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Author: Yujiemi Chisholm

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Highlights

Maricopa County receives $3 million in federal funding to help solve crimes

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) announced that it would receive about $3 million in grants from the Department of Justice to help victims of crime. MCAO’s $500,000 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA (COLD) Program grant will enable additional DNA testing, the creation of a countywide database of cold cases, hiring of a data analyst, and an increase of resources available for prosecutors who specialize in cold case homicide investigations. This is the first time MCAO has been awarded this grant, and their goal is to increase the number of successful prosecutions of cold cases throughout Maricopa County and provide closure to the victims of violent crimes.
February 2022
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Highlights

Denver Police solve four related cold case homicides that occurred between 1978 and 1981

The Denver Police Department and law enforcement partners today announced that through the continued determination of investigators, DNA evidence, investigative genetic genealogy and familial DNA search, the suspect in three Denver cold case homicides and an Adams County cold case homicide has been identified as Joe Michael Ervin (DOB: 6/25/51), who is deceased. The murders of three women and a teenage girl occurred in separate incidents between 1978 and 1981. The four cases were linked together and solved through several significant investigative developments beginning 35 years later. The final identification of the suspect in these four murders through Investigative Genetic Genealogy and familial DNA research was a result of Denver’s Integrated Cold Case Project. This project is funded in part through a 2020 Genetic Genealogy & Familial Match Searching grant, awarded to the Denver Police Department by the Bureau of Justice Assistance for a total of $470,000.
January 2022
Dark grey-filled circle with a woman holding a sword and a justice scale inside
County of Monterey

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni receives a $535,000 federal grant for her cold case task force for use of DNA technology in violent crime investigations and prosecutions

District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force a $535,000 grant for the use of DNA technology in cold-case investigations and prosecutions. With the support of the grant, the Cold Case Task Force proposes to identify and actively investigate 45 violent-crime cold cases over the next three years where suspect DNA has been identified or where there is DNA evidence that could be used to identify previously unidentified human remains. The grant funding will enable the Task Force to hire an annuitant investigator to exclusively work on qualifying cold cases, as well as to pursue advanced DNA testing at accredited private laboratories.
January 2022
Bureau of Justice Statistics

Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices, 2018

This report provides data on the personnel, budget, workload, and policies of medical examiner and coroner offices in the United States. The report details the number and type of personnel employed, staff certification, and training. It includes the number of cases referred to and accepted by medical examiner and coroner offices, the number of autopsies conducted, and the number of decedents with unidentified remains on record, including the percentage from which DNA evidence has been collected. Findings are based on data from BJS’s 2018 and 2004 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices [Description provided by the BJS website].
November 2021
FTCOE

Just Workforce Resiliency For MDIs

In the first episode of the FTCOE’s Workforce Resiliency season, the presenters discuss the responsibilities of medicolegal death investigators, difficulties in retaining qualified staff, and their findings on work-related stress within the profession as it related to resiliency.
October 2021
FTCOE

DART-MS Data Interpretation Tool And Other Resources For Seized Drug Analysis

This webinar provides an overview of the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ’s) and National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) Data Interpretation Tool (DIT). The presenters discuss how to use the NIST/NIJ DART-MS DIT, how to use the Library Search Algorithm function, and other resources available for implementing DART-MS in laboratories.
October 2021
Investigative Resource Repository

Maryland Criminal Procedure – Forensic Genetic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Search – Applicability for Deceased and Missing Individuals

The Maryland General Assembly enacted an amendment (effective October 1, 2024) to the comprehensive statute limiting the application and use of Forensic Genetic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Search (FGGS) set forth in Title 17 of the Criminal Procedure Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, excluding steps taken using FGGS to identify unidentified human remains from coverage of Title 17. This comprehensive statute was originally enacted, and took effect, on October 1, 2021.
October 2021
FTCOE

ABMDI Continuing Education Credits

This page is dedicated to detailing FTCOE virtual events that can be used to apply for American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigator (ABMDI) Continuing Education (CE) credits.
July 2021

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