Private Investigators - PInow.com | Investigator Directory

Get Your Investigation Business on the Map with Local Search

2011-04-08T11:31:00.001-06:00

You may have heard the term “local search” recently and wondered what it is and how it can help your private investigator business. Local search basically ensures that people can find your business online when searching for local terms such as “Private Investigator Denver” or wherever your business may be located. This is accomplished through optimizing your Google Places, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local profiles, and then submitting your business to Superpages, YellowPages, DexKnows, 411.com, WhitePages and more than 100 other sites. So when people search for your key terms, your business shows up.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how local search benefits your business and how the submission process works.

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How Private Investigators Can Use Written Reports As A Marketing Tool

2011-03-18T10:26:00.003-06:00

Professional report writing is a skill that can be a killer for some private investigators. It must be composed only of facts and not contain wording that can be misleading or require interpretation.

Report writing skills are extremely important to your professional and personal reputation. When you do things correctly your reputation will remain intact. If you do things incorrectly, it may cost you clients.

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Social Media: A Multi-Purpose Investigation and Profit-Making Tool

2011-03-11T12:21:00.004-07:00

“Tweeting’s for the birds,” a private investigator recently griped. “No way you’re gonna catch me on Twitter.”

If I told him Twitter, and other social networking sites, could attract new clients, aid finding people and evidence, as well as professionally brand his business, think he’d re-think his stance?

Successful PIs are good listeners. Cases have been solved just from listening to what people say about each other and themselves. When you funnel those words into digital gathering places, add indicators to locations and other information, and provide opportunities to promote and build clientele, the result is a multi-purpose investigation and profit-making social media tool for private investigators.

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Social Media Expert Offers Skip Tracing Tips for Private Investigators

2011-03-11T12:15:00.002-07:00

Modern-day private investigators have more tools at their fingertips than ever before. Where they used to have to comb through phone books and interview neighbors, colleagues, ex-lovers, friends and family to track someone down, now they may need only log in to Facebook or Twitter.

They don’t even have to be in the same city, state or country as the person they’re tracking. A private investigator with a smart phone can theoretically run skip traces on subjects in Minnesota from a sunny beach in Hawaii.

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Glenn Mulcaire - The Man They Called 'Trigger'

2011-01-18T11:26:00.002-07:00

Glenn Mulcaire always knew how to deliver. Watch the News of the World's former private investigator in happier times, scoring a tasty goal with the left. It was the first goal for AFC Wimbledon – the club formed after the old Wimbledon moved up to Milton Keynes. They called him 'Trigger' as a result of that.

And for die hard Mulcaire fans, you can hear the man speak at the end of the 2002 video. I think I can detect a certain easy charm there, which was no doubt helpful when he moved on to other things.

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PI ’close to solving E.Cape murder of Dewani family friend’

2011-01-12T12:06:00.002-07:00

A private investigator has revealed he is close to cracking a case in which an Eastern Cape doctor was murdered several years ago.

Pox Raghavjee was shot dead in Bhisho in 2007.

It recently emerged he was family friends with Shrien Dewani’s parents. This prompted South African authorities to investigate a possible link between the Raghavjee matter and the killing of Dewani’s wife, Anni, in Cape Town in 2010.

However, Private Investigator Christian Botha said there is no evidence suggesting the link.

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Police Save Private Investigator from Client

2011-01-11T11:39:00.002-07:00

NHLANGANO - There was drama as an irate taxi driver attacked and allegedly threatened to assault controversial private investigator Doctor Myeni.

The incident happened on Saturday at around 2pm and the prompt response of two armed Nhlangano police saved what could have been a nasty ending.

The furious man, who cannot be named for now as he has not been charged, is said to have stormed Myeni’s offices demanding answers over a case he was investigating and further accused him of interference.

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Ada County Commissioner Hires Private Detective

2011-01-06T11:53:00.003-07:00

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A newly elected Ada County commissioner has hired a private detective to investigate a sitting commissioner.

Vern Bisterfeldt hired the detective last month to investigate Sharon Ullman.

Bisterfeldt tells the Idaho Statesman that e-mails he received prompted him to hire the detective, but he won't elaborate about the e-mails.

He also won't say what the detective has found, if anything.

