show, see Cold Case. For other uses, see Cold Case (disambiguation).

A cold case is a crime or an accident that has not yet been fully solved and is not the subject of a recent criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or retained material evidence, as well as fresh activities of the suspect. New technical methods developed after the case can be used on the surviving evidence to re-analyze the causes, often with conclusive results.

Characteristics

Violent or major crime

Typically, cold cases are violent or other major felony crimes, such as murder or rape which—unlike unsolved minor crimes—are generally not subject to a statute of limitations.

Sometimes disappearances can also be considered cold cases if the victim has not been seen or heard from for some time, such as the case of Natalee Holloway or the Beaumont Children.

About 35% of those cases are not really cold cases at all. Some cases become instantly cold when a seeming closed (solved) case is re-opened due to the discovery of new evidence pointing away from the original suspect(s). Other cases are cold when the crime is discovered well after the fact – for example, by the discovery of human remains.[1] Some cases become classified cold cases when a case that had been originally ruled an accident or suicide is re-designated as a murder when new evidence emerges.

The John Christie murders is a notable case, when Timothy Evans was wrongly executed for the alleged murders of his wife and child. Many other bodies were later found in the house where they lived with Christie, and he was then executed for the crimes. The case helped a campaign against capital punishment in Britain.

Identifying a suspect

A case is considered unsolved until a suspect has been identified, charged, and tried for the crime. A case that goes to trial and does not result in a conviction can also be kept on the books pending new evidence.

In some cases a suspect, often called a "person of interest" or "subject" is identified early on but no evidence definitively linking the subject to the crime is found at that time and more often than not the subject is not forthcoming with a confession. This often happens in cases where the subject has an alibi, alibi witnesses, or lack of forensic evidence. Eventually the alibi is disproved, the witnesses recant their statements, or advances in forensics help bring the subjects to justice.

Sometimes a case is not solved but forensic evidence helps to determine that the crimes are serial crimes. The BTK case and Original Night Stalker (the latter still unsolved) cases are such examples. The Texas Rangers have established a website[2] in the hopes that it shall elicit new information and investigative leads.[3]

Notable examples

Tunnel vision

Sometimes a viable suspect has been overlooked or simply ignored due to then-flimsy circumstantial evidence, the presence of a likelier suspect (who is later proven to be innocent), or a tendency of investigators to zero in on someone else to the exclusion of other possibilities (which goes back to the likelier suspect angle)—known as "tunnel vision":

Improvements in forensics

With the advent of and improvements to DNA testing and other forensics technology, many cold cases are being re-opened and prosecuted. Police departments are opening cold case units whose job is to re-examine cold case files. DNA evidence helps in such cases but as in the case of fingerprints, it is of no value unless there is evidence on file to compare it to.

Famous criminal examples

A leaflet issued during the "autumn of terror" in 1888, when Jack the Ripper was active.

The identity of Jack the Ripper is a notorious example of an outstanding cold case, with numerous suggestions as to the identity of the serial killer. Similarly, the Zodiac Killer has been studied extensively for 40 years, with numerous suspects discussed and debated. The perpetrators of the Wall Street bombing of 1920 have never been positively identified, though the Galleanists, a group of Italian anarchists, are widely believed to have planned the explosion. The burning of the Reichstag building in 1933 remains controversial and although Marinus van der Lubbe was tried, convicted and executed for arson, it is possible that the Reichstag fire was perpetrated by the Nazis to enhance their power and destroy democracy in Germany.

Notable solved criminal cold cases

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Notable unsolved criminal cold cases

Pre-1950s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

In popular culture

Film

Literature

The phrase "Cold Case" is found in a number of story and book titles. Examples include:

Music

Television

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Missing for 30 Years/The Clue in the Drum - A Plastic Flower Stem Leads to a Killer". Cbsnews.com. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  2. ↑ "Texas Rangers Unsolved Homicides". Dps.texas.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  3. ↑ "New Texas Rangers Web page hopes to breathe new life into cold cases » Corpus Christi Caller-Times". Caller.com. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  4. ↑ Cathedral City Man Gets 16 Years to Life for 1983 Murder
  5. ↑ Cold Case Homicides by Richard Walton. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  6. ↑ kmbctv (1974-07-07). "Horton Found Guilty a Second Time". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  7. ↑ "Everett man, 73, pleads to 2 Seattle cold-case homicides". Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  8. ↑ "Seattle Police Crack Oldest Cold Case". Komonews.com. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  9. ↑ Tampa Bay: A Cloud of Suspicion Lifts Archived December 7, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

Look up cold case in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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