Detective Luis Rivera has been investigating the cold case of 11-year-old Rachel Ziselman who disappeared in Pacific Palisades in 1977. Rivera keeps her photo in his office as a reminder that she was a real person. Rivera discussed the lack of evidence and leads in the case. One person of interest is Rodney Alcala, a convicted serial killer, due to witness accounts placing him in the area around that time. Rivera hopes to interview Alcala and examine photos found in his possession to look for any clues about Rachel or the Palisades. However, without any physical evidence the case remains unsolved after 38 years.
Crime investigation- Jodi Arias and Alexandar HumnaSaif1
How to investigate the crime scene and what are the important steps that should be kept in mind while investigation
this is the investigation of Jodi Arias who is the murderer and killed her boyfriend
Coral Watts was a serial killer from Texas who was arrested as a teenager for attacking a woman. He had learning disabilities and dreams about killing women as a child. Watts killed over 20 victims by methods like stabbing and strangling. He targeted young Caucasian women and was classified as a thrill killer who gained adrenaline from the killings. Investigators linked Watts to the murders after finding a victim's dictionary in his car during a traffic stop. He pled guilty to one count and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
This document discusses Selena, Jennifer Lopez, and their roles in the Latin music industry. It touches on several topics:
1) Jennifer Lopez was likely chosen to play Selena in the biopic because she was the biggest Latina star at the time and would help ensure box office success.
2) Comparisons are drawn between Selena and Jennifer Lopez's appearances, noting Lopez has a wider nose.
3) The role assimilation and changing one's appearance plays for Latinas seeking success in the music industry is discussed.
4) The influence of Selena's mother and sister on her career trajectory is also debated.
The Top Skills That Can Get You Hired in 2017LinkedIn
We analyzed all the recruiting activity on LinkedIn this year and identified the Top Skills employers seek. Starting Oct 24, learn these skills and much more for free during the Week of Learning.
#AlwaysBeLearning https://learning.linkedin.com/week-of-learning
From the Case File A Mutilation MurderThe CrimeThe New York CiJeanmarieColbert3
From the Case File A Mutilation Murder
The Crime
The New York City Police Department requested the assistance of the FBI after police detectives came to an apparent dead end in their investigation of the murder and mutilation of a twenty-six-year-old woman whose body was found on the roof of a Bronx public housing apartment building where she had lived with her parents. An investigative task force of twenty-six detectives and supervisors had interviewed more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom lived or worked in the apartment building. Record checks of known sex offenders in the area were of no assistance. The police had twenty-two “good” suspects but nothing conclusive.
A fifteen-year-old boy had discovered the victim’s wallet in the stairwell as he was leaving the building on his way to school. Upon returning home from school for lunch that afternoon, the boy had given the wallet to his father, who went to the victim’s apartment to return it. The victim’s mother then called the day care center where the victim worked to notify her daughter that her wallet had been found. At that time the victim’s mother was told her daughter had not shown up for work that morning. The mother, the victim’s sister, and a neighbor then proceeded to search the building and discovered the body. The body was located at 3:00 p.m.; the victim had left her apartment at approximately 6:15 a.m.
The victim was found nude. She had been beaten about the face and strangled with the strap of her purse. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation—first manual and then ligature. The victim’s jaw and nose had been broken, and several of her teeth were loose. She had sustained several other facial fractures. Her nipples had been cut off after death and placed on her chest. There were bite marks, which were determined to have occurred after death, on her thighs. Numerous contusions and lacerations were present on her body. “You can’t stop me” was written in ink on the inside of her thigh, and “Fuck you” was written on her abdomen. A necklace pendant she usually wore was missing and presumed taken by the killer. Her underpants had been placed on her head and pulled over her face. Her nylons had been removed and loosely tied around her wrists and ankles. Her earrings had been removed and placed symmetrically on each side of her head. An umbrella and writing pen had been forced into her vagina, and a hair comb had been placed in her pubic hair. Semen was recovered from the victim’s body; it appeared that the killer had stood over the victim and masturbated. Human feces were discovered on the roof landing and were covered with the victim’s clothing.
Key Crime Scene Characteristics
The crime did not appear to be planned. All the instruments used to perpetrate the crime were the victim’s (e.g., purse strap, umbrella, pen) except for the knife used to remove the victim’s nipples. This knife was probably small enough to have been routinely carried by the killer. He probab ...
April 1986, the body of a 15-year-old girl has been found in woods.docxrossskuddershamus
This document discusses the police investigation of a serial rapist and killer in London in the 1980s. Criminal profiling was used to help identify the perpetrators, who were raping and killing young women near railway lines. The profiling provided police with characteristics of the suspects, including that there were likely two men involved, one being a short, white male from North London familiar with railways. Eventually the police developed a list of suspects that included the men who would later be convicted of the crimes.
1) 11-year-old Rachel Ziselman disappeared in 1977 while running an errand for her mother in Pacific Palisades, California. She was last seen carrying groceries a block from her home but never returned.
2) Extensive searches by police and volunteers over the following weeks turned up no clues as to her whereabouts.
3) Nearly four decades later, two men investigate her disappearance and spark the newspaper to reexamine its archives and coverage of the story and mystery around what happened to Rachel.
Liliana Segura: At first glance, this is a pretty damning confession. Charles even seems to confirm that he was the guy who was seen jumping the fence the night of the murder. But, it’s also weird, especially when it comes to what he says next.
Charles Raby’s confession (read by actor): I think I was wearing a black concert shirt, the blue jeans I’m wearing and my Puma tennis shoes. I also had on a black jacket.
Crime investigation- Jodi Arias and Alexandar HumnaSaif1
How to investigate the crime scene and what are the important steps that should be kept in mind while investigation
this is the investigation of Jodi Arias who is the murderer and killed her boyfriend
Coral Watts was a serial killer from Texas who was arrested as a teenager for attacking a woman. He had learning disabilities and dreams about killing women as a child. Watts killed over 20 victims by methods like stabbing and strangling. He targeted young Caucasian women and was classified as a thrill killer who gained adrenaline from the killings. Investigators linked Watts to the murders after finding a victim's dictionary in his car during a traffic stop. He pled guilty to one count and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
This document discusses Selena, Jennifer Lopez, and their roles in the Latin music industry. It touches on several topics:
1) Jennifer Lopez was likely chosen to play Selena in the biopic because she was the biggest Latina star at the time and would help ensure box office success.
2) Comparisons are drawn between Selena and Jennifer Lopez's appearances, noting Lopez has a wider nose.
3) The role assimilation and changing one's appearance plays for Latinas seeking success in the music industry is discussed.
4) The influence of Selena's mother and sister on her career trajectory is also debated.
The Top Skills That Can Get You Hired in 2017LinkedIn
We analyzed all the recruiting activity on LinkedIn this year and identified the Top Skills employers seek. Starting Oct 24, learn these skills and much more for free during the Week of Learning.
#AlwaysBeLearning https://learning.linkedin.com/week-of-learning
From the Case File A Mutilation MurderThe CrimeThe New York CiJeanmarieColbert3
From the Case File A Mutilation Murder
The Crime
The New York City Police Department requested the assistance of the FBI after police detectives came to an apparent dead end in their investigation of the murder and mutilation of a twenty-six-year-old woman whose body was found on the roof of a Bronx public housing apartment building where she had lived with her parents. An investigative task force of twenty-six detectives and supervisors had interviewed more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom lived or worked in the apartment building. Record checks of known sex offenders in the area were of no assistance. The police had twenty-two “good” suspects but nothing conclusive.
A fifteen-year-old boy had discovered the victim’s wallet in the stairwell as he was leaving the building on his way to school. Upon returning home from school for lunch that afternoon, the boy had given the wallet to his father, who went to the victim’s apartment to return it. The victim’s mother then called the day care center where the victim worked to notify her daughter that her wallet had been found. At that time the victim’s mother was told her daughter had not shown up for work that morning. The mother, the victim’s sister, and a neighbor then proceeded to search the building and discovered the body. The body was located at 3:00 p.m.; the victim had left her apartment at approximately 6:15 a.m.