Ullman says she welcome's the hiring of the detective because she has nothing to hide.

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News of the World Executive Suspended Over Alleged Phone Hacking

2011-01-05T11:30:00.002-07:00

A senior News of the World executive has been suspended following a "serious allegation" related to phone hacking.

Ian Edmondson, the title's assistant editor (news), was suspended before Christmas, shortly after the Guardian obtained court documents which alleged he had asked private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack into phones belonging to actress Sienna Miller and her staff. Miller is suing the paper's parent company News Group Newspapers.

The News of the World confirmed in a statement today that Edmondson, who was hired by former editor Andy Coulson, had been suspended on full pay. Coulson is now David Cameron's director of communications.

"A serious allegation has been made about the conduct of a member of the News of the World staff," the paper said.

"We have followed our internal procedures and we can confirm that this person was suspended from active duties just before Christmas.

The paper added that it is carrying out its own internal investigation into the allegation and that "appropriate action will be taken" if they are found to be true.

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Private Investigator's License Takes Work to Obtain

2011-01-04T11:35:00.003-07:00

Does the idea of sitting in cars for hours at a time, conducting computer checks and taking pictures with miniature cameras sound like fun? Before you go into the field of private investigation, be warned:

It's not as easy as it looks.

In Pennsylvania, you need to have worked for the FBI, state police, local police or a private investigator's office, according to Wanda Heitzman, who works for the Northampton County courts. But you can't be an active law enforcement officer and hold a private investigator's license, she says.

All applicants for a license have to be at least 25 years old and submit to fingerprinting. Then there's a background check from the district attorney's office, Heitzman says. No one with a felony conviction can get licensed.

"They go through everything with a fine-tooth comb and make sure everything's above-board," she says.

If it gets that far, applicants appear before a judge and provide proof that they're bonded for $10,000. "It's very seldom anybody's ever declined," Heitzman says.

While many investigators come from a law enforcement or military background, Matt Brown, owner of Lehigh Valley Detective Agency, started out working for another private detective agency for eight years before getting his license. He says the rigors of Northampton County's process helps ensure quality.

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Dewani Link in South African Doctor Murder Dismissed

2010-12-30T11:11:00.002-07:00

Dr Raghavjee, 60, was carjacked and shot dead for no apparent reason during his drive to work in the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth.

His widow Heather travelled to Cape Town to support Shrien Dewani when he and his new wife were carjacked and she was shot dead last month.

Police, who allege that Mr Dewani arranged a fake carjacking to have his wife killed, later suggested that there could be a link with the death of Mr Raghavjee because the families knew each other, and sent detectives from the capital Pretoria to investigate.

But Christian Botha, a private investigator based in the Eastern Cape commissioned by Mrs Raghavjee in June to look at her husband's murder again, said he was executed because he was about to disclose incriminating information.

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Retired Tennessee Police Officers Find Home in Private Investigation

2010-12-29T11:18:00.002-07:00

Patrick Wells isn't intimidated by discreet techno-gadgets or the sophistication of the private investigation industry's up-and-comers in computer forensics.

The former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, with sideburns that stretch to his cheekbones, has a good-natured Tennessee twang and a bald eagle on his business card.

His technology includes a laptop computer and a tape recorder.

"They call it the ol' gumshoe," Wells, 61, said. "You've just got to pound the pavement. No amount of technology is a substitute for knocking on doors and putting in the legwork."

When a cop retires from the force, he never really stops being an officer. So many, like Wells, become private investigators.

In Davidson County, there are 70 private detectives who work for 135 firms, according to the state Department of Commerce and Insurance, which provides licensing to private investigators. There are 1,162 private investigators statewide, who work for 635 agencies.

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Rachel Uchitel, alleged Tiger Woods mistress, to be private investigator

2010-12-28T12:04:00.002-07:00

Rachel Uchitel, the first woman outed as an alleged mistress of golfer Tiger Woods, told news sources she’s going back to school to be a private investigator.

During an interview with Fox News, Uchitel said “I decided to go back to school and get my private investigation license.”

PerezHilton.com reports that Uchitel told sources she recently had to use a Taser gun on someone.

