|
|
|
||||||||
Presents:
Cold Case
Child Abuse/Child
Homicide
Investigation
Over the past 5 years, we have solved four
separate decades-old child abuse deaths, which were originally attributed to
other causes. All the
perpetrators in these crimes were identified and prosecution is pending.
Below are 2 case examples with outcomes:
August 1968 – A 1-month female was brought to an emergency room in Iowa, suffering from ongoing seizures and unresponsiveness. Examination found bilateral retinal hemorrhages and a subsequent diagnosis of an intraventricular hemorrhage. She died on the 3rd day of hospitalization. The parents did not allow an autopsy.
Her case was written up in a medical journal, since the author of the article was perplexed by the fact that the baby’s retinal hemorrhages had pale-centers. This article was written prior to medical personnel knowing about the entity that is today called Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Though minimal information was listed about the infant in the medical article, I was able to get a death certificate and ultimately contact the infant’s mother – 34 years after the baby’s death. The father is believed to be the one responsible for the death of the infant.
November 1976 - A 10-month old female was admitted to a Los Angeles Medical Center with a history of severe lethargy. She had been with her father for several hours before, while the mother was at work. Physical examination noted bruising on her chin, a lacerated frenulum of the upper lip, retinal detachment, and bilateral retinal hemorrhages. She died on the 3rd day of hospitalization and an autopsy was performed. Besides the ophthalmologic findings, she had 10 cc of blood in the subdural space of the right parietal lobe and posterior fossa of her brain.
Homicide was suspected and her father was looked at as the main suspect, but because of the minimal amount of blood in her brain, no criminal charges were brought against him.
From discussing this case with the physician who wrote it, I was able to get the infant’s name and obtained her death certificate. After review, I shared my findings with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the case was staffed at a monthly Child Death Review team meeting. The medical examiner determined that it was a homicide and police investigator’s were set to re-interview the baby’s father- 25 years after her death.
Uncovering perpetrators of child abuse crimes is our specialty.
If you would like to staff
an unsolved child abuse case, ask for a review of a suspicious case, or would
like more information :
Please email
James Peinkofer - piney94@aol.com
No death should go
unsolved!
