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Posted by: PBC FL Cop

Sunday, August 27, 2006

They’re not ‘cold’; they’re unsolved, or ‘open’ cases

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Law enforcement officials don’t refer to investigations that have gone on for years without new information as “cold cases.” They call them “unsolved.” But that doesn’t mean those cases are forgotten. “We’re committed to the open cases,” Worcester Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said. “We try to review them on a regular basis.” But according to a state police detective who once headed a now-defunct statewide cold case unit, there is always a need for more investigators assigned to the task of solving old homicides.

Unlike police in other Central Massachusetts communities, Worcester police handle their own homicide investigations, working with Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte’s office and the state police crime lab.

With older unsolved homicides, the Worcester Police Department has officers who review cases to see if any breaks can be found to solve a case, Chief Gemme said. Some of these reinvestigations have brought together enough evidence to present to a grand jury. “We’re very active in reviewing and following leads,” Chief Gemme said.

However, many local police departments rely primarily on the services of state police investigators assigned to the local district attorney’s office to review unsolved murder cases.

Between 1997 and 2002, there was also a state police Cold Case Unit dedicated solely to investigating unsolved cases. State police Detective Lt. Richard L. Nagle of the Disabled Persons Protection Commission was in the five-member unit from its inception and ran it during the last year of its existence.

“We were very busy,” Lt. Nagle said. “I could have kept the troopers busy for the next 10 years.”

The unit worked with state police assigned to district attorney offices, mostly in the eastern part of the state, as well as with local police departments. Rather than taking over an investigation, the unit gave departments the extra help they needed to hit the streets, interview witnesses and review material.

There are various degrees of cold cases, Lt. Nagle said. Some cases have strong physical evidence; others can be described as “stone cold,” with no physical evidence or witnesses. “They can be solved,” he said.

Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said the communities in her area review cases and so do the state police investigators assigned to her office. She and Chief Gemme agree that fresh eyes can help investigators see something they might have missed. Improved technology, DNA and other testing also help authorities come closer to solving the unsolved cases.

“We will go back to the unsolved cases and check to see if forensic testing can be done that we weren’t able to do a few years ago,” Ms. Coakley said. “We are constantly looking at new developments.” When asked if he thought the Cold Case Unit needed to be restarted, Lt. Nagle responded with another question: “Do we think every unsolved murder is being looked at?”

He noted that some departments just do not have sufficient personnel to permit investigators to strictly concentrate on cold cases. Much of the work involved in investigating unsolved murders is hitting the streets, talking to people and doing field work.

“I think there’s a need for more personnel to look at these unsolved murders. The more experienced people, the better,” Lt. Nagle said. “We certainly don’t want murderers walking freely,” he said.

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