News Archive

Newsletters

Articles

Join the Yahoo Group CLP Morgue (a service offered by the Crime Lab Project.) To learn more about the Crime Lab Project visit http://www.crimelabproject.com or the blog at http://crimelabproject.blogspot.com. New subscribers can join the list by sending a blank e-mail to: CLPMorgue-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Thumbs Up
Smack in the middle of a troubling crime wave, Jennifer Hannaford, a petite, curious woman from Vermont - Vermont?! - has turned the Boston Police Department's embattled fingerprint lab into a well-oiled machine. [Read the article]

Sheriff's department steps up crime solving techniques with new evidence response team
By KIMBERLY LONG
The Fulton Sun (http://www.fultonsun.com/articles/2007/07/01/news/183news03csi.prt)

Mike Himmel is no Horatio Caine - the head investigator on the popular CBS network series "CSI: Miami" - but he definitely has the skills to solve crimes like the fictional sleuth.

Himmel is the lead technician for the Callaway County Sheriff's Department's newly-organized Evidence Response Team.

Like his Hollywood counterparts, Himmel's primary duty is to collect and analyze crime scene evidence.

"If a case needs special attention as far as forensics go, then I'm called out," Himmel said in a recent interview with The Fulton Sun. "My whole mission is evidence."

The Callaway unit was created a few months after the Christmas Eve double-homicide of Sarah and Benjamin Bonnie, who were found shot to death Dec. 24, 2006, in their rural New Bloomfield home.

The need for such a sophisticated unit, Himmel said, is a growing need.

"Evidence has become pretty specialized, and the sheriff realizes that it's time we get up to date where we need to be," Himmel said. "Not only that, the general public thinks we should be able to do what they see on TV, and the juries even expect it."

What the public doesn't realize, Himmel said, is how costly the equipment, training and manpower is to mimic the television show's dramatic results.

To set up a serviceable crime scene unit, Himmel said, costs between $70,000 and $100,000. Callaway's department has already purchased a fully-equipped truck, and set up an inner-department darkroom for storing and analyzing evidence and field equipment.

In the future, Himmel said, extra manpower will likely be needed.

Himmel - a 32-year veteran in law enforcement and crime scene investigation - said the most interesting part is "delayering the puzzle."

"When you're working the scene of a crime, you have the victim and the location that both offer you information," he said. "The intriguing part is finding the transfer between the two objects."

Himmel said his job is important for multiple reasons.

"One, I free up the detectives so they don't have to worry about gathering evidence, and they can focus on doing their job of following up on leads," he said. "Two, I bring justice to the victim's loss.

"Generally, we're the last people who can communicate with the dead. So when we're working a scene, we have to listen and talk to it, forensically, so we can get to the truth."

Himmel is quite knowledgeable in his field. In 1988, he helped work the first DNA case in the state's history, which ended in the conviction of Columbia resident Ralph Davis, who murdered his wife, Susan, and nearly got away with it.

Himmel worked with the Platt County Sheriff's Department from 1975 to 1980, before transferring to the Columbia Police Department, where he eventually retired after 20 years of service. He also served as New Bloomfield Police Chief for two years, and has been an active member of the Mid-Missouri Major Case Squad.

Additionally, he teaches a Cold Case class at Columbia College, which is solved a 21-year-old case in May 2006.

"We're pretty fortunate to have Mike on our team. He's considered an expert in his field," said Callaway Sheriff Dennis Crane. "In the past, we relied heavily on Columbia to process our evidence; now we have our own on board."

Himmel said he would like to revisit some of Callaway County's unsolved homicides, as his caseload allows. Currently there are five.

His focus now is to train two officers - one each from the Holts Summit and Fulton police departments - to form a stronger evidence response team.

The trio will perform monthly training sessions that Himmel said will prepare the group for future incidents.

"This includes technology training, evidence collection, photography, among other things," he said. "So when the time comes, we're all on the same page and can work effectively together."

CCSD relies on the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab to process its evidence. Himmel said the fact that Callaway County now has its own evidence response team will not change that partnership.

"I'm just the collector of evidence, we still have to rely on the highway patrol," Himmel said. As for his new position, he added, "I enjoy what I do and look forward to working with this department and other departments in the county.

"If they need help, all they have to do is ask."

» Meet the St. Charles police's top CSI guy - Tiemann

» 'Jack of all trades' is top cop - Gray

» Decision in Motion to Reconsider

» In the Wake of the Langill Decision

» Silent Witness - Revised 2007