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Cold Cases

The worst fear of any case is becoming cold. Cold cases refer to the crimes that remain unsolved for weeks, years or even decades.

Man charged in 1976 Wisconsin killings competent for trial
Man charged in 1976 Wisconsin killings competent for trial

MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) — An 83-year-old man charged with killing a couple in a northeastern Wisconsin park in 1976 has been found competent to stand trial. A judge in Marinette County Circuit Court on Wednesday found that Raymand Vannieuwenhoven is able to understand the court proceedings and assist in his own defense. Vannieuwenhoven was arrested […] More

November 5, 2020

Seagram’s heir sentenced to prison in branded sex slave case
Seagram’s heir sentenced to prison in branded sex slave case

By TOM HAYS Asscociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — An heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune was sentenced Wednesday to an 81-month prison term and immediately thrown behind bars for her role as an unwavering benefactor of Keith Raniere, the disgraced self-improvement guru convicted of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his […] More

September 30, 2020

Jailed for 37 years, Florida man cleared of murder, rape
Jailed for 37 years, Florida man cleared of murder, rape

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — After 37 years behind bars, a Florida man was formally cleared Monday of a 1983 rape and murder that DNA evidence proved he did not commit after a long-ago trial that relied on a sketchy jailhouse informant and faulty bite mark analysis. Robert […] More

September 14, 2020

Indiana man organizing Colorado search for missing sister
Indiana man organizing Colorado search for missing sister

UPDATED 9/3/20 ALEXANDRIA, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana man whose sister vanished in May after going on a bicycle ride near her Colorado home is organizing a search of the mountainous area, saying that his family has waited long enough.   Andy Moorman announced the planned search of the area near Maysville, Colorado, on Saturday during a […] More

September 3, 2020

Innocent Florida inmate released after 37 years
Innocent Florida inmate released after 37 years

By CURT ANDERSON and TAMARA LUSH Associated Press BOWLING GREEN, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who spent the last 37 years in prison on a rape and murder charge was released Thursday, hours after officials revealed dramatic new evidence that proved his innocence.   Robert DuBoise walked out of the Hardee Correctional Institution in […] More

August 28, 2020

Golden State Killer sentenced to life for 26 rapes, slayings
Golden State Killer sentenced to life for 26 rapes, slayings

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press UPDATED 8/21/20  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former California police officer who became known as the Golden State Killer told victims Friday he was “truly sorry” before he was sentenced to life imprisonment for a decade-long string of rapes and murders across a wide swath of California. Sacramento County Superior […] More

August 21, 2020

Victims want Golden State Killer to live in fear in prison
Victims want Golden State Killer to live in fear in prison

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Since death row isn’t an option for serial killer and rapist Joseph DeAngelo, his victims want him sent to the toughest possible prison in California to live in daily terror of other inmates.   But they may not have much say over where or how the […] More

August 20, 2020

Survivors seize chance to confront Golden State Killer
Survivors seize chance to confront Golden State Killer

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Joseph DeAngelo’s victims are reveling in their chance to finally confront him in a courtroom, four decades after he committed 13 known murders and dozens of rapes that spanned much of California. Many said they thought their opportunity would never come as the former police officer […] More

August 19, 2020

Police, FBI search for evidence in 2003 disappearance
Police, FBI search for evidence in 2003 disappearance

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville police and FBI agents searched a rural Tennessee property on Wednesday, Aug. 12 for any evidence of a girl who disappeared 17 years ago. Tabitha Tuders was 13 years old when she left her East Nashville home sometime after 7:30 a.m. on April 29, 2003, to catch a school bus […] More

August 18, 2020

Golden State Killer faces his victims in 1st day of hearings
Golden State Killer faces his victims in 1st day of hearings

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Golden State Killer, a former police officer in California who eluded capture for four decades, faces his victims in court Tuesday on the first of four days of hearings before he is sentenced to life in prison. The scope of Joseph James DeAngelo’s crimes “is […] More

August 18, 2020

2 men charged in ’02 killing of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay
2 men charged in ’02 killing of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay

By JIM MUSTIAN, MICHAEL BALSAMO and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two decades after the slaying of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, federal prosecutors said Monday they have solved one of New York City’s most enduring mysteries, charging two men from his neighborhood with murder and suggesting that the hip-hop artist […] More

August 17, 2020

California’s Golden State Killer faces life prison sentence
California’s Golden State Killer faces life prison sentence

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer, faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 13 rape-related charges and 13 murder counts stemming from crimes in the 1970s and 1980s across six California counties. He pleaded guilty in June and is set to be sentenced […] More

