detective

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Police: Drunk Detective Opens Jail Cells, Frees Inmates

As a result, 13 criminals are on the loose in Zambia

(Newser) - Thirteen prisoners are on the run in Zambia after a remarkably easy escape from jail. Police say one of their own—a detective inspector—got drunk on New Year's Eve and opened up their cells, reports CNN . Titus Phiri, "in a state of intoxication, forcibly seized cell keys"...

Iranians Listen Weekly to One Beloved 'American'

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar detective series has returned to Iranian radio decades after vanishing

(Newser) - While tensions remain high between the US and Iran, there's at least one American that state radio in Tehran invites on the air each week for its millions of listeners. It's just that he's a fictional detective who's been on the case since 1949. Yours Truly,...

California Detective Has Become a Cold Case Ace
California Detective Has
Become a Cold Case Ace
LONGFORM
Jan 14, 2024 2:20 PM CST

California Detective Has Become a Cold Case Ace

'San Francisco Chronicle' profiles one who has solved eight of them in seven years

(Newser) - Cold cases hold particular fascination in the true crime genre, and detective Matt Hutchison can relate. He's managed to solve eight of them in seven years as an officer rotating into the robbery-homicide beat in California's Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. And while detectives disguising themselves as busboys...

Murder Retrial Nears Verdict in Rule-Breaking Detective's Case

Another look at Louis Scarcella's work has resulted in overturned convictions

(Newser) - In the bloody years when killings peaked in New York City, detective Louis Scarcella built a reputation for closing cases. A second-generation cop who ran marathons, worked a side job at a Coney Island amusement park and jokingly put "adventurer" on his business card, the now-retired sleuth has been...

Man Wins $10.5M Decades After Being Allegedly Framed

Shawn Williams spent 24 years in prison

(Newser) - A woman said she saw Shawn Williams with a gun at the scene in Brooklyn, NY, where his neighbor was shot to death in July 1993. The 19-year-old denied that he'd pulled the trigger. In fact, he denied that he was even in the state. It didn't matter....

Meet the Man Who Has Found Dictators' Secret Fortunes

Jules Kroll, 80, has had a legendary career

(Newser) - Jules Kroll is arguably the world's most famous private eye, and he was seeking a redemption piece, writes Simon Shuster for Time . The 80-year-old New Yorker was looking to give an interview, and Shuster obliged. It came after some years of press that wasn't so flattering, among it...

Cop Suspended for 'Unfathomable' Post on Dead Protester

'All Lives Splatter' post has Mike Brown in hot water after Summer Taylor's death in Seattle

(Newser) - A cousin of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee who's been a cop for 40 years has been suspended over inflammatory online posts following the death of a protester in Seattle. Summer Taylor, 24, was hit by a car on a closed freeway Saturday and later died ; Mike Brown, a King...

He Was the Onlooker in This Famous, Jarring Photo

Dallas detective Jim Leavelle dead at 99, was handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald

(Newser) - Jim Leavelle would never forget the day—Nov. 24, 1963—that he stood handcuffed to President John F. Kennedy's killer as Lee Harvey Oswald was fatally shot. "I'm reminded of it every day through somebody," the Dallas homicide detective said in an interview some 50 years...

15-Year-Old Told Him She'd Been Raped. Then, This

Neil David Kimball is probably facing a 3-year sentence

(Newser) - This time, Neil David Kimball is likely going to prison. Accused of raping a teenage girl, the veteran LA detective pleaded guilty last week to lighter charges that should trigger a three-year sentence—after he skirted charges on two earlier allegations, the New York Times reports. The Ventura County district...

DA: Detective Told Weinstein Accuser to Delete Phone Data

It's the latest problem to roil prosecutors' case against the producer

(Newser) - The sexual assault case against Harvey Weinstein was roiled Wednesday for the second time in a week by what New York City prosecutors said was a police detective's improper conduct, the AP reports. Detective Nicholas DiGaudio, whose alleged witness coaching prompted the dismissal of part of the case last...

Meet the Guy Who Busts Fake Service Members, Lying Vets

Anthony Anderson exposes phonies and vets who hype what they've done: the 'Atlantic'

(Newser) - Armed with plenty of caffeine and a laptop, Anthony Anderson works from his South Carolina home to expose a unique type of deception: stolen valor, where people pretend to be service members, or actual service members and veterans who exaggerate or lie about their war stories. A piece in the...

Chicago Leads US in Murders, Lacks Detectives to Solve Them

The city has a murder clearance rate of 46%, one of the lowest in the US

(Newser) - The situation in Chicago looks dire. According to a Reuters report, the murder rate in America's third-largest city is skyrocketing while the number of detectives tasked with solving those homicides is dropping. Chicago is on pace to have more homicides this year than in any year since 1997. In...

Cops: Guys Try to Steal Car With Detective in It

Well-thought-out plan does not succeed

(Newser) - It must have seemed like easy pickins: Police say two men in suburban Fort Worth spotted a car warming up outside a home early yesterday morning and tried to steal it. The first problem was that, unbeknownst to them because of the still-frosted windows, the owner was inside, reports Reuters...

Report: Black Man Secretly Helped Great Crime Writers

Gumshoe Samuel Marlowe apparently wrote to Chandler, Hammett

(Newser) - Two great American crime novelists may have relied on a man unknown to history—a black detective in Los Angeles—to help them get their facts straight, the LA Times reports. Samuel Marlowe, said to be the city's first black gumshoe, worked for celebrities, studios, and speakeasies in the...

Detective Scrawls Message in Victim's Blood

Charles Hoffacker may be in trouble for it, too

(Newser) - Crime-solver by day, offbeat artist by night? That's New Orleans homicide detective Charles Hoffacker, who last week scrawled a message at a murder scene—in the victim's blood, WWLTV reports. The department has decommissioned him (no uni, no gun, no street jobs) and launched an internal investigation, but...

Sherlock Holmes Would Stink as Detective Today

Criminology teacher takes down the world-famous crime-solver

(Newser) - Who hasn't been annoyed when Sherlock Holmes deftly solves a crime with a "what the...?" answer and calls it "elementary, my dear Watson"? Criminology teacher Noah Charney is apparently among us, writing in the Daily Beast that Holmes' thinking just wouldn't work in real-life...

Legendary Thief Caught by Retired Archnemesis

Lonnie Mason had been on Blane Nordahl's trail for decades

(Newser) - It's a criminal tale that reads like Catch Me If You Can. At its center: a thief of antique silver alleged to have burgled 500 homes over 30 years (including that of Ivanka Trump) and the retired detective who spent his career trailing him. Blane Nordahl was arrested yesterday...

2 LA Cops Shot Near Station

Ambush leaves detectives injured

(Newser) - Two LAPD detectives were hospitalized after being shot on their return to a police station early today; authorities are now searching for the gunman who ambushed the cops. Three people have been detained following the attack, which involved an exchange of shots. "When they swiped their key card" to...

Rapist May Be Sentenced— Even Though He's Dead

Former cop Anthony Orban killed himself following conviction

(Newser) - A former police detective was convicted of kidnapping and rape last year—but before he could be sentenced, he committed suicide. But he's not off the hook: A California judge could still sentence Anthony Orban despite his death. "The only reason he is not here is because he...

Mom Packs Books, Lunch, Pistol for 6-Year-Old

Retired detective leaves gun in school bag

(Newser) - One 6-year-old girl surprised her classmates at a New York school this week by opening her bag and brandishing a .25-caliber handgun—left courtesy of her mom, a retired NYPD detective. "No one was hurt—but maybe she don't know it's a real gun and bang, bang,...

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