“I’m going to work under my professor, Dale Gustafson, who runs DGA Detectives,” she said. She also noted she’d love to find missing people and recently tried to convince some of her friends to accompany her on a trip to Orlando to search for a missing girl.

Ironically, Uchitel also said she’s “scared of dating” and would never get involved with someone if he's “dating somebody or married.”

Uchitel can currently be seen on the latest season of VH1’s ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.’

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Sienna Miller Seeks Damages From Murdoch Newspaper Over Hacking

2010-12-23T12:26:00.003-07:00

Actress Sienna Miller is seeking damages from the U.K.’s News of the World newspaper for hacking the voice mail on three of her phones to get personal information, according to court documents.

Miller claims the newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., paid private investigator Glenn Mulcaire 2,500 pounds ($3,270) a week to eavesdrop on personal messages between her, her friends and business associates. The actress, who also works as a model and fashion designer, claims news editor Ian Edmondson approved the work contract.

Miller, whose movies include “Layer Cake” and “Factory Girl,” is seeking an injunction to restrain the newspaper from “using, accessing or attempting to access voicemail messages left for her or by her and from publishing or causing to be published any confidential information,” as well as “exemplary damages” according to a court document dated Nov. 30.

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Private Detectives on Megan Waterman Missing Woman Case

2010-12-21T13:37:00.001-07:00

Private detectives hired by an international activist group are investigating the disappearance of a Maine woman once thought to be among the four dead women found in Gilgo Beach, the woman's family said Monday.

Relatives of Megan Waterman, 22, who worked as a prostitute and vanished after meeting a client in Hauppauge in June, said they worked with Avaaz - an online group advocating on climate change, human rights and corruption - to hire two female investigators in mid-November.

Suffolk detectives have turned up no evidence that Waterman is among the dead whose bones were found wrapped in burlap on Dec. 11 and 13 off Ocean Parkway, police say, but they have not ruled her out definitively. Monday, Suffolk police said there was nothing new in the probe of the bodies.

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Private Investigator Hunts Budgie Killer

2010-12-16T11:02:00.001-07:00

The birds' owner, Andrew Pooley, 58, returned home on August 20 to discover that two of his prize exhibits, including Penmead Pride, had been killed and 21 others, worth £2,000, stolen.

The theft and destruction of the prize-winning budgies took place the night before the Cornwall Budgerigar Show – where Penmead Pride was crowned champion last year – leading to suspicion it may have been carried out by a rival.

Mr Pooley, from Delabole in Cornwall, has sought help from John Hayward, a former Thames Valley Police detective.

He announced today that he would offer a reward of around £200 for information leading to the birds' safe return or to the arrest and conviction of the thieves.

Mr Pooley said: ''Either somebody hates me a lot and wanted to kill that bird to hurt me or they've accidentally stepped on the birds.

''You can't explain to somebody how you feel. All my life I've been trying to breed a bird like this and I eventually got there.

''I had two or three like it to be honest, which were stolen and taken away from me and this one (Penmead Pride) was killed.

''I picked it up in my hand and I just couldn't believe that somebody had killed that bird – it's like me losing one of my children.''

Mr Pooley added that concern for the stolen budgerigars' welfare remains high.

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Bycroft Board to Hire Investigator to Check Workers Comp Costs

2010-12-15T11:56:00.002-07:00

LISBON - Columbiana County Board of Developmental Disabilities members agreed Tuesday to hire a private eye to look into Workers' Compensation issues with employees.

Superintendent William Devon cited the high cost of employee claims the last few years as the reason for the action.

"I think we're exceedingly high," he said by phone.

The cost of claims last year was about $473,000 and this year's claims will go over $400,000. He explained that Boards of Developmental Disabilities across the state are generally the highest when it comes to Workers' Compensation claims.

Considering some of their clients can be hard to handle due to their challenges, it's to be expected, but he said recent years have been costly. The CCBDD has the highest amount for claims of all government agencies in the county.

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Wife of doctor murdered in South Africa calls on Dewani link investigation

2010-12-14T10:40:00.004-07:00

The wife of a doctor murdered in South Africa has asked a private investigator to explore any link between her husband's death and Shrien Dewani, the British bridegroom wanted over the murder of his wife.

Heather Raghavjee asked Christian Botha to examine both cases to see if there was any connection.

