My Favorite Detective Stories

Bruce is a renowned investigator specializing in tracking down medical serial killers and is in demand as a consultant on that subject all over the world. He is a former Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Field Office, Criminal Investigations Division, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of the Inspector General where he was responsible for criminal investigation in 295 VA facilities. He is a licensed private investigator and conducts internal investigations for one of the largest medical centers in the world. He is president of the Society of Professional Investigators. This episode is the first of a two-part exploration into his cases that are highlighted in his recently published book Behind the Murder Curtain Download an article about Bruce's book and career here: Behind the Murder Curtain Article

Our guest this week is Antony M. Brown Author, Move to Murder, Death of an Actress and The Green Bicycle Mystery http://www.coldcasejury.com Cold Case Jury books are gripping true crime mysteries from decades and centuries past. Combining history with a real-life whodunit, each book reads like a fast-paced thriller.

Dr. Colaprete served for 20 years in policing and retired as a Patrol Division Operations Lieutenant. He is currently teaching, consulting, and conducting independent criminal justice research in myriad topics as the owner and lead consultant of Justice Systems Solutions, LLC. He has published three textbooks: Internal Investigations: A Practitioner’s Approach and Mentoring in the Criminal Justice Professions: Conveyance of the Craft, both released through Charles C. Thomas Publishers, Limited, and Pre-Employment Background Investigations for Public Safety Professionals through the Taylor Francis Group/CRC Press. Email: [email protected] Website: http://justicesystemssolutions.com

John is a pioneer in forensic and genetic genealogy, with over a dozen years of experience in finding and reuniting lost loved ones. He has recently expanded his work portfolio to include assisting members of Law Enforcement in the solving of criminal cold cases. He is going to talk about the latest advances in DNA and crime solving

Tristram Hicks joined the London Metropolitan Police as a constable in 1985, retiring as detective superintendent in 2012. By 1999 he was head of financial intelligence at Scotland Yard, leading teams of field/ financial intelligence, surveillance officers & analysts. In 2004, he set up & commanded the London regional asset recovery team, the first multi-agency team in London to tackle serious organized crime by ‘following the money’, In the ten years prior to 2003, UK agencies confiscated an annual average of just £15m (cUSD20m) from criminals. Tristram was on the national all-agency committee that created and implemented the UK Proceeds of Crime Act, 2002. The average confiscation over the next ten years increased tenfold to £130m (cUSD200m). From 2009 to date he has delivered technical assistance to foreign jurisdictions seeking to recover the proceeds of corruption & organised crime. Tristram has degrees from the University of York (BA History, 1981) and University College London (MSc Crime Science, 2008)

John Straley is a novelist, poet and private investigator living in Sitka, Alaska. He previously worked for 30 years with the Public Defenders office throughout the entire state. His crime novel called, Baby’s First Felony, was published in July 2018. He was appointed as the twelfth Alaska Writer Laureate in 2006. The University of Alaska in Fairbanks awarded him an honorary Doctorate in 2008, and his work has been featured on Fresh Air, with Terry Gross, and CBS Sunday Morning. John Straley lives in a bright green house on the water with his wife Jan, a noted marine biologist.

Today we are joined by Mark and Wendy Murnan. This husband and wife duo who work together on investigations throughout southern Florida. They have some excellent stories to share with us. You do not want to miss this episode. Website: http://completelegalinv.com Twitter: @completelegalnv Facebook: http://Facebook.com/completelegalinvestigation

Scott is a licensed private investigator in Utah and Colorado. Moreover, he is a prolific author and speaker. He is an Army veteran and served with the 2nd Armored Division (Hell on Wheels) in the first Gulf War Afterwards; he attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and Security Management. While in college, Scott began working for one of the largest private investigation firms in Texas. Later, he was granted a top-secret U.S. government security clearance. He spent several years conducting sensitive national security background investigations for the U.S. government. Additionally, he worked as a state investigator for the Missouri Public Defender at the appellate level. After completing his state and federal experience, he and his wife Valerie founded Intermountain PI in Utah in 2002. Website: http://www.Intermountainpi.com Confessions of a Private Eye

Today we're joined by Katherine M. Mayer. She received a Masters in Forensic Psychology while interning with the Capital Defender of Northern Virginia. She worked as a Mitigation Specialist with the Public Defender of Miami-Dade’s Capital Litigation Unit. She's currently a private investigator and mitigation specialist in Austin Texas. Email: [email protected] https://www.kmayerconsulting.com/

