The Restless Sleep:

How to Dispute a Manner of Death Determination

From time to time people write to ask what to do if a death is ruled an accident or suicide, and they think it's a homicide. This is not my area of expertise, but I will post what I know and hope that experts will chime in with more advice.

Who Determines the Cause and Manner of Death?

It's different from state to state, but basically, the medical examiner determines the cause and manner of death. Cause is a medical distinction, ie, blunt force trauma or strangulation. Manner is a legal one, like homicide or suicide or accidental, and this is what people typically dispute.

Step 1

If you are a family member, you are entitled to all the autopsy records from the medical examiner. The first step would be to get the records and discuss the decision with the medical examiner (or coroner) who made it.

Step 2

If you are not happy after your discussion with the medical examiner, your next best option is to hire an independent pathologist. I've never hired a pathologist myself, so I don't know how much they cost.

This organization should be able to direct you to pathologists in your area: The American Academy of Forensic Science.

The patholgist will look over the autopsy report and make his or her own determination. It's like going to another doctor for a second opinion. Presumably the pathologist will also know the ins and outs of the politics and procedures in your city/state and can advise you on how to proceed from there.

The Vidocq Society

If money is an issue, there's The Vidocq Society, a voluntary organization that looks into unsolved murders. But I don't know how helpful they will be for cases that have not yet been classified as homicides, and there's also the issue of workload. Unfortunately there are untold thousands of unsolved homicides in this country.

But you can go to this page for their guidelines.

The picture is from this Boston Globe article about the drop in crime in Boston and the fact that they're starting a cold case unit. I thought they already had one! And one of the oldest in the country (but not the oldest, which is in Miami). I also read an article about a new cold case unit in Detroit and I thought they already had one there too.

Who Killed Our Kids

I came across an organization that provides support to families of homicide victims in Cincinnati, OH, called Who Killed Our Kids. The website is extremely well designed with current, useful information, a forum for family and friends, and more.

From their website:

"Homicides have doubled in the last 5 years. There have been a total of 417 homicides since 2000:

40 in 2000, 63 in 2001, 66 in 2002, 75 in 2003, 66 in 2004, 79 in 2005 and now 28 in 2006.

The unsolved homicide rate has nearly quadrupled since 2000. There are 168 unsolved homicides since 2000: 10 in 2000, 21 in 2001, 29 in 2002, and 27 in 2003 and 26 in 2004, 37 in 2005 and 18 in 2006."

Websites I've Come Across

LAPD blog. It can get a little PR-y, but it’s also informative and I like when they talk back about articles about the LAPD.

NYPD Rant. Just what it says, a bunch of guys ranting. But if you want to know what goes on inside these guy’s heads, this is the place. I’ve also gotten some pretty interesting information here.

The Policeman's Blog. Inside the head of a policeman in the UK!

Crime Scene Reconstruction and Cold Case Investigation seminar in January 2007.

Victim Assistance Unit of the Denver Police VAU Cold Case Victim Services.

Cold Case website of the San Jose Police Department.

Cold Case website of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Cold Case website of the Gainesville Police Department.

Cold Case website of the Home Office Police (UK).

Cold Case website of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Cold Case website of the Kentucky State Police.

Cold Case website of the New Mexico State Police.

Cold Case website of the Nashville District Attorney’s office and the Nashville Police Department.

New Cold Case Organization

There's a new cold case organization called the Cold Case Forum. From their website:

"The Cold Case Forum, LLC has been founded to provide training to police departments and other law enforcement agencies whose personnel are asked to carry out the serious job of solving oen or unsolved homicides. They are most often asked to do this with little, if any, training that could enhance their skills.

I see they have a seminar coming up on June 5th in Rhode Island, where they're based.

The director, Andrew Rosenzweig, in his younger days (love old police photos, which is NOT the same as calling you old, Andy, if you're reading this):

It's Not Just the Cops

If the police get the bad guys, then the attorneys go in for the kill.

(This picture was taken by an MIT student named Philip Guo in 2001.)