August 17, 2020

Money offered for info on former ‘Tiger King’ star husband
Money offered for info on former ‘Tiger King’ star husband

By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The family of a Florida man who disappeared in 1997 and who appeared on the hit TV series “Tiger King,” has hired a lawyer and is offering $100,000 in exchange for information to help solve the case. Attorney John Phillips held a news conference in […] More

August 10, 2020

Man granted bond after conviction tossed in church killings
Man granted bond after conviction tossed in church killings

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A man who has spent two decades in custody was granted bond Thursday after his conviction in the killings of a couple at a south Georgia church was overturned. Dennis Perry, 58, has been serving two life sentences for the 1985 killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, who were killed inside […] More

July 24, 2020

Judge could decide soon on new trial in 1985 Georgia murders
Judge could decide soon on new trial in 1985 Georgia murders

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge says he could decide by Friday whether a Georgia man should get a new trial in the 1985 shooting deaths of a husband and wife. Dennis Perry is serving two life sentences for the killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, who were slain inside Rising Daughters Baptist Church in […] More

July 17, 2020

Missouri man freed from prison with help from WNBA’s Moore
Missouri man freed from prison with help from WNBA’s Moore

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man was freed from prison Wednesday after a county prosecutor declined to retry his case, punctuating years of work by WNBA star Maya Moore and other supporters who argued he was falsely convicted of burglary and assault charges. Moore was on hand when Jonathan Irons, 40, walked out […] More

July 1, 2020

Golden State Killer admits murders, rapes for life in prison
Golden State Killer admits murders, rapes for life in prison

By DON THOMPSON and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gay Hardwick stood arm-in-arm with her husband to face a criminal dubbed the Golden State Killer and couldn’t recognize the elderly man hunched in a wheelchair as the sadistic rapist who had terrorized them 42 years earlier. In a hushed and raspy voice, […] More

June 30, 2020

Alleged Golden State Killer to plead guilty to murders
Alleged Golden State Killer to plead guilty to murders

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former police officer who terrorized the Sacramento region as a serial rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people across California and evade capture for decades said Monday he will plead guilty to murder and admit dozens of sex assaults. Joseph James […] More

June 29, 2020

California man faces 26 charges in Golden State Killer case
California man faces 26 charges in Golden State Killer case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer, faces 13 rape-related charges and 13 murder counts stemming from crimes in the 1970s and 1980s across six counties in California. He is expected to enter a guilty plea during a hearing Monday. Authorities allege the 74-year-old is the elusive Golden State Killer, […] More

June 29, 2020

Sheriff asks for video to be saved in search for Colorado woman
Sheriff asks for video to be saved in search for Colorado woman

MAYSVILLE, Colo. (AP) — Authorities are asking residents to preserve video footage from doorbells and security and wildlife cameras in case it might help in the search for a Colorado woman who disappeared after going for a bicycle ride. Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze made the request on Sunday for video taken between May 8 […] More

May 21, 2020

New search conducted in Kristin Smart’s 1996 disappearance
New search conducted in Kristin Smart’s 1996 disappearance

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new search warrant was served Wednesday at the Los Angeles home of a man who has long been described as a person of interest in the 1996 disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart, authorities said.   The warrant served at the home of Paul […] More

April 23, 2020

Police: Tennessee woman admits to killing baby a decade ago
Police: Tennessee woman admits to killing baby a decade ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman called authorities and admitted to killing her child nearly a decade ago, police say. Zohal Sakwall, 40, told Nashville detectives that she suffocated her 4-month-old daughter, Natalie, with a plastic bag in June 2010, according to a news release Tuesday from the police department. Sakwall called the Metro Nashville Police […] More

March 25, 2020

Man pleads not guilty in 1991 Missouri killing of classmate
Man pleads not guilty in 1991 Missouri killing of classmate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man charged in the fatal shooting his 14-year-old classmate almost 30 years ago pleaded not guilty Monday to first-degree murder. William Christopher Niemet, 43, of Fulton, is charged in the death of Greg Jones, whose body was found in June 1991 near Russellville. He had been shot twice in the […] More

March 10, 2020

Police: Woman charged in cold case- baby found dead in 2008
Police: Woman charged in cold case- baby found dead in 2008

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — A woman accused of giving birth and then leaving her infant to die beside a South Carolina highway has been arrested more than a decade after the child was found dead. Jennifer Sahr, 32, of Pensacola, Florida, was expected in court Wednesday for a bond hearing in the death of the […] More

March 5, 2020