John F. Nardizzi is the owner of Boston based Nardizzi & Associates. He is a pioneer in investigating wrongful convictions and developing information on decades-old cases. He has published articles for Pursuit Magazine, PI Magazine, Lawyers Weekly, and writes and speaks frequently about the investigations industry. Nardizzi is admitted to the State Bar of California, as well as the federal courts of the 9th Circuit. As a leader in the high-end investigative market, he formed a private investigations firm to provide the best investigative services possible--elite, ethical service without the bureaucracy of large security firms. He is the author of the crime thriller Telegraph Hill and has two more novels in the works.

Dale Pugh graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, served as an officer in the Marine Corps, and is a Vietnam Era veteran. He was appointed a Special Agent of the FBI serving as a Soviet Counter-Intelligence Officer in Washington, D.C. He has served as Director of Security for both Pizza Hut and Quiznos, and he created the investigations department for the Rocky Mountain Credit Card System. Dale is a former Deputy District Attorney and personal injury attorney. He has conducted 181 criminal and civil jury trials. He has also taught Forensic Science and 4th Amendment law at local colleges. Dale earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, a Master's Degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence College, and a Master's Degree in Forensic Science from The George Washington University. He is the only licensed attorney and licensed private investigator in the state of Colorado. He is also a Certified Protection Professional and a Certified Fraud Examiner. Website: http://www.dalepughinvestigations.com/

Paul Rubin's career began in 1980 as the courts/police reporter for the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review in southeast Arizona, and he spent most of his career as the senior reporter at the weekly Phoenix New Times, where he became one of Arizona’s most celebrated journalists. During his 27 years at New Times, he was selected as Arizona’s Journalist of the Year three times and was runner-up eight other years, including 2012--the year that the paper laid him off for economic reasons. He founded Paul Rubin Investigations founded in January 2016 after spending the previous three years with Rich Robertson’s R3 Investigations, a prominent Mesa-based firm. Paul also was the six-time winner of the Arizona Press Club’s Don Bolles Award for investigative reporting.

Prior to his career as a novelist, David Corbett worked as a private investigator for the firm of Palladino & Sutherland in San Francisco, and played a significant role in such headline litigations as The Peoples’ Temple Trial, the first Michael Jackson child molestation scandal, the Cotton Club Murder Case, and many others. •The Devil’s Redhead (nominee: Anthony and Barry Awards for Best First Novel) •Done for a Dime (NY Times Notable Book; Macavity Award nominee, Best Novel; named “one of the two or three best American crime novels I have ever read” by Patrick Anderson of the Washington Post) •Blood of Paradise (nominated for numerous awards, including the Edgar, and named both one of the Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers of 2007 by the Washington Post and a San Francisco Chronicle. Website: http://davidcorbett.com/ Don't forget to check out our Patreon. We've got some excellent patron exclusive stories ready for you at http://www.patreon.com/MyFavoriteDetectiveStories

Pat McGaha, a retired detective and street cop, joins us again for a 5th Monday session. He shares some incredible stories this week regarding the mix of politics and investigation from his experiences.

Today’s guest is Martin D. Yant. He is an award-winning journalist and a licensed private investigator specializing in Wrongful Convictions. He has a full-service investigations agency, Ace Investigations. He has written extensively with his 1991 book Presumed Guilty named by the Washington Post as one of the eight most important books on miscarriages of justice ever published. His investigations have been featured in Time Magazine and The New York Times. They have been highlighted on 48 hours, Dateline, Unsolved Mysteries and on the cable network channels of CNN, The Discovery Channel and also on the Canadian Broadcasting System.

Our guest today is Sheryl McCollum. With over 25 years of experience and education, Sheryl is a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department as well as the Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, which is a collaboration between numerous colleges and universities around the country. This collaboration brings together researchers, practitioners, students, and the criminal justice community to develop new capabilities and works collectively to advance research, training, and techniques in solving cold cases such as Tu Pac Shakur Chandra Levy and Natalee Holloway.