The victim was found nude. She had been beaten about the face and strangled with the strap of her purse. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation—first manual and then ligature. The victim’s jaw and nose had been broken, and several of her teeth were loose. She had sustained several other facial fractures. Her nipples had been cut off after death and placed on her chest. There were bite marks, which were determined to have occurred after death, on her thighs. Numerous contusions and lacerations were present on her body. “You can’t stop me” was written in ink on the inside of her thigh, and “Fuck you” was written on her abdomen. A necklace pendant she usually wore was missing and presumed taken by the killer. Her underpants had been placed on her head and pulled over her face. Her nylons had been removed and loosely tied around her wrists and ankles. Her earrings had been removed and placed symmetrically on each side of her head. An umbrella and writing pen had been forced into her vagina, and a hair comb had been placed in her pubic hair. Semen was recovered from the victim’s body; it appeared that the killer had stood over the victim and masturbated. Human feces were discovered on the roof landing and were covered with the victim’s clothing.
Key Crime Scene Characteristics
The crime did not appear to be planned. All the instruments used to perpetrate the crime were the victim’s (e.g., purse strap, umbrella, pen) except for the knife used to remove the victim’s nipples. This knife was probably small enough to have been routinely carried by the killer. He probab ...
April 1986, the body of a 15-year-old girl has been found in woods.docxrossskuddershamus
This document discusses the police investigation of a serial rapist and killer in London in the 1980s. Criminal profiling was used to help identify the perpetrators, who were raping and killing young women near railway lines. The profiling provided police with characteristics of the suspects, including that there were likely two men involved, one being a short, white male from North London familiar with railways. Eventually the police developed a list of suspects that included the men who would later be convicted of the crimes.
1) 11-year-old Rachel Ziselman disappeared in 1977 while running an errand for her mother in Pacific Palisades, California. She was last seen carrying groceries a block from her home but never returned.
2) Extensive searches by police and volunteers over the following weeks turned up no clues as to her whereabouts.
3) Nearly four decades later, two men investigate her disappearance and spark the newspaper to reexamine its archives and coverage of the story and mystery around what happened to Rachel.
Liliana Segura: At first glance, this is a pretty damning confession. Charles even seems to confirm that he was the guy who was seen jumping the fence the night of the murder. But, it’s also weird, especially when it comes to what he says next.
Charles Raby’s confession (read by actor): I think I was wearing a black concert shirt, the blue jeans I’m wearing and my Puma tennis shoes. I also had on a black jacket.
Kenneth Bianchi had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed with passive-aggressive disorder. He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 where he met his cousin Angelo Buono, and the two began raping and murdering ten women between 1977-1979. Bianchi and Buono were both violent men who committed the murders for sexual pleasure and thrill-seeking. They were eventually arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for their crimes as the Hillside Stranglers.
Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", was a serial killer and rapist who terrorized the Los Angeles area in the 1980s. He committed over a dozen murders and sexual assaults during nighttime burglaries and home invasions. Ramirez was a devoted Satanist who enjoyed heavy metal music. He was eventually captured after being recognized from a police sketch. In 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries and was sentenced to death. He remains on death row in California.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr., known as "The Grim Sleeper", was accused of killing 13 women in South Los Angeles between 1985 and 2007. He took nude photos of many victims before killing them. Franklin was linked to the crimes by DNA evidence from one survivor and photos of victims found in his home. He was sentenced to death for the murders.
Dennis "BTK" Rader was a serial killer from Wichita, Kansas who murdered 10 people between 1974-1991. He grew up showing signs of violence by harming animals. As an adult, he worked in security and for the census bureau while having a wife and children. He derived pleasure from completely controlling and strangling his victims. He was caught after sending evidence to the police that was traced back to him through DNA. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole due to crimes being committed before Kansas had the death penalty.
Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", was a serial killer and rapist who terrorized the Los Angeles area in the 1980s. He committed 14 murders, 5 attempted murders, and 11 sexual assaults across Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1984 to 1985. Ramirez was a devoted Satanist who enjoyed heavy metal music referring to the devil. He was captured after a store clerk recognized his sketch from a police drawing. In 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder and sentenced to death by gas chamber. He remains on death row in California to this day.