First there are the feds, the U. S. Attorneys who prosecute federal crimes (oh God, I sound like a Law and Order episode). From their website:

The United States Attorneys serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. They conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party, and they have three statutory responsibilities:

- The prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal government.
- The prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party.
- The collection of debts owed the Federal government which are administratively uncollectible.

In New York there are four U.S. Attorneys. The Eastern District, which covers Brooklyn, the Southern District, which covers Manhattan, the Northern District (their office is in Syracuse) and the Western District (offices in Buffalo and Rochester.)

And then there are the local guys, the attorneys for New York City, the District Attorney and the ADAs (Assistant District Attorneys). In New York there are five DAs, one for each borough. In Manhattan, where I live, our DA is Robert Morgenthau. He’s something like 200 years old, but he’s so good we pray science will keep him alive forever.

There are so many websites I really don't know where to begin. Here’s where you can find the office for your U. S. Attorney.

Here’s how they’re doing. Their felony conviction rate is slowly going up. Good work, attorneys!

I’m including the Brooklyn DA’s website because it’s actually well designed, and has a lot of useful information that’s easy to find.

The Cold Case Center

I go to the Cold Case Center to see which cold cases made the news. It's interesting to browse the titles of the articles alone, and to see which parts of the country are active. Actually, it's interesting how many there are daily, compared to two years ago, when I first discovered the site.

The Vidocq Society

Fred Martens, the former head of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, who helped me when I was working on the Sodder story, is a member a crime solving organization called The Vidocq Society, (named for an 18th century french detective).

From their website:

Our Mission & Credo
The Vidocq Society is dedicated to dealing with long-unsolved murders and other major cases. The Vidocq credo is Veritas Veritatum - The Truth of Truths. The Vidocq Society's 82 members (one for every year of Inspector Vidocq's life) come from 17 states and 11 other countries.

Members bring a broad array of forensic and other experience. The Society chooses its cases carefully, working closely with local investigators and prosecutors to help solve a death or homicide and bring perpetrators to justice. All work is done at no cost to victim’s families or law enforcement, pro bono as part of the Society's commitment to public service.

I'm adding The Vidocq Society to my links section and my list of Cold Case Squad and other organizations.

Undeclared Homicide and Missing Persons

Losing someone is hard. Not knowing what happened, or who killed them makes it harder. Then there is the unbearable pain of not knowing anything at all: the missings persons case. Someone disappeared. That's all the family and friends of this person know and in some cases that is all they ever will know. They enter a nightmare limbo of waiting. Will they hear their father's voice, or the police telling them they've found his body, or nothing at all until the day they die?

It could be a homicide, it's almost certainly a homicide in many cases, but without convincing evidence, in many cases it's almost impossible to get the case declared a homicide. Instead, the case will go to missing persons, where there are limits to what they can and will do.

As I learned writing The Restless Sleep, of all the things law enforcement does, finding people is often the most difficult. It's one thing to figure out who the murderer is, it's another thing to find him. There's a lot of failure in missing persons work.

It's a big subject, and I can't cover it all in one blog post, but I wanted to introduce the topic. I've gotten more than one email about these limbo cases.

There is an incredible group of volunteers who have set up something called The Doe Network. They help law enforcement solve missing persons cases and identify unknown murder (and other) victims. I don't know a lot about them yet, but they seem to be a creative and resourceful group. You can never sit back in life, waiting for someone else to do what needs to be done. But even if you're willing to do whatever's necessary, it can take a long time to get up to speed and learn how to be effective. And it's hard to accomplish anything alone. The accumulated and accumulating expertise in this wonderful organization addresses both issues, and I would love to see it grow.

Finding People in Prison

"I know that we actually made a difference and we really did put evil people away. I take great satisfaction from that. Not everyone can say they brought evil men to justice, but we did. I still go on line to the NY Department of Corrections web site and check where all my bad guys are." - Vinnie Nitti, retired Cold Case Squad detective.