Rachel McCarthy James lives in Lawrence, KS with her husband Jason. She studied creative writing at Hollins University, and her work has previously been featured in publications including Bitch, Broadly, and The New Inquiry. What makes Rachel a wonderful guest for this show is her research skills and persistence which led to Solving a Century Old Serial Killer Mystery, The Edgar nominated book The Man from the Train is her first book. She co-wrote with her father Bill James, whose name you might know from Michael Lewis's book and the Movie of the same name Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Rachel is my first amateur detective to come on the show and hopefully, she will not be my last.

Sheila Wysocki is a mother of two and an accomplished private detective. After solving her former roommate’s murder, a case that had gone cold for more than 25 years, Sheila devoted herself to detective work completely, founding the non-profit Without Warning: Fight Back. She uses this as an outlet for advocating for victims of crime. She is a licensed professional investigator, who will get to the truth no matter how long it takes. Her Podcast Without Warning should be next on your list. I'm hooked and I do this stuff for a living. She is widely known for what she does, having appeared on Anderson Cooper, Dateline, Katie Couric, Biography, ABC's 20/20, Crime Watch Daily, Criminal and numerous other podcasts. She was also featured in the Washington Post.

Joe retired as an Inspector from the Michigan State Police after 26 years. He also worked for more than 10 years in the banking and insurance sectors. Since 2005, he has owned and operated KMI Investigations, focusing on financial investigations. He is a CFE and author holding a BS in Accounting from Wayne State University, and a Masters in Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University. He is the author of several articles and the award-winning book “Getting the Truth” (2014) and is a much sought-after speaker on how to discover the real message, distinguishing truth from deception, and how to “sculpt” questions to get the truth. He is really reading between the lines.

Since 1989, Jerry Mitchell has been an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. Jerry has unearthed documents, cajoled suspects and witnesses, and quietly pursued evidence in the nation’s notorious killings from the civil rights era. His work has helped put four Klansmen behind bars. For his work, Mitchell has received more than 30 national awards. In 2006, the Pulitzer Board named him a Pulitzer Prize finalist, praising him “for his relentless and masterly stories on the successful prosecution of a man accused of orchestrating the killing of three civil rights workers in 1964.” After winning the prestigious George Polk Award for a second time, Mitchell received a MacArthur “genius” grant — only the second investigative reporter to ever receive the $500,000 award.

Since 1986, Linda Sanderson has provided dedicated and effective defense investigation for indigent persons accused of crimes in one of California’s most litigious public defender offices. She provided defense investigation coverage on nearly all Richmond gang cases since 1990. As chief investigator since 2012, where she supervises eleven defense investigators, she overhauled the department’s investigation division into a highly dedicated, efficient and accomplished unit working alongside the attorney staff in a holistic team format.

Fred Mamoun is currently a Communications Officer at Yale University. Prior to joining Yale in 2017, Fred Mamoun worked for twenty years as an Investigative Journalist and as a television news Executive Producer & Producer. Fred spent his news career breaking original stories, managing TV news teams, and developing exclusive video and digital content for NBC News and Fox News. Fred’s work routinely generated national and international attention, won dozens of journalism awards including eight Emmy Awards, and changed multiple local, state and Federal laws. Fred spent three years on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Press Club, and four years teaching television news and investigative journalism at UCLA.

Shannon Sikes Mack is an active Law Enforcement Officer with 19 years of service. She holds the rank of Lieutenant in the Bossier Parish Sheriff's office in Louisiana where she oversees detectives in the criminal division. She first started her career in Shreveport, LA before joining the Sheriff's office. She worked with Rod Demery, a homicide detective in Shreveport and last year joined him on the Investigation Discovery Channel show Murder Chose Me. It is now in its second season. She is also known for the Bossier Doe case where she and her team combined the latest DNA testing methods with FaceBook to bring closure to a 34-year-old murder case of an unidentified teenager.

David Watts. Dave is a licensed private investigator specializing in fraud and business investigations. He started his career as a patrolman in Plainfield NJ in 1961, became a detective and then an investigator for the Union County Prosecutors office. In 1976, he and his wife started their Private investigations business. For over fifty years, Dave has traveled the country searching for the truth for high-powered corporate clients. He as written two books. Accidental PI: A Private Investigators 50-year search for the facts and a novel titled: Loose ends: Murder in the New Jersey Suburbs.

