An Almanac of Infamy

It's been two years since Jesse Leopold was last seen alive. The 23-year-old left work at a meat processing plant in Jewell, Iowa, and a few days later his car was found in Ledges State Park with the keys still in the ignition. Rumors began to fly that Jesse had committed suicide in the park but his father is adamant that his son met with foul play. "There was no suicide in the park," says Jerry Leopold, "because a body surely would`ve turned up by now." Jerry Leopold believes that investigators have been dismissive of possible leads in his son's case because they've come from sources that authorities have deemed as less than credible. This has led him to start a Facebook page, "Finding Jesse Leopold" , that now has 9,000 followers. Jerry hopes that awareness will pressure authorities to act in his son's case and in the meantime, the Leopold family is raising money to hire a private investigator. A "Justice For Jesse" rally is pl...

We now know, thanks to additional DNA testing, that there is at least one California killing that Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, is not responsible for. Simi Valley Police Chief David Livingstone has revealed that DeAngelo is not a match to DNA left at the double murder of Rhonda Wicht and her son Donald. In 1980, Craig Coley was wrongfully imprisoned for the murders and after his release in November of last year and the arrest of DeAngelo in April of this year, Simi Valley officials were hoping there would be closure of the case through the GSK's DNA. It's one of several cold cases that officials have reopened since DeAngelo's capture, and while he is not the perp, Chief Livingstone says his department is not giving up on finding the real killer. And speaking of DeAngelo and DNA, it appears that two Sutter Health employees in Sacramento have been terminated from the hospital for inappropriately accessing his medical records. While the h...

Ok so we don't know the exact brand of the discarded tissue used to catch the Golden State Killer but it's such a catchy title that I couldn't resist. Unsealed warrants indicate that police waited for the GSK suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, to wheel his garbage to the curb and then they plucked the tissue from the bin for DNA testing. Officers also took swabs off the handle of his car door while he shopped at a local Hobby Lobby. The warrant also lists nine pages of "trophies" that DeAngelo took from his victims including wedding rings, handbags, a poker chip, clothes and silver dollars. While much of the 171-page warrant was redacted, there were still several disturbing details revealed to the public. Police believe that DeAngelo stalked his victims before attacking them, using drainage ditches to essentially hide in plain sight. He was very bold in his attacks and terrorized entire neighborhoods. DeAngelo has yet to enter pleas to any of the 12 murders th...

Indianapolis police  are asking the public for assistance in tracking down the murderer of an 18-year-old man whose shooting death was captured on surveillance tape. The victim, Elijah Lacey, was set to graduate next week and tragically his death is not the only murder that his family is dealing with. In May 2013 his father Jason was shot to death as he stepped outside his home to investigate a strange noise. His killers were also caught on surveillance tape but his murder was never solved. The Lacey family hopes that Elijah's case has a different outcome. Anyone who has any information has been asked to call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS. Another unsolved murder case that police are looking for assistance in is the 30-year-old murder of  Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg , a Canadian couple who were traveling to Seattle when they were killed. A suspect, William Earl Talbott II, has been arrested through the same DNA technology used to capture the Golden State Killer. Now S...

Phillip Powers, of Dixon, CA , believes that his grandfather was the Zodiac Killer and has provided the Solano County Sherriff's Office with photos, writing samples and other items that he hopes can help solve the case. He and his mother have also provided DNA samples. Detective Sgt. Dax West says the items will be shared with the Vallejo police department so they can compare the DNA to samples that they believe belong to the killer. Powers believes his grandfather, Kenneth Lester German, is Zodiac based on a confession German made to his youngest daughter Kay, who took it as a joke. Powers, however, takes the confession seriously and is motivated in part by his own diagnosis of bipolar disorder. “I want to know if I got it from him” Powers says. Sgt. Dax West says that Powers is not the only one who believes that he has the key to the Zodiac Killer's identity. The Solano County Sherriff's Office receives calls every week from people claiming to have solved the case. Me...

Once again, it's time to take a look at some unsolved crimes that deserve attention and justice for the victims and their families. One segment of society that has been ravaged by unsolved murders and disappearances is America's Native population. In the city of Anchorage, AK there are at least 20 unsolved homicides of Native women. Pretty unsavory for a city that has been awarded the title of "All-American City" four times. Journalist John Tepton argues that because of the way murdered and missing Native cases have been handled in the city, it is far from deserving of that honor. Another vulnerable population that is targeted in the most brutal of crimes is children. In the state of Virginia alone, there are over 300 unsolved missing child cases. This article highlights the work being done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and gives tips on abduction prevention. With Summer coming up and the school year ending, it's important to note t...

Hello, good readers! I'm back from vacation and it's time to catch up on the major cases that are captivating the nation, starting with the Golden State Killer. While GSK suspect Joseph James DeAngelo's lawyers continue to fight in court to suppress evidence from being brought into trial, police all over California are reviewing old cold cases. In Tulare County , where the "Visalia Ransacker" operated in the 1970s, police are focusing on the 1975 slaying of College of the Sequoias journalism professor Claude Snelling. Snelling was shot while trying to save his 16-year-old daughter from a masked abductor. Police have long suspected that the "Visalia Ransacker" was involved in the homicide and while the burglaries cannot be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations, officials plan to bring the Snelling case before the Tulare County District Attorney to see if a 13th murder charge can be made against DeAngelo. Another possible charge could be brought a...

On December 16, 2000 Mike Williams disappeared. According to his wife Denise, he had gone duck hunting on Lake Seminole in Leon County, FL and it was long suspected that he had fallen out of his boat and been eaten by alligators. Even though his body was never recovered, Denise Williams was able to have her husband declared dead within six months of his disappearance and cashed in on $2 million worth of insurance policies. One of those policies was written by Mike Williams' best friend Brian Winchester. By 2005, Denise Williams and Winchester were married. Flash forward to August 5, 2016. Denise and Brian Winchester's marriage had gone downhill and the couple had, by this time, been separated for four years. Winchester, after learning that his mother had cancer and his son from a previous marriage wanted to live with his mother, snuck into Denise's car and held a gun to her ribs for an hour. He was sentenced to twenty years for kidnapping. On the day after Winchester'...