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He claimed to have killed 37 victims, though police only confirmed seven killings. He taunted police and the public by sending encrypted letters with clues to his identity but was never caught. Some key facts are that he committed crimes in the San Francisco Bay area, left DNA evidence on stamps of taunting letters, and was likely a psychopath who enjoyed attention but blended in to avoid capture.
1. The document profiles several notorious criminals including the Zodiac Killer, Al Capone, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos, Steven Paddock, and Pedro Lopez.
2. Pedro Lopez is highlighted, who endured abuse as a child in Colombia and later embarked on a killing spree, murdering over 100 girls in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia before being imprisoned.
3. Pablo Escobar is also summarized, who founded the Medellín Cartel in Colombia and established early drug smuggling routes into the United States, becoming one of the wealthiest criminals in history through the cocaine trade.
A detective discards his footy pajamas to solve a major mystery. He'll need to confront fratty firefighters, romantics with low blood sugar, and impromptu trivia nights in order to discover the truth of this mystery. All he has is his wisdom and his breathing exercises, but he just might pull this off.
The Zodiac killer operated in Northern California in the late 1960s, killing at least five people. Some of the victims included high school sweethearts David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, as well as taxi driver Paul Stine. The killer taunted police with ciphers and letters and was never identified. Crime scenes were processed using techniques like triangulation, baselines, and polar coordinates to map evidence and recreate the crimes. The Zodiac killer remains one of the most infamous unsolved serial murder cases.
We dive deep into the infamous unsolved mystery of Jon Benet Ramsey. We explore the details of the case by going over the investigation, witness, evidence and analysing the crime scene.
*Please open in Microsoft PPT for high definition and best effects :)
Donald harvey serial killer project psych (Zachery Reedy)mabrandt
Donald Harvey was born in Ohio in 1952. He had a normal childhood but was sexually abused from age four. He held various healthcare jobs including at hospitals. Harvey killed his first victim out of anger after suspecting infidelity. He later killed because he enjoyed the thrill and believed he had the power to decide who lived or died. Harvey pled guilty to killing 24 people through various means while working at hospitals and was sentenced to multiple life terms.
This document provides background information on Ray and Faye Copeland, a married couple who were serial killers in Arkansas in the 1940s-1950s. It describes their impoverished childhoods, their marriage after only dating for 6 months, and starting a family with 5 children. It outlines Ray's early criminal acts of theft and forgery. It then details how he began murdering young men he hired to commit crimes for him by shooting them in the back of the head after they had outlived their usefulness. Ray and Faye were eventually caught and given the death sentence, making them the oldest couple to receive the death penalty at that time.
The document summarizes an investigation into the disappearance and death of Sandra Sanchez. Key details:
1) Sanchez was last seen on April 3rd at a Los Lunas Walgreens and reported missing by her family on April 14th. Her ex-boyfriend Joe Easley was one of the last people to see her.
2) A months-long investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies uncovered inconsistencies in Easley's statements and cell phone records placed him and his daughter Jodi at the scene the night of Sanchez's disappearance.
3) Sanchez's body was found in June in Socorro County. Easley, Jodi, and Jodi's boyfriend Cody Morgan have been indict
Jonathan Kellman is an American author born in 1949 in New York City. He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Southern California in 1974. Kellman is best known for his mystery novels featuring child psychologist Alex Delaware who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department. He won the Edgar and Anthony Awards in 1986 for his first novel "When the Bough Breaks." Kellman quit his private practice in 1990 to write full-time. He has authored over 40 crime novels as well as nonfiction works and children's books and is married to fellow bestselling author Faye Kallerman.
Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated 5 women in London's Whitechapel district between August and November 1888. The killer was never identified, but the consistency of the crimes suggests the killer was organized. All of the victims were female prostitutes who were gruesomely murdered through throat slitting and torso mutilation. Over 2,000 suspects were investigated but the case remains unsolved.
Gerard Schaefer had a troubled childhood and struggled socially as a teenager. He engaged in disturbing behaviors like masochism, voyeurism, and killing animals. As a police officer, he abducted and murdered at least two young women. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The document describes Schaefer's dysfunctional upbringing, deviant interests as a youth, career as a serial killer that led to his arrest, and classification as a mission-oriented serial killer.
The document profiles and summarizes information about several notorious serial killers throughout history, including Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Harold Shipman, Albert DeSalvo, the Zodiac Killer, Robert Hansen, Yang Xinhai, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Bela Kiss, the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs, and the Cleveland Torso Murderer. It provides brief descriptions of their crimes and notes that many were never identified, highlighting the challenges of catching serial killers.
Three reporters who witnessed or investigated the Kennedy assassination died under mysterious circumstances. Bill Hunter was shot and killed by a police officer in Dallas. Tom Howard died of a heart attack shortly after meeting with Jack Ruby. Jim Koethe was killed by a karate chop to the throat in his apartment. The document suggests these and other deaths may have been part of a conspiracy to cover up what really happened in the assassination of President Kennedy.
Kenneth Bianchi had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed with passive-aggressive disorder. He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 where he met his cousin Angelo Buono, and the two began raping and murdering ten women between 1977-1979. Bianchi and Buono were both violent men who committed the murders for sexual pleasure and thrill-seeking. They were eventually arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for their crimes as the Hillside Stranglers.
Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", was a serial killer and rapist who terrorized the Los Angeles area in the 1980s. He committed over a dozen murders and sexual assaults during nighttime burglaries and home invasions. Ramirez was a devoted Satanist who enjoyed heavy metal music. He was eventually captured after being recognized from a police sketch. In 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries and was sentenced to death. He remains on death row in California.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr., known as "The Grim Sleeper", was accused of killing 13 women in South Los Angeles between 1985 and 2007. He took nude photos of many victims before killing them. Franklin was linked to the crimes by DNA evidence from one survivor and photos of victims found in his home. He was sentenced to death for the murders.
Dennis "BTK" Rader was a serial killer from Wichita, Kansas who murdered 10 people between 1974-1991. He grew up showing signs of violence by harming animals. As an adult, he worked in security and for the census bureau while having a wife and children. He derived pleasure from completely controlling and strangling his victims. He was caught after sending evidence to the police that was traced back to him through DNA. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole due to crimes being committed before Kansas had the death penalty.
Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", was a serial killer and rapist who terrorized the Los Angeles area in the 1980s. He committed 14 murders, 5 attempted murders, and 11 sexual assaults across Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1984 to 1985. Ramirez was a devoted Satanist who enjoyed heavy metal music referring to the devil. He was captured after a store clerk recognized his sketch from a police drawing. In 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder and sentenced to death by gas chamber. He remains on death row in California to this day.
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He claimed to have killed 37 victims, though police only confirmed seven killings. He taunted police and the public by sending encrypted letters with clues to his identity but was never caught. Some key facts are that he committed crimes in the San Francisco Bay area, left DNA evidence on stamps of taunting letters, and was likely a psychopath who enjoyed attention but blended in to avoid capture.
1. The document profiles several notorious criminals including the Zodiac Killer, Al Capone, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos, Steven Paddock, and Pedro Lopez.
2. Pedro Lopez is highlighted, who endured abuse as a child in Colombia and later embarked on a killing spree, murdering over 100 girls in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia before being imprisoned.
3. Pablo Escobar is also summarized, who founded the Medellín Cartel in Colombia and established early drug smuggling routes into the United States, becoming one of the wealthiest criminals in history through the cocaine trade.
A detective discards his footy pajamas to solve a major mystery. He'll need to confront fratty firefighters, romantics with low blood sugar, and impromptu trivia nights in order to discover the truth of this mystery. All he has is his wisdom and his breathing exercises, but he just might pull this off.
The Zodiac killer operated in Northern California in the late 1960s, killing at least five people. Some of the victims included high school sweethearts David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, as well as taxi driver Paul Stine. The killer taunted police with ciphers and letters and was never identified. Crime scenes were processed using techniques like triangulation, baselines, and polar coordinates to map evidence and recreate the crimes. The Zodiac killer remains one of the most infamous unsolved serial murder cases.
We dive deep into the infamous unsolved mystery of Jon Benet Ramsey. We explore the details of the case by going over the investigation, witness, evidence and analysing the crime scene.