Dr. Ramsland holds graduate degrees in Forensic Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Philosophy. She teaches Forensic Psychology at DeSales Univerisity in Pennsylvania She has written on the subjects of serial killers, crime scene investigations forensic science, mass murder and sex offenders. She assisted FBI Profiler John Douglas on his book, The Cases that Haunt Us And co-wrote with former FBI profiler Gregg McCrary, The Unknown Darkness

Family Orchard LLC was established by John F. Suggs in order to apply his expertise in genetic analysis, forensic research and investigation to the field of genetic genealogy where he assists “persons of unknown parentage” such as adult adoptees, sperm and egg donor’s adult children and others searching for their biological roots. In addition, using the same investigative methods, he has recently expanded his work portfolio to include assisting members of Law Enforcement in the solving of criminal cold cases. John is a pioneer in forensic and genetic genealogy, with over a dozen years of experience in finding and reuniting lost loved ones. John holds a BA in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University, an MS in Management and Systems from New York University and an MBA from Fordham University. His NYU Master’s Thesis was entitled: “Genetic Testing and Privacy: The Role of Anonymous Genetic Testing and Information Technology.”

My Favorite Detective Stories is a short form interview with investigators and investigative journalists where we tease out how they got started, why they wanted to become an investigator, what makes for a good investigation and most importantly, what their favorite detective stories are. Please subscribe with your favorite Podcast App. Pat McGaha is a great storyteller. A former decorated street cop and homicide detective from Shreveport, LA, Pat is also a prolific blogger where he weaves his years growing up before joining the Marines with his cop stories. He delivers the whodunits with a powerful emotional gut punch. His website True Stories by a Homicide Detective will keep you mesmerized with bite-sized blog posts and some real heavyweight stories https://patmcgaha.com/

James L. Trainum is retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. as the Violent Crimes Case Review Project Director- Detective from 2000-2010 James has been interviewed on the topic of interrogation and false confessions by The New Yorker, The New York Times, and National Public Radio. Trainum has also been quoted in the American Psychological Associations white paper on the topic of false confessions and in numerous other articles and editorials. He speaks at many conferences and other events to talk about the topic of false confessions and interrogation techniques. He is the author of How The Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation room.

Scott is a Cybersecurity contributor to Fortune magazine, Connected World and also a guest-blogger on TripWire’s State of Security, IBM Big Data & Analytics, and writes for HP’s Business Value Exchange. In Hacked Again, Scott’s first book available now (www.hackedagain.com), he describes the reality of cyber threats and provides tips and techniques that will help protect you and your business interests from a devastating cybersecurity breach. Scott also sits on several cybersecurity advisory boards. https://www.amazon.com/Hacked-Again-Scott-N-Schober/dp/099690221X

Mark Fallon Author of Unjustifiable Means: The inside story of how the CIA, Pentagon, and the US Government conspired to torture. He spent more than 30 years in Government Service with 27 at NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and with Department of Homeland Security Fallon speaks publicly and writes extensively on the subjects of combatting terrorism, detainee treatment, and interrogation procedures https://www.amazon.com/Unjustifiable-Means-Pentagon-Government-Conspired/dp/1942872798/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Brandon A. Perron, CCDI, is an award-winning nationally recognized private investigator. He is a Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator(CCDI) and has been qualified as an "Expert in criminal investigation" Brandon has 30 years of investigative experience as a former U.S. Air Force Criminal Investigator, State of Florida Public Defender Investigator, government-appointed civil & human rights investigator, and Florida licensed private investigator. He is recognized as one of the nation's foremost private investigators and trainers, consultants, and speakers in the area of criminal defense investigation providing his investigative expertise to government agencies and the United States Military. In addition, Brandon has authored the professionally acclaimed book Uncovering Reasonable Doubt: The Component Method - A Guide for the Criminal Defense Investigator as well: FTER - Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-perron-ccdi-cfi-fter-5787a55 http://www.cditctraining.com/ http://www.investigation.us.com/theinvestigativeteam.html

Rich Robertson is the founder and owner of R3 Investigations and he is a Certified Legal Investigator. Mr. Robertson was a print and broadcast journalist in Arizona for 28 years before becoming a state-licensed private investigator in 2000. Since then, he has been the lead investigator on hundreds of complex criminal and civil cases, including numerous death penalty cases. Mr. Robertson's journalism experience included two decades with The Arizona Republic (1974-1995), where he was on the investigative team (1983-85 and 1990-95), and city editor (1985-1990). He was the editor of three Republic investigative projects that were finalists for Pulitzer prizes. He was also an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter for KPHO-TV (Channel 5) and KPNX-TV (Channel 12) (1995-2000). http://r3investigations.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix6Akqgzwo8

