This month the VHIA is holding a 40-hour Basic Homicide Symposium at the Fairfax County Police Academy, March 1-5, 2010.  The training was set up by Bob Murphy our Training Director and promises to be an excellent training opportunity for those who have never attended a basic homicide school and are new to homicide investigations.   On March 22, 2010 the VHIA will be conducting a one day training at the Frederick County Public Safety Building in Winchester, Virginia.  This training is in response to a request from the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy for a training seminar directed at initial responders to homicide scenes (Patrol).  To my knowledge there has never been a training seminar directed towards first responders in the area of homicide investigations and this promises to provide a wealth of information for patrol officers and supervisors on how to respond to the scene of a homicide, how to protect the scene, interview witnesses and other duties until Detectives/Investigators and Crime Scene Investigators arrive to take control of the scene.   Both of these training opportunities have received a large response and at this time are filled to capacity.

The Virginia Homicide Investigators Association has always provided quality training to its members and to law enforcement agencies throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.   We are committed to continue this tradition and both of these training seminars are being offered at no cost to attendees.  We hope to hold similar seminars in other areas of Virginia this year should the opportunities present themselves.  If any of our members would like to host similar training opportunities in your jurisdictions or at your local academies, please contact your liaison or Bob Murphy our Training Director and we will attempt to set up a training seminar in your area.  The only thing we need is a suitable location to hold the training at no cost to the VHIA.  We are constantly seeking locations to provide training using the expertise we have within the VHIA to assist agencies with needed training opportunities.  The VHIA has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and talent within the area of homicide investigations right here in our own ranks to draw upon for training seminars. 

The VHIA has opened its ranks to all members of law enforcement who are involved in any facet of homicide investigations to include uniform patrol officers/deputies, investigators/detectives, crime scene investigators (sworn and civilian), forensic scientists, forensic nurses (SANE), prosecutors, judges, Chiefs of Police/Sheriff’s, Medical Examiners and Medico-legal investigators.  In the past we have limited our membership opportunities to only those individuals directly involved in homicide investigations or assigned to homicide units.  Although this was sufficient in the past, I believe we have short changed ourselves in the membership area by not including ALL areas of homicide investigations.  The Board of Directors has decided to open up membership availability to other areas such as uniform patrol and medico-legal investigators and we welcome new members in these areas who wish to become members of our organization. 

Members can now receive valuable training opportunities relating to homicide investigations without having to be assigned to a homicide unit or squad.  This will permit access to homicide related training for a much broader spectrum of law enforcement and those involved in death investigations thus providing agencies with a larger pool of individuals who have received training in this area to select for investigative positions within their agencies.  The earlier in an individuals career they receive training in the area of homicide, the better equipped they are to deal with these cases no matter what their assignment and the better our chances of solving these crimes without destroying or overlooking evidence, protecting crime scenes and providing the laboratories with evidence that will yield positive results. 

Successful homicide investigations and prosecutions begin at the moment the call is reported to law enforcement and includes initial responders, criminal investigators, medical examiners and their investigators, Crime Scene Investigators, forensic scientists and prosecutors.  It is incumbent then that personnel in all of these areas are provided with quality training in order to become knowledgeable and proficient in the investigation/prosecution of homicide cases.  That is what the VHIA hopes to provide to each of its members, quality training which provides each of you with the tools to be successful in these investigations. 

Another important facet of membership in the VHIA is access to hundreds of talented and successful individuals with a great deal of experience in areas related to homicide investigations.  Our members come from almost every jurisdiction within the Commonwealth of Virginia and other areas of the country and include investigators, prosecutors, crime scene personnel, medical examiners, medico-legal investigators, forensic scientists and literally every field of expertise involved in homicide investigations.  Our members represent federal, state and local agencies and all are willing to assist other VHIA members when called upon.  If there is one thing I have learned in over 31 years in law enforcement it is that when you have a contact and need assistance, you get what you need.  If you don’t have a contact you only get the run around 90% of the time and waste valuable time and resources with little return.  I have personally reached out on numerous occasions to VHIA members in other jurisdictions when conducting investigations and have always received outstanding support from them each and every time.  In return, I have assisted other VHIA members when called upon, day or night, weekday or weekend and provided the same level of service and expertise as I have always received.  That ability to contact another VHIA member and get the necessary assistance required is one of the most valuable benefits of membership within the VHIA and is one that cannot be overstated.  That benefit alone has solved many a case in my seventeen years as a member of this organization.  I encourage each of you to reach out to other members of your agencies and recruit them as members of this organization.  It costs you nothing and will be one of the most valuable suggestions you could provide to a fellow law enforcement officer.  Membership costs $25 per year and it is money well spent considering the training opportunities available to members, the contacts within the organization and the camaraderie that comes with being a member of the Virginia Homicide Investigators Association.