*Please open in Microsoft PPT for high definition and best effects :)
Donald harvey serial killer project psych (Zachery Reedy)mabrandt
Donald Harvey was born in Ohio in 1952. He had a normal childhood but was sexually abused from age four. He held various healthcare jobs including at hospitals. Harvey killed his first victim out of anger after suspecting infidelity. He later killed because he enjoyed the thrill and believed he had the power to decide who lived or died. Harvey pled guilty to killing 24 people through various means while working at hospitals and was sentenced to multiple life terms.
This document provides background information on Ray and Faye Copeland, a married couple who were serial killers in Arkansas in the 1940s-1950s. It describes their impoverished childhoods, their marriage after only dating for 6 months, and starting a family with 5 children. It outlines Ray's early criminal acts of theft and forgery. It then details how he began murdering young men he hired to commit crimes for him by shooting them in the back of the head after they had outlived their usefulness. Ray and Faye were eventually caught and given the death sentence, making them the oldest couple to receive the death penalty at that time.
The document summarizes an investigation into the disappearance and death of Sandra Sanchez. Key details:
1) Sanchez was last seen on April 3rd at a Los Lunas Walgreens and reported missing by her family on April 14th. Her ex-boyfriend Joe Easley was one of the last people to see her.
2) A months-long investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies uncovered inconsistencies in Easley's statements and cell phone records placed him and his daughter Jodi at the scene the night of Sanchez's disappearance.
3) Sanchez's body was found in June in Socorro County. Easley, Jodi, and Jodi's boyfriend Cody Morgan have been indict
Jonathan Kellman is an American author born in 1949 in New York City. He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Southern California in 1974. Kellman is best known for his mystery novels featuring child psychologist Alex Delaware who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department. He won the Edgar and Anthony Awards in 1986 for his first novel "When the Bough Breaks." Kellman quit his private practice in 1990 to write full-time. He has authored over 40 crime novels as well as nonfiction works and children's books and is married to fellow bestselling author Faye Kallerman.
Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated 5 women in London's Whitechapel district between August and November 1888. The killer was never identified, but the consistency of the crimes suggests the killer was organized. All of the victims were female prostitutes who were gruesomely murdered through throat slitting and torso mutilation. Over 2,000 suspects were investigated but the case remains unsolved.
Gerard Schaefer had a troubled childhood and struggled socially as a teenager. He engaged in disturbing behaviors like masochism, voyeurism, and killing animals. As a police officer, he abducted and murdered at least two young women. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The document describes Schaefer's dysfunctional upbringing, deviant interests as a youth, career as a serial killer that led to his arrest, and classification as a mission-oriented serial killer.
The document profiles and summarizes information about several notorious serial killers throughout history, including Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Harold Shipman, Albert DeSalvo, the Zodiac Killer, Robert Hansen, Yang Xinhai, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Bela Kiss, the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs, and the Cleveland Torso Murderer. It provides brief descriptions of their crimes and notes that many were never identified, highlighting the challenges of catching serial killers.
Three reporters who witnessed or investigated the Kennedy assassination died under mysterious circumstances. Bill Hunter was shot and killed by a police officer in Dallas. Tom Howard died of a heart attack shortly after meeting with Jack Ruby. Jim Koethe was killed by a karate chop to the throat in his apartment. The document suggests these and other deaths may have been part of a conspiracy to cover up what really happened in the assassination of President Kennedy.
1. Palisadian-PostServing the Community Since 1928
Page 1 $1.50Thursday, August 6, 2015 ◆ Pacific Palisades, California
Cold Case Detective Opens Book on
Rachel Ziselman
By JACQUELINE PRIMO
Reporter
Part 5 in a Series
M
ost people have photos of their
family and loved ones on their
desks at work—LAPD Detec-
tive Luis Rivera has a photo of 11-year-old
smiling, blue-eyed, blonde-haired Rachel
Hanna Ziselman on his.
Paper-clipped beneath her photo is a
“Missing Person” bulletin featuring Rachel
from the National Missing and Unidentified
Persons System.
Rachel has been missing from Pacific
Palisades since she disappeared on the af-
ternoon of Sept. 5, 1977 while walking from
Hughes Market (now Ralphs), headed to
her home on the 1000 block of Monument.