The move came after the South African police said they were investigating possible links between the death of Dr Pox Raghavjee in 2007 and that of Anni Dewani in November.

Mrs Dewani was on honeymoon with her new husband Shrien Dewani in Cape Town when their taxi was carjacked and she was shot dead.

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The Undercover World of the Female Private Investigator

2010-12-02T09:50:00.002-07:00

Going undercover to expose cheating partners, finding long-lost dads and recovering snatched kids is all part of the job for Anna Willson.

As a private investigator, she has found being a woman in what was a man's world is an asset because people tend to be less suspicious of her snooping.

The majority of her cases involve cheating husbands, though she's not keen on the idea of honey traps. But hidden cameras and fake identities are among the tools she uses, while social network sites such as Facebook have been a huge help for her spying.

Anna says her job involves digging into people's pasts as well but added: "I love the fact that every day is different and every new case is a challenge. My job is about wanting the truth."

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Simon Will Fight: Private Investigator Was Hired

2010-12-01T12:37:00.003-07:00

NOBLESVILLE — Bren Simon has turned over documents pertaining to a private investigator that she hired to collect information on beneficiaries of her late husband Melvin Simon’s trust.

Revelations about the investigation came in a court hearing held today in a legal challenge to the Simon will.

It’s the latest step in the nearly year-long dispute over the late billionaire mall developer’s estate in Hamilton County.

Attorneys for Deborah Simon, who has sued her stepmother in the will dispute, said they want sanctions against Bren Simon for failure to promptly turn over the documents.

Bren Simon turned over those documents earlier this month; she was requested to turn them over last summer.

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Female Atlanta Private Investigator Uses Bounty Hunting Skills to Help Attorneys and the Public

2010-11-30T10:09:00.002-07:00

Atlanta, GA, November 29, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Traici Sexton, M.A. is not your typical private investigator. In addition to her work as a criminal defense investigator, this Atlanta area female private investigator has tracked down bail jumpers, lost loves, deadbeat dads, debtors, runaways, kidnap victims, fugitives and more. From high profile hard-skip fugitives to tenants who have skipped out on rent and defendants in civil cases, Traici gives each case special attention that only someone with her experience and expertise can. “I find people sometimes in the most unusual ways. It seems to be more like a sixth sense and something that cannot really be explained or taught,” Traici remarks.

After more than six years traveling throughout the United States tracking down and apprehending bail jumpers for Georgia bondsmen, and three years instructing bounty hunting classes for the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsman, Traici is now applying her skills to help attorneys, landlords, financial institutions, corporations, and the general public. The change has not affected her numbers: she maintains a higher than 95% success rate since 2003 and has a reputation for being able to find people when others have failed. “One of the attorneys I regularly do work for refers to me as the “clean-up crew”, Traici quips,“I often find myself cleaning-up after other investigators who were not able to complete the job… and that is how I get most of my referrals”.

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Charges Dropped Against Craft Private Investigator

2010-11-24T10:49:00.001-07:00

A Catoosa County judge has dropped the criminal case against a private investigator who worked for Tonya Craft.

Eric Echols was originally charged with three counts of influencing a witness after he was hired to do work for Craft on her child custody suit against her ex-husband.

Craft was acquitted on 22 counts of various child molestation charges in May.

The charges against Echols stem from an August 2009 conversation in the father of one of
Craft’s alleged victims said Echols threatened him. But a transcript of the recorded conversation between Echols and the father shows the men having a polite conversation.

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Private Investigator Says He's Uncovered Other Leads In Marmolejo Case

2010-11-23T11:06:00.002-07:00

EL PASO, Texas -- The court-appointed private investigator in David Marmolejo's case claims he uncovered more than three leads, that, if followed, may prove Marmolejo did not kill his mother, Gloria.

Gloria Marmolejo's body was found in the Santa Teresa Desert in the summer of 2009. Her face was buried in the sand, her head wrapped in plastic and her shirt pulled up.

For days before the gruesome discovery, her son, David Marmolejo, mourned his mother in front of relatives, and in a news conference with media, in which his family asked for assistance in finding her.

El Paso Police later charged him with murder, and in his first trial, prosecutors argued he killed his mother because she disapproved of his romantic relationship with his significantly younger stepsister, Mariah Wilson.

Wilson was granted immunity for her testimony in the case against Marmolejo. She told jurors she saw Marmolejo hide his mother's body in the desert and that he described to her how he killed Gloria.

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Hawthorne Officials Mum on City Manager's Hiring of Private Investigator

2010-11-11T10:49:00.002-07:00

Hawthorne residents who sought answers for why the city manager hired an unlicensed private investigator to nose around City Hall have been met with silence.

City Council members called Tuesday night for a closed-door meeting to discuss the issue, after residents asked for a public explanation for the secret investigation.

City Manager Jim Mitsch spent at least $8,000 in taxpayer funds last summer to hire unlicensed private investigator Edward Ortega to interview employees. But he has not explained why he hired the investigator or what exactly Ortega was tasked with uncovering.

"The council should do a thorough investigation of this matter," Olivia Valentine, a former City Council candidate, told the council on Tuesday. "The council promised the people transparency and should live up to its promise. The people have a right to know exactly what is going on."

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Hit-mom Private Eye Got Tough-Guy Language From 'Sopranos'

2010-11-10T12:47:00.002-07:00

A private detective - who yesterday testified in a Long Island courtroom that accused hit-mom Susan Williams asked him to find a hitman - said he got some of the tough-guy language he used with Williams from an episode of ``The Sopranos.’’

Joseph LaBella said that when Williams, 43, asked him in a Carle Place diner to find someone she could pay to injure or kill her estranged husband Peter Williams, he said he responded that someone could ``beat him up with a bat, a pipe’’ and put him into a coma ``sipping through a straw in a hospital bed.’’

Under cross-examination, defense lawyer John Carman asked the retired undercover cop if he had switched into his ``alter-ego as a street thug?’

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Private Detective Tells You How to Stay Safe

2010-11-09T10:40:00.004-07:00

The profession of private detective conjures up visions of cheating spouses, undercover stings and covert operations. Really, it's like every other job, but with a bit more excitement. I have been working the streets of Erie for the past 25 years in various public sector criminal justice jobs and recently struck out on my own, opening Rogan Investigations, a private detective agency based in Erie.

I've seen a lot in my years in this business and the lack of attention that others pay to their surroundings has always concerned me, particularly when it comes to women.

As women, we need to always be aware of the environment around us so we can respond and react appropriately. It's important to think before you leave your home, car, or office.
I can't tell you the number of women, and men for that matter, I have followed who have no idea that I am watching them. I must be a good private detective, right? Wrong, sort of. I am a good private detective, but the truth is that most people just don't think about their own personal safety and surroundings.

If I am watching you, who else is?

Now that we're entering the holiday season, women can be more distracted than ever.

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Miley Cyrus To Play Private Investigator In 'So Undercover'

2010-11-04T10:29:00.001-06:00

Miley Cyrus has landed another movie role - this time in the forthcoming action-comedy So Undercover.

The 17-year-old has been tapped to play a young private investigator who goes undercover at a college sorority - after being hired by the FBI.

Tom Vaughan (What Happens in Vegas) will direct the movie say reports, which is based on a script written by Allan Loeb and Steven Pearl.

So Undercover will be produced and financed by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair's Exclusive Media
Group, with Sinclair saying of the forthcoming movie: "There will be a touch of real danger when she goes undercover.

"We have a sharp, funny, accessible and commercial script from Allan and Steven that is a perfect match for her comic talents," he added to Variety. "We are also thrilled to have Tom Vaughan at the helm."

Meanwhile, Miley's next film to be released is LOL: Laughing Out Loud in 2011. Cyrus plays the role of Lola and stars alongside Demi Moore and Twilight's Ashley Greene.

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Investigators Hired by South Beloit

2010-11-03T12:47:00.002-06:00

The South Beloit City Council voted to hire a private investigation firm out of Rockford to investigate allegations against newly appointed Police Chief Waylon Weber.

The council voted 5-0 Monday following an executive session meeting to hire Stewart Investigations to investigate allegations of department policy violations regarding an incident that took place in February of 2009 involving Weber when he was a patrol officer.

Council member Robert Stone requested the investigators be hired.Mayