Studer Community Institute

Escambia Sheriff's Investigators solve majority of 2014 homicides

December 26, 2014
/ Mollye Barrows
/ government

The Escambia Sheriff’s Office solved 11 out of 16 homicides this year, bringing 2014’s clearance rate to almost 70 percent. “We’re proud of what our investigators have accomplished,” said spokesperson Sena Maddison, “but we would be able to do more if more people were willing to come forward with information.” Lack of cooperation is the reason many cases go unresolved. When the physical evidence isn’t there, help from witnesses is crucial, but there’s not much investigators can do if people aren’t willing to talk. “It’s probably the most frustrating part of working any type of crime because you know somebody out there has that information,” said Escambia Investigator Stephen Hall. “The case could be resolved almost immediately, but they’re withholding that information.” Hall just got assigned to the Cold Case Unit four months ago. He ends with the murders and missing persons that remain unsolved. There are approximately 70 that date back decades. “My oldest cold case that I’ve got identified and assigned to me dates back to 1970,” said Hall. “It’s one of those situations, where do you start? There are so many binders on the shelf, which one do you grab first?” Hall has stacks of binders and boxes filled with documents and crime scene photos. The sheer volume makes it impossible to give them all the same time and attention, but investigators regularly review them and follow up on any leads. “Working a cold case can be pretty difficult,” said Hall, “because it’s one of those situations, you weren’t there. A lot of the information you have, it may not be complete, it may be scattered. “You might have a binder that looks well put together, but then you have a box of stuff hidden in the corner that’s got a bunch of other documents that haven’t been gone through in quite a while. A lot of the witnesses are almost impossible to get in touch with.” Advances in DNA testing and other investigative tools is an asset, but the colder the case, the longer the wait when it comes to getting evidence retested. “What you have, is sometimes all you’re ever going to get,” said Hall. “You’ve “got to go back through and see what evidence was collected, how was it processed. “The technological advances that have been made in the last 10 to 15 years is astronomical on what they can find out from that piece of evidence you collected in 1980. It can be a daunting task and be a bit overwhelming at times.” Hall is determined to make a dent in the dozens of cold cases before more are piled up in his office. He wants to bring closure to hurting families and murderers to justice, but says that would often be easier to do if people cooperated with law enforcement. “There are a lot of cases out there that wouldn’t necessarily be cold at all if people would be willing to come forward,” said Hall, “even making a call to CrimeStoppers. Point us in a different direction, give us that piece of information that we may have, but we’re looking at it in a different manner. Give us that name that we may not have uncovered yet. That’s how these cases are moved along.”

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Escambia Sheriff's Investigators solve majority of 2014 homicides

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