Rivera, a detective in the Cold Case
Homicide Unit of the Robbery Homicide
Division (RHD), has had custody of her
case since 2012.
Rachel’s disappearance is one of two
missing persons cases in Rivera’s custo-
dy—alongside nearly 50 cold case homi-
cides.
Follow a maze of corridors, elevators
and stairways through the massive down-
town LAPD station (with police escort and
the right set of keys and fingerprints, of
course), and you arrive at the RHD. There,
behind multiple sets of locked doors and on
a long line of industrial shelving, Rachel
Ziselman’s case book sits among hundreds,
if not thousands, of others.
Rachel’s photo is taped to the inside
cover of the binder—a constant remind-
er that the papers, photographs, interview
notes and newspaper clippings in the book
concern a real person, and not just a name
on a shelf, Rivera told the Palisadian-Post
during an interview at the station.
“When it’s a child victim…we spare no
expense. We do the most we can,” Rivera,
52, said solemnly but with a matter-of-fact-
ness that comes from 26 years with LAPD
and the resulting awareness of how callous
people can be.
Rivera worked as a homicide detective
from 2001-2008 when he switched to cold
cases.
“The only dead bodies I see now are
pictures,” he added.
PERSONS OF INTEREST
Despite how large Rachel’s case book
is (roughly five inches thick), Rivera ac-
knowledged that investigators have very
little to go on regarding what happened to
the bubbly girl after she was last seen walk-
ing home with groceries on Monument that
sunny afternoon when she seemingly van-
ished just short of her home.
“The Bay Theatre near Monument,
according to this information, is where she
was seen and [told a witness] that she was
having difficulty carrying the grocery bag,”
Rivera said, looking at a page of notes in
the book.
Rivera said the witness saw Rachel
about 100 yards from her house, close to the
underground parking garage by the medical
building on Monument.
“Then she disappears, and that’s it.
That’s all you have,” Rivera said. “We had
a missing person and there was no evidence
of a crime, no physical evidence, other than
she’s there one minute and gone the next…
[Investigators] could never come up with
anything at all and basically that’s when the
case went cold.”
Rivera said from that point on, detec-
tives and law enforcement have been work-
ing to compile information on criminals
who are known to have been active in or
around the Palisades at the time of Rachel’s
disappearance.
“A person becomes a ‘person of inter-
est’ in this case if they were actively com-
mitting crimes against children (or young
adults) and/or suspected of kidnapping,
sexual assault or child annoying [in the area
before or after the crime]. Sometimes all of
these take place at the same time,” Rivera
said.
The Department of Justice started
tracking registered sex offenders in the
1940s, and Rivera said that testing DNA
from the ’60s and ’70s is not uncommon in
these investigations.
“In this case we don’t have any evi-
dence at the scene or witnesses [to a crime].
We rely on the probability that [Rachel] did
not leave the area of her own free will. And
since she has not been found, we have to
assume that a crime has occurred, although
we don’t know if it’s murder,” Rivera told
the Post.
One of the “persons of interest” in the
case, however, is convicted serial killer
Rodney Alcala, who Rivera said has been
a person of interest since Rachel disap-
peared (Alcala was a registered sex of-
fender at the time).
Alcala is currently serving a death row
sentence at San Quentin State Prison for,
among others murders, the kidnapping and
murder of 12-year-old Huntington Beach
resident Robin Samsoe in 1979.
A booking photo of Alcala from 2003
is among the pages of Rachel’s casebook,
along with information on dozens of other
area criminals active at the time of her dis-
appearance.
“Rodney Alcala is a person of interest
because of the Huntington Beach case,”
Rivera said in reference to Robin Samsoe’s
murder. “Although we have nothing to date
showing that he was near the scene of Ra-
chel’s disappearance.”
Rivera confirmed that he and his part-
ner, Detective Veronica Conrado, have
possession of a photo that was taken at the
Village Green a few weeks before Rachel
disappeared. Rivera, who collected the pho-
to from its owner in April of this year, said
the photo’s owner claims the photo may
have been taken by “someone who’s incar-
cerated right now.”
The photo has been sent out to the DNA
lab and criminologists to be tested for fin-
gerprints and swabbed for DNA.
