Introduction

It is hard to imagine that it has been more than 20 years now since Vernon Geberth, retired lieutenant commander in homicide of the NYPD and editor of the forensic series for CRC Press, viewed a cold case presentation I made at a conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. While passing each other on the escalators at the host hotel, he told me he wanted me to write a textbook on practical cold case homicide investigation. Having recently retired from my 34-year association with the badge, an adventure which began as a young college student in 1968 who became a reserve police officer and followed this up with more than three decades as a California deputy sheriff and district attorney investigator, I was in the middle of my studies in pursuit of my doctoral degree.