Cold case investigations

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As cold-case investigations , new police investigation into a previously unexplained criminal case referred. Since murder does not become statute-barred and forensic technology is constantly evolving, for example DNA analysis , as well as new scientific findings with regard to crime scene or perpetrator behavior analysis ( operational case analysis ), "cold" murder cases can sometimes still be resolved and the perpetrators convicted even after decades.

term

The term comes from the Anglo-American legal area, where such proceedings are referred to as cold case investigations . In 1996 a cold case unit was first established at the FBI .

Situation in Germany

In Germany, the term stands for investigative proceedings after homicides that have been unsuccessful after a long period of time. The first units were founded in 2015 and 2016, sometimes also referred to as "Soko Altfälle", for example in Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Hamburg. Where there is no such unit, the crimes are dealt with within the framework of normal police structures.

Covert investigations according to the so-called "cold case technique" by establishing a relationship of trust with the suspect and involving him in a faked criminal organization, whereby he is induced to commit alleged criminal offenses against payment, are not generally inadmissible, but can constitute a violation represent the procedural principle of freedom from self-incrimination .

In 2011, the Carmen Kampa murder case in Bremen was cleared up after 40 years by cold-case investigators.

Cold case investigations are, however, often carried out with the active involvement of the public, as reported by the wanted program Aktenzeichen XY ... unresolved several times on cases that were long ago. According to the investigators in the program, the motivation here is, among other things, the desire to speak to those who knew about it, who at the time did not contact the police for personal reasons (e.g. friendship with the perpetrator) but are now willing to do so due to changed circumstances could be. The possible statute of limitations for one's own involvement in the crime could also play a role here.

Situation in other countries

In Austria the Federal Criminal Police Office has a department for cold-case investigations.

In Canada , the Mr. Big method was developed for cold case investigations in the 1990s .

literature

  • David Ryan Kirkpatrick: The Use of Undercover Agents. Handbook for Law Enforcement Practice. Verlag Deutsche Polizeiliteratur, 2013. ISBN 978-3801106614 .
  • Silvia Pettem: Cold Case Research Resources for Unidentified, Missing and Cold Homicide Cases. CRC Press, Boca Raton 2013, ISBN 978-1439861691 .
  • Richard Walton: Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques. CRC Press, Boca Raton 2006, ISBN 978-0849322099 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Death in Teufelstal - "Cold Case" cleared up after 27 years MDR , 2018.
  2. ↑ Important day of negotiations in the Aschaffenburg cold case process BR , April 20, 2020.
  3. ^ Cold case Cambridge Dictionary, accessed July 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ cold case dict.cc, accessed on July 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ Thomas Fritz: When does a criminal case become a cold case? Interview with Christian Soulier, state chairman of the Federation of German Criminal Investigators in Rhineland-Palatinate, April 29, 2019.
  6. ↑ cf. "I don't think the Rebecca case is a 'cold case'" rbb24, February 17, 2020.
  7. ↑ Anna Fischhaber, Oliver Klasen: How cold case specialists convict murderers Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 19, 2017.
  8. ^ OLG Zweibrücken, decision of May 26, 2010 - 1 Ws 241/09
  9. ↑ Section 3.2.3 Cold Case Management (CCM) bmi.gv.at, accessed on January 28, 2014