“It may turn out to have no prints or
anything,” Rivera acknowledged.
Former Palisadian Lisa Sutton be-
lieves the photo taken of her and friend Lin-
da Frasier on the Village Green in 1979,
when they were teenagers, may have been
taken by Rodney Alcala—who was known
for passing himself off as a photographer as
a way to lure young women to go with him.
This possibility prompted Sutton to contact
LAPD in April and hand over the photo for
analysis.
“The photograph that was released to
the police will have to be examined before
we can determine if [Alcala] is the person
who took the photo and gave it to the wit-
ness,” Rivera said of Sutton’s suspicion.
“We have no positive identification
from the witness at this time.”
Rivera confirmed that information on
Alcala has been in Rachel’s casebook since
1977, including newspaper clippings.
Now that Sutton claims she may have
encountered Alcala in the Palisades short-
ly before Rachel’s disappearance, Rivera
said he wants to interview Alcala and get
access to the hundreds of photos that were
found in a Seattle storage locker (under Al-
cala’s name) in July of 1979 to see if the
photos contain any images of Rachel or the
Palisades. The photos are currently in the
possession of the Huntington Beach Police
Department.
“I don’t know what [Alcala] will say,
since he has been convicted and sentenced
in the murder case from Huntington Beach,”
said Rivera, who is trying to get an inter-
view with Alcala at San Quentin.
“He is in custody and there are legal
steps I have to take to be able to interview
him. Ultimately, it’s up to him. Since a wit-
ness places someone believed to look like
Alcala near the scene, I have to follow the
lead to its conclusion,” he added.
Alcala was never interviewed about
Rachel, Rivera said. And while detectives
are looking into all possibilities, including
that Rachel was killed, she is officially list-
ed as a missing person.
“In order for us to classify this as a ho-
micide, we have to have credible informa-
tion that it was a homicide. You hear all the
time about kids who get snatched and 30
years later are found,” Rivera said.
“How can we classify something into
homicide without evidence?”
The DNA databank includes samples
from Rachel’s deceased parents, which
could be used to identify any physical re-
mains that may be found. The databank also
includes the DNA of convicted criminals.
All the case needs now is physical evi-
dence to link one to the other.
Still, while Rachel Ziselman has been
missing for 38 years, neither her family
nor her hometown of Pacific Palisades has
given up hope that she will either be safely
returned, or that a criminal will be brought
to justice.
Detective Luis Rivera, LAPD Cold Case
Homicide Unit RHD, holds up a photo of
11-year-old Palisadian Rachel Ziselman,
who disappeared on September 5, 1977
while on her way home from Hughes
Market in Pacific Palisades.
Photo: Logan Lemmon
Palisadians Aleksandar Pavlović and Rick Brissen, Ralphs employees and amateur
sleuths who have been looking into Rachel Ziselman’s disappearance, stand at the
intersection of Sunset and Monument near where Rachel was last seen.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Detective Rivera points at a sketched map of Monument St. in Pacific Palisades, indicating where Rachel
was last seen on Sept. 5, 1977 and its proximity to her home, about 100 yards away. Rachel has never been
seen since and no clues have ever been found regarding her disappearance. Photo: Logan Lemmon
A photograph of a smiling Rachel Ziselman is paper-clipped in front of a Missing
Person bulletin issued after her disappearance from the Palisades on Sept. 5, 1977.
Detective Rivera keeps both tacked to the walls of his cubicle in the downtown LAPD
building. Photo: Logan Lemmon
Detective Rivera sits with Rachel Ziselman’s case book during an interview with the Palisadian-Post. The
book contains newspaper clippings and information on known criminals who were active in the area at
the time of her disappearance. Photo: Logan Lemmon
Update
Since the Post ran parts 1-4
of the series on Rachel’s disap-
pearance, a person who lived in
the Palisades at the time said she
saw groceries on the ground and
sidewalk near the parking garage
on Monument on the day Rachel
went missing.
LAPD Detective Luis Rivera
said this story sounded familiar,
but without having the grocery
bag to test for DNA or finger-
prints (the grocery bag was never
found), investigators still have no
physical evidence to go on.