An Almanac of Infamy

As Craig LaBell and his wife were out for a drive on August 28, 2013, in Brown County, Ohio, they took a wrong turn down a backroad and noticed a pair of headlights shining in the woods. LaBell knew he had to see for himself why there was a Jeep parked in the woods with the wipers running and the radio blaring. As he approached the vehicle he found the body of Brittany Stykes, who had been shot and killed, in the driver seat. Her 14-month-old daughter Aubree, who had been shot in the head but was still alive, was next to her in the passenger seat. The murder of Brittany Stykes remains unsolved and on June 5, a judge ruled that the Jeep is to be returned to her husband Shane, who had sued for the vehicle to be released along with Aubree's baby seat and Brittany's laptop, which were found in the Jeep. The court declined to return those two items. The Brown County prosecutor's office has appealed the decision to return the Jeep. They have until October 1 to complete any 3D im...

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...

As more and more details emerge in the Golden State Killer case, one of the most intriguing is that he may have had an accomplice. "It's a possibility," investigator Paul Holes told the crowd at Crimecon on Monday. According to Holes, the possible accomplice didn't aid and abet in any of the murders and only served as a lookout/getaway driver during the infamous killer's "East Area Rapist" phase. The theory stems from at least one rape victim's statement that she heard her attacker talking to someone else but Holes does admit he could have been talking to himself as part of a self-preservation technique. There are other investigators who disagree with the possibility of an accomplice. Joseph James DeAngelo’s Accomplice: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know In other GSK news, prosecutors from Ventura, Sacramento and Santa Barbara counties will be meeting over the next few days to determine where to try Joseph James DeAngelo for his crimes. Since his mu...

The town of Collierville, TN is still haunted by its only unsolved homicide . On Dec. 9, 2001 George T. Walker called 911 stating that he had been shot by a masked man who attempted to rob him in the grocery store that he owned. He later died of his wounds in a Memphis hospital. The mountain of documents related to his case is mandatory reading for all new officers of the Collierville Police Department's criminal investigations division and Crimestoppers is still offering a $20,000 reward for information. Crimestoppers is also seeking information related to the murder of Alicia Jackson . The young mother was found stabbed to death in her Columbus, OH apartment seven years ago and the case is inactive. An even older Ohio case that remains unsolved is the 1968 murders of William, Ann, and 12-year-old Patricia Cassidy . The Erie County Sheriff's Office is still on the hunt for the perpetrator. Russell and Shirley Dermond were supposed to be enjoying their golden years in a ...

A judge ruled today that prosecutors can collect DNA, fingerprints, and body photographs of Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer suspect. DeAngelo's attorneys had argued that the search warrant should not be executed because it was issued before DeAngelo's arrest but the judge said there was no basis for stopping the execution of the warrant. Prosecutors had planned to collect the evidence yesterday but were halted by the defense motion. Another hearing is planned for May 14 to determine if the arrest and search warrants should be unsealed and released to the press. Much publicity has been given to the original DNA evidence that was submitted to various genealogy websites in order to catch the GSK. It turns out that Paul Holes, an investigator who spent years tracking down the killer, was inspired by another cold case that was solved using that method. And Holes himself had a previous connection to the case, which involved the brutal murders of women and girls in N...

It looks like Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, is expected to appear in court today as his defense attorneys file a motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search warrant. And speaking of evidence, several privacy and civil rights experts have shown concern over the methods used to catch the GSK. Some of those concerns may be legit as it turns out that police were originally focused on the wrong man after issuing a subpoena to the genealogy website Gene-To-Gene, Ltd. While there's a lot of hype around the killer's capture, it's important to not forget his victims. For living victims and the families of those he murdered, the GSK's capture has brought back a lot of painful memories to the forefront but also, thankfully, some hope for the future . And there may even be more victims than originally suspected. Detectives hope that GSK's arrest leads to clues in other cold cases . They also admit that they can't be sure that h...

To say that the capture of the Golden State opened up a can of worms is an understatement. It's more like an entire worm farm. In addition to the canonical 50 rapes and 12 murders attributed to GSK, police departments across the state of California are looking at other unsolved cold cases to see if they are connected to the infamous killer. Some of these crimes go far beyond the GSK's operating years of 1976 to 1986. In 1964, Johnny Ray and Joyce Swindle were murdered by a sniper on the Ocean Beach Boardwalk. While it's been confirmed that Joseph James DeAngelo was in the area, many experts say the case fits more with the Zodiac Killer's MO than GSK's. And speaking of the Zodiac, there's been a lot of speculation about whether the same DNA techniques used to capture DeAngelo could also capture that other infamous California killer. It isn't just unsolved murders that detectives are hoping to clear now that DeAngelo has been arrested. Unfortunately, som...

While the true crime community is celebrating, and rightfully so, the capture of the Golden State Killer, it looks like there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to clearing unsolved murders. The OC Register provided a breakdown of reported vs cleared homicides and surprisingly, given all the breakthroughs in technology, we've actually gotten worse at clearing cases. Hopefully, despite the grim statistics, the following cases and the victims involved will receive some justice. Navy veteran James Weaver was brutally murdered while babysitting his 9-month-old grandson. 33 years later, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is hoping that some new DNA submissions will lead to a break in the case. In April of last year, Alberto "Beto" Ruiz Jr. was murdered in what Greeley, CO police believe was a case of road rage. They and his family are hoping that someone will eventually come forward, if not the killer, then at least a witness who can identify the suspect'...