A Kentwood man, a Catholic parish administrator, is in custody for allegedly sexually abusing a minor in Grand Haven. The encounter happened at hotel in August, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.
— Read on www.wxyz.com/news/deputies-fmr-grand-rapids-church-employee-arrested-charged-for-sexually-abusing-minor
Good intentions and vague promises are worthless here.
What do the Atlanta child murders (1979-1981), the JonBenet Ramsey murder (1996) and the Oakland County child killings (1976-1977) have in common when it comes to the concept of third-party labs that specialize in analyzing deteriorated DNA ? All three cases involve the possibility that results will cast law enforcement and city/county officials in a very bad light. There might not be the back-patting that attends the announcements of the closure of other cold cases.
I recently wrote about the relative (very relative) lightening speed with which Boulder PD was backed into a corner regarding testing and retesting of the evidence in JonBenet Ramsey’s murder case. https://catherinebroad.blog/2023/11/29/false-investigative-starts-wild-conspiracy-theories-and-a-seemingly-infinite-number-of-accusations-against-nearly-everyone-involved-with-the-case-the-murder-of-jonbenet-ramsey-26-years-ago/ . After years of evidence deterioration, Boulder PD is being forced to loosen its grip on the only evidence that may provide answers. Hopefully this will be examined by a third-party lab with greater capabilities than the state lab. They may yet lose the ability to make the utterly pathetic argument that at most what might be found is touch-DNA from a factory worker in China who packaged the underwear JonBenet was wearing when she was murdered.
Even though the process is finally in motion, there is no telling how long it will take for the cold case team to decide where to send the evidence and who’s going to pay for it, let alone how long the testing itself and any resulting investigation might take.
In the Atlanta child murders case, the mayor, police chief and county DA announced a new DNA testing effort in March 2019. See https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2021/10/19/utah-lab-to-examine-dna-evidence-in-atlanta-child-murders/ . Investigators hand delivered DNA evidence to Sorenson Forensics, located in the Salt Lake City, Utah suburb of Draper in 2021. Id.
A year after that there was still no report on what testing might have revealed in the four decades old case. https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2022/11/01/utah-lab-not-discussing-atlanta-child-murders-progress-a-year-after-receiving-dna-samples/ . An unnamed lab worker said at that time, November 1, 2022, that they received the inquiries but could not divulge any information on the progress or confirmation of any tests on the Atlanta Child Murder victims DNA.
Some 13 months after that article, there are still no answers. So, almost five years (57 months) after the announcement that a new DNA testing effort would take place in the Atlanta child murder case, and two years after detectives hand delivered the DNA evidence to Utah, there are no updates.
That brings me to the OCCK cases. Apparently only the vaguest of discussions have taken place about testing/retesting the evidence and I don’t even know if the need for a specialized, third party lab has been broached. A predictably lame effort was made with Identifinders Int., who met with detectives to discuss the case (I have the dates, but it is such bullshit I am not even going to look it up) but apparently did nothing but evaluate the magic mtDNA hair evidence and the partial Y-str sample for suitability for genetic genealogy. Yeah, no kidding it was worthless for that purpose. And no one discussed retesting the kids’ clothing for previously unidentified male DNA?!
Walk through a hypothetical timeline with me for the inevitable and unavoidable need to have the OCCK evidence retested by a third party lab.
- Get the detective currently assigned to this case to address the need for this testing and agree to ask for approval. Too busy, so weeks to months.
- Months for “approval” up the chain of command, after consultation with the state lab workers currently responsible for this evidence.
- Argue about who is going to pay for these four homicide cases to be so evaluated.
- Assign somebody to research grants offered by private labs and whether the case would qualify for federal funds (I don’t think it would and the hoops to jump through would take another year, minimum).
- After much back and forth, put the college students working in conjunction with the MSP on cold cases on the question of grants. (Should have been done already.)
- Debate which lab to use.
- Contact lab to initiate discussions. Phone calls back and forth.
- Have state lab prepare evidence for chain of custody drop off at third party lab.
- As in the Atlanta murders, wait at least two more years.
- The lab answers only to law enforcement. Who answer only to themselves. The prosecutor defers to law enforcement because they are the “investigating agency.”
Do you see how this works? The OCCK case is almost 50 years old. Instead of foot-dragging until the next detective, the next prosecutor, is responsible for this case, expedite it. As I have said many times, the MSP has already squandered millions of dollars on the case, pushing the food around the plate. They have either paid for or arranged for third party lab testing in other cold cases in Michigan. The state lab knows the drill. The foot-dragging here is indefensible.
Good intentions and vague promises are great until they run up against the MSP, who like Boulder PD, have had to answer to no one for their failures or the status of the case. I am tired of the dance that has to be done around law enforcement officers who are charged with speaking and acting on behalf of murder victims. Do your fucking jobs.
Anything except the most expedited path in this case will mean another five years, easy. And don’t forget–you still have survivors of the child sex/porn rings in Michigan from that same era that you need to interview. “Time is of the essence” is an understatement. Every month of delay is exponential when you consider the hoops to jump through and the foot-draggers who might have to sign off.
Justice delayed is justice denied. But I think everyone involved in “investigating” this case knows that and is banking on it.