On a personal note, on March 18, 2010 I will be attending the execution of Paul Warner Powell.  In January 1999 he murdered a 16 year old girl named Stacy Reed in Prince William County during an attempted rape in her home.  He then waited for her 14 year old sister Kristie to come home from school, sexually assaulted her, cut her throat, stabbed her and attempted to strangle her with her own shoelaces.  Kristie survived and Powell was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.  After review by the Virginia Supreme Court, the case was remanded for a new trial on first degree murder as the court did not feel that the evidence supported a capital murder conviction under the indictment he was charged with.  Powell then wrote a profanity laced letter to the Honorable Paul Ebert the prosecutor in the case claiming he had attempted to rape Stacy and claiming that because of his conviction being overturned he could admit to this fact because he could not be retried for capital murder.  Powell had not previously admitted to attempting to rape Stacy and therefore, armed with this new admission, Powell was indicted a second time on capital murder charges and was subsequently convicted a second time of capital murder and sentenced to death by a jury. 

The reason I say “on a personal note” is because this was my first capital murder case as an investigator and this case has haunted me for over eleven years.  Powell was scheduled to die last July however the Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution the day before his execution in order to hear his double jeopardy argument.  That was recently denied and the new execution date was set.  Over the past eleven years I have remained friends with Kristie and her mother Lorraine.  Lorraine has attended numerous law enforcement training seminars on behalf of the VHIA and given us her perspective on the Criminal Justice System and the court process.  Although not always praising the manner in which aspects of the case were handled by law enforcement, prosecutors, victim/witness and the courts, Lorraine has always supported our efforts to see justice served.   She and Kristie have remained strong throughout this ordeal and have always wanted to make the system better for other victims and their families.  She and I have travelled throughout the country speaking about this case from the perspective of law enforcement and her from that of a victim.  She and Kristie have done much to bolster victims rights and provide law enforcement with their perspective on what it is like to be a victim, how they want to be treated, how they want to be involved and more importantly, what victims expect from law enforcement. 

I have come to respect her opinions and learned a great deal from her about what the victims and their families go through in these cases.  Her insight and perspective changed the way I treat victims and their families.  Now, hopefully they will see justice served and although Lorraine has forgiven Powell for what he did to her daughter, she still believes that he received a fair trial and that the sentence of the jury should be carried out.  She and Kristie will also be in attendance at the execution. 

This will be the first execution I have witnessed and for me will mean this case will finally be over.  I’m sure many of you have had one case that never seems to go away, one case that has haunted you for a long time, one case that has provided you with countless sleepless nights and nightmares.  This has been that case for me.  For those of you who are new to homicide, I assure you, you too will someday endure one of these cases during your career it is inevitable.  For me however, there was also a positive side to this case.  The Virginia Homicide Investigators Association awarded me with the “Homicide Investigator of the Year” Award for this case.  I recall when I received this award that it was and remains to be one of the proudest moments of my law enforcement career.  To be honored by your peers with such as prestigious award is the ultimate compliment.  To have my name included on a plaque that lists the names of some of the finest homicide investigators in the Commonwealth of Virginia is an honor beyond comprehension.  The VHIA has honored its members for their hard work, ingenuity and dedication to the field of homicide investigations since its inception in 1993.  I encourage each of you to strive to receive this honor, to be included on that plaque that lists the best of the best. 

Each of us is dedicated to our profession, dedicated to bringing to justice those who cannot conform to society’s rules, those who commit the ultimate crime of homicide.  To attain that goal we must constantly strive to find new innovative ways to solve these crimes, to constantly educate ourselves on new technologies available to us, to learn from others who have been there and to relentlessly pursue these individuals no matter how long it takes.  Members of the VHIA have solved homicides that seemed impossible to solve yet there is still work to be done.  There are still many unsolved homicides out there that should not be placed in a box on a shelf.  Our goal should be to solve every homicide, no matter how long that takes, no matter how much effort it takes, no matter how bad the odds of closing the case may seem. 

Stay safe and keep up the good work you provide to the victims, their families and to the citizens of your jurisdiction.  Be proud of what you do and the profession you have chosen and always strive to be the best at what you do through education, training, dedication and professionalism.

Detective Rich Leonard
President