Cold Case Squad's Home Page Has Changed

Cold Case Squad Blog Has a New Home

Visit the new home for Cold Cases and Missing Persons

If you haven't ventured over to the new home for the Cold Case Squad, please check it out: http://www.ColdCaseSquad.com

A&E's New True Crime Doucmentary: The Killer Speaks

Joseph L. Giacalone makes TV debut in The Killer Speaks

Cold Case Squad Blog Writer on Televison

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

On Thursday, April 18, 2013, at 10PM EST, Joseph L. Giacalone will make his television debut on A&E's  new true crime documentary entitled, "The Killer Speaks." The Killer Speaks was developed by the creators of the popular show, The First 48.

Episode #2 is about spree murderer Makism Gelman. Dubbed "Mad Maks" by the media, murdered four people and wounded four more in a 28 hour rampage that left New York City on edge. Armed with a knife, Gelman, brutalized his vicitms. My role in the show is to walk the viewers through blood soaked crime scenes, the hunt for Mad Maks and to describe what happens during these types of investigations.

Please note, the home of the Cold Case Blog has changed. Please visit the Blog's new home and follow the updated feed by simply adding your email address.

This will be my final post on this site and all future posts will be on the new site.

I will be tweeting during the show using the hashtag #TheKillerSpeaks

Thanks and looking forward to your comments. I will see you on the new site.
Joe

Changes to the Cold Case Squad Blog

Changes at the Cold Case Squad Blog

Cold Case Squad Blog gets a complete makeover!

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

March 28, 2013

My dear friends, readers and followers. With all of the new changes coming to Google, i.e. no more Reader and what have you, I have decided to embed the Cold Case Squad Blog into an entirely new site. You will still get the same great articles, insight and thoughts, with just a different look. I hope you enjoy the look and join me at the new home for Unsolved Crimes and Missing Persons. 

The mission of the blog has not changed and all of the older posts are embedded in the new site as well. So, if you have written an article in the past, it has already been transferred over to the new site.

The domain: http://ColdCaseSquad.com will take you directly to the new site. Eventually the coldcasesquad.blogspotcom site will point to the new blog as well. You can follow the new feed by clicking the RSS feed at the top of page or just by signing up with your email at the top of the page. 

There are new articles that you may have missed already! Everything else is staying the same. 

Thanks for your continued support and as always, I appreciate any comments, thoughts, or concerns that you may have.

Joe

The Mob's Greatest Unsolved Hits: Albert Anastasia

Albert Anastasia Gunned Down in Barber Shop

The Lord High Executioner's date with destiny

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

Albert Anastasia (1902 - 1957)

© Joseph L. Giacalone

The United States had just entered World War One, when a young Italian teenager named Umberto Anastasio and his brother Anthony, snuck off a cargo ship at a Brooklyn dock.  It didn’t take the brothers long to control much of the rackets on the Brooklyn waterfront.  It was here that Umberto worked as a longshoreman and changed his name to Albert Anastasia, in order to keep his family name from disgrace.  Anastasia’s reputation landed him a job as a bodyguard for then crime boss Joe Masseria.

Albert was a tough kid and was known to have a very short temper.  This became evident to all around him when at the age of twenty; he strangled and stabbed a fellow longshoreman to death.  He was quickly dubbed the “Mad Hatter”.  Albert was tried and found guilty.  He was sentenced to fry in the Sing Sing Prison electric chair, but was granted a new trial when several witnesses to the murder recanted their stories.  When it began, four of the primary witnesses disappeared unexpectedly.  This was the first of five times Albert Anastasia managed to dodge the electric chair.

The Baseline: The First Step in Lie Detection

The Baseline: A Key Indicator to Identifying Deception

Establishing a baseline is one of the most important steps in lie detection

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

© Joseph L. Giacalone

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

Raise your hand if you have ever been lied to? Yes, me too. That is like asking how many of you have ever gone to the bathroom? We have all deceived and we all have been lied to. The one question that remains about lying is: do we telegraph our deception? Identifying a change in the baseline may show that the person is not being entirely truthful. 

What is a baseline? It is how the person normally talks, acts or non-verbally communicates. When I bring this topic up for discussion, I always ask the same question, "If you knew the person lied to you, why didn't you confront him / her?" That question is easier asked than answered. When you understand how a person acts under "normal" conditions (the baseline) it is easy to spot a break in their behavior. I am sure that you spotted the change, but chose to disregard it because the stakes were not that high.

Detectives and the Autopsy

Autopsy Protocol for Investigators

Detectives play an important role at the autopsy

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

How many autopsies have I attended? Enough or that I have witnessed my fair share should be a sufficient answer. The autopsy is one of the most important steps in the death investigation, especially when the case is equivocal - a fancy investigative term meaning, "I have no idea what happened."

Detectives should be required to by department procedure to respond to every death (even in obvious cases), attend every autopsy and make sure that they are on time. The detective's role is more than that of observer, but to be an active participant as well.

DNA Exonerations: An Infographic

DNA Exonerations

More than 300 People have been freed because of DNA

By: Joseph L. Giacalone

Since the first time DNA evidence helped overturn a conviction in 1989, more than 300 people have been cleared of crimes they did not commit with the help of such evidence. Here is a look at cases where DNA evidence has helped overturn convictions of those awaiting execution on Death Row.

Source: TopCriminalJusticeDegrees.org