He's talking about Inmate Lookup. I used that a lot while researching the 1951 case I wrote about in this book. I was sure that some of the people the police questioned back then would one day end up in prison.

Click here to look up Federal inmates.

Click here to look up New York State inmates.

I can't post them all, but if you want to find prisoners in your state, go to Google and, depending on where you live, type: California inmate lookup, etc.

When is a Case Too Cold? Part 2

Recap: Someone asked, "How far back in time can a cold case be sent in? How many years back can a case be re-opened?"

I answered that there is no statute of limitations on murder. If a murder hasn't been solved, the case is still open even if no one has looked at it for years or decades. Then I asked others to weigh in.

From Det. Wendell Stradford: Yes that is correct, there is no statute of limitation on murder. And if a "very old" case has a chance to be brought to a meaningful conclusion, even if no one is ever arrested, we would give it a go. The bottom line is the family of the victim gets answers.

From retired Deputy Inspector Vito Spano: There is never a time limit. The key element is solvability. If there is new evidence, information or technology that may lead to solving a case, then the case will be assigned to a detective. Can it be developed? That is the main criteria for opening up a cold case.

When is a Case Too Cold? Part 1

Someone asked, "How far back in time can a cold case be sent in? How many years back can a case be re-opened?"

I'm going to ask the cold case guys to weigh in, but there is no statute of limitations on murder. If a murder hasn't been solved, the case is still open even if no one has looked at it for years or decades. Practically speaking though, the Cold Case detectives concentrate on cases they think they can solve first, cases with evidence and/or witnesses, or people with direct information about the murder, and cases where the murderer is likely still alive.

So, most of their cases are fairly recent. They usually don't have cases earlier than the 70's, although there are always exceptions. The Cold Case detectives are currently looking at the 1930 Judge Crater case, technically a missing persons case which was closed in 1979. Even though most people believed Crater was killed, the police had no evidence, and as a missing persons case -- not a homicide -- it could be closed. New evidence has recently emerged however, although how reliable it is and if it leads to anything remains to be seen. But it would be fun if it did!

Who Can Contact the Cold Case Squad?

Someone wrote and asked if you had to be a family member to ask the Cold Case Squad to look into a case, or could a friend of the victim make the request.


From Vito Spano: “Yes, anyone can refer a case to the Cold Sase Squad, you don’t have to be a family member. The important issue is what information you have concerning the case. It doesn’t have to first hand information.”


Vito reminded me of a case one of his detectives had. A woman was strangled by someone who collected soda cans. Someone “came forward because she felt her friend was murdered by this guy and nothing was done by the police since the incident in 1991. Not only was he collared for murder of the friend but also for two open rapes.”


From Wendell Stradford: “Yes, they can ask, but we will want to know what their relationship was/is to the victim, and is the family aware that you are making inquiries. Also we would ask that before we did anything, that they have the victims family contact us. As you know we don't need anyone's permission to look into a case.”


I asked Vito, “what if the person doesn't have any information, they're just a friend who would like the cold case detectives to take a look and see if there's anything they can do?”


From Vito: “We’re getting into a situational thing. What is the rational for the referral? I would want to know why the person is asking that the case be looked into. Is there some compelling reason? Is the person a concerned citizen, or is there something else? I would never automatically say ‘no’ to a request. I would want to look at the case and take a look at the person referring the case."

What to Do When A Case Goes Cold/Part 1

I spent the last few days reading posts from family members of murder victims on a cold case website. It was heartbreaking. Post after post like, "My son was murdered 10 years ago and no one was ever caught, please help me," went largely unanswered. (Not anyone's fault, it wasn't a place set up to provide help.)

I have a list of Cold Case Squads that I've been putting together, to see it click here. Whenever I hear about a Cold Case Squad being formed I call them and ask if I can add them to my list. I've been working my way through calling everyone on a list of law enforcement agenices who got DNA grants from the Dept. of Justice to test evidence from cold case.

If you know of a cold case squad or unit that is not on my list, please email me.