Taking a Fresh Look

The technologies and methods used by police to solve cases  are constantly evolving.

Databases like the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) become more valuable as they are more widely used. DNA can be extracted from smaller and smaller samples of blood, semen and saliva. Skin cells left behind by merely touching a surface can yield actionable trace DNA for modern investigators. When DNA is tested, investigators receive results faster than ever before.

Genealogical data can be used to identify or narrow down the identity of a suspect or victim. This method was recently used to identify and charge Alan Lefferts in the 27-year-old homicide case of James Branner.

Despite these advancements, some cases remain unsolved. The Tallahassee Police Department maintains an archive of 71 cold cases of homicide or missing persons dating to 1957. Most are paper files kept in the department’s cold case closet.

“We are trying to set up a plan to digitize all of those case files, so they go in the police department’s database so they can be searchable by names,” or other aspects of the case, said Berkeley Clayton, a former TPD homicide detective. “We can’t do that now because they are paper, so you have to go through and read each case. That project is our priority right now.”

Clayton and digital forensics investigator Marcia Rodriguez came out of retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist where needed and were quickly assigned to the digitization project. Clayton worked with TPD for 30 years prior to his initial retirement in 2006. Some of the cold cases he and Rodriguez are processing date back to his own time in homicide.

“I had a couple of cases where I knew who did it,” Clayton said. “There was just not enough there to prove it. There was one that I really wanted to prove, but I had nothing — no evidence whatsoever. That’s why I started (working on the cold cases). With four times as many people, you could do a lot more, but I work cases, too. We do them as much as we can.”

Officers across departments can pick up cold cases as their schedules allow, but TPD does not maintain a formal cold case unit with dedicated personnel. Even though Clayton is assigned to digitize the files, he also maintains a caseload of “crimes against persons” as part of the violent crimes unit. No prioritization structure exists for what cold cases are reopened. Clayton says he simply starts at the top of the stack.

As Clayton and Rodriquez work through the files, he keeps an eye out for evidence. What DNA can be tested again? What witnesses are still alive? More often than not, cold trails remain cold.

Berkeley Clayton, a former Tallahassee Police Department homicide detective, reviews a cold case file the old fashioned way. “We are trying to set up a plan to digitize all of those case files,” he said, explaining that they will then be searchable by names or other aspects of the case. “We can’t do that now because they are paper. That (digitalization) project is our priority right now.” Photo by Dave Barfield

“Sometimes you literally have no evidence,” Clayton said. “In one homicide I worked on in 1991 up here at the Capitol Cinemas, this woman got robbed coming out. She was shot and killed. No evidence. The only thing at the scene was her blood. Our witness was very good, but the suspect had a mask on. That was all she could describe. I recovered a bullet, but without a weapon to match it to, it’s no good.”

In his estimation, digitizing these cold case files could assist investigators beyond the process of retesting old evidence. He believes that searchability will create previously unrecognized connections between otherwise separate cases.

“This witness in this case, was he involved in anything else?” Clayton said. “That’s why we are wanting to digitize everything, to be able to search a name or a location or a suspect name to coordinate these cases. A lot of these guys, they do stuff all the time.”

Of 71 documented cold cases, 18 are listed on TPD’s cold case webpage with photos (often mugshots) and brief case descriptions. Eleven of 19 victims are black men. Clayton points to witness cooperation as one barrier, and opportunity, in solving some of these cases.

“Those are the witnesses you go back and talk to,” Clayton said. “Sometimes, if a witness is not a hard core criminal, they will talk to you, but if they are a hard core criminal, they won’t.”

Witness testimony can greatly assist investigators, but it is physical evidence that ultimately closes cases.

“The evidence is the most important part,” Clayton said. “You can’t argue with that. If your DNA was there, you were there. Statements change, witnesses change, they die, but that evidence lasts forever as long as you take care of it.”

Unfortunately, he said, TPD has lost evidence before. Had it not been for an abundance of maintained evidence and extensive documentation from the original investigation of James Branner, Detective Brittney Able would not have made an arrest in 2022.

“Without them and how hard they worked and how diligently, we might not have received closure on this case,” Able said of her experience investigating the cold case. “It really all comes down to them. I know myself, moving forward, when I go to a scene in the future, I’m going to make sure I document it like I would want for someone else 20 years down the line working on it again.”

Even with advancing technologies, better management of cold cases and detectives dedicated to turning over every stone, some cases may never be solved. For police, it can be difficult not to take those cases to heart. Clayton can describe some 30-year-old cases in vivid detail. One day, he hopes, someone will find answers.

TPD Cold Cases

Profiled Cases
Of 71 documented cold cases, 18 are listed on TPD’s cold case webpage with photos (often mugshots) and brief case descriptions.

Photos courtesy of Crime Stoppers and talgov.com (headshots)