Kelly Richmond Pope tells us about her documentary about small-town city comptroller who was accused of stealing $53 million dollars over twenty years. She produced and directed All the Queen's Horses which was a 2014 finalist for a Tribeca Film Institute grant and is available now online now. Kelly Richmond Pope is an associate professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS at DePaul University. She received her doctorate in accounting from Virginia Tech and she is a licensed certified public accountant She worked in the forensic accounting practice at KPMG, LLP on anti-money laundering engagements, insurance fraud investigations and fraud risk management. Her fraud research has been published in leading academic journals and she is a freelance writer for Forbes.com, The Daily Beast, and The Washington Post. https://www.allthequeenshorsesfilm.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-richmond-pope-cpa-83689a5

My Favorite Detective Stories is a short form interview with investigators and investigative journalists where we tease out how they got started, why they wanted to become an investigator, what makes for a good investigation and most importantly, what their favorite detective stories are. Please subscribe with your favorite podcast App. Pat McGaha is a great storyteller. A former decorated street cop and homicide detective from Shreveport, LA, Pat is also a prolific blogger where he weaves his years growing up before joining the Marines with his cop stories. He delivers the whodunits with a powerful emotional gut punch. His website True Stories by a Homicide Detective will keep you mesmerized with bite-sized blog posts and some real heavyweight stories https://patmcgaha.com/

My Favorite Detective Stories is a short form interview with investigators and investigative journalists where we tease out how they got started, why they wanted to become an investigator, what makes for a good investigation and most importantly, what their favorite detective stories are. Please subscribe to your favorite podcast App. What happens when an Uber-smart Librarian gets bit by the investigations bug at the dawning of the internet? Cynthia Hetherington, a straight-talking Jersey Girl has remained on the cutting-edge of internet searches, the dark web, Social Media, and Link Analysis. (OSINT) since the beginning. This story is not to be missed. Cynthia Hetherington, MLS, MSM, CFE, CII is the founder and president of Hetherington Group, a consulting, publishing, and training firm that leads in due diligence, corporate intelligence, and cyber investigations by keeping pace with the latest security threats and assessments. She has authored three books on how to conduct investigations and annually trains over 2,000 investigators, security professionals, attorneys, accountants, auditors, military intelligence professionals, and federal, state, and local agencies on best practices. For more than 25 years, Cynthia Hetherington has led national and international investigations in corporate due diligence and fraud, personal asset recovery, and background checks. With a specialization in the financial, pharmaceutical, and telecommunications industries, her investigations have recovered millions of dollars in high profile corruption cases, assisting on the investigations of the top two Ponzi cases in United States history. https://www.hetheringtongroup.com/about/cynthia-hetherington/ Cynthia hosts the fourth annual OSMOSIS summit to Las Vegas in October. Developed by OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigators for the legal, law enforcement, investigative, business and accounting community, the OSMOSIS summit brings the most cutting-edge methodologies and power techniques to get actionable search results. https://www.osmosiscon.com/

My Favorite Detective Stories is a short form interview with investigators and investigative journalists where we tease out how they got started, why they wanted to become an investigator, what makes for a good investigation and most importantly, what their favorite detective stories are. Please subscribe with your favorite podcast App Ken Mains is the real deal. He has seen it and done it all as a city detective and District Attorney Investigator while matching his talents and skills with his passion for solving Cold Cases. You can find Ken on the History Channel with the Hunt for the Zodiac Killer. He is the founder of the American Investigative Society of Cold Cases, AISOC. Ken is a private consultant on cold cases internationally. https://www.history.com/shows/the-hunt-for-the-zodiac-killer UNSOLVED NO MORE: A Cold Case Detective's Fight For Justice https://www.amazon.com/UNSOLVED-NO-MORE-Detectives-Justice-ebook/dp/B071F5NBB2 https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-american-investigative-society-of-cold-cases/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-l-mains-600a8163/

Every Monday we listen to investigators past and present about the type of investigations they perform, how they got into this particular niche and what traits makes a good investigator. This is a short form interview so you can plan on listening for 30 minutes during your commute, at the gym, or on your lunch break. Best of all, they will share with us their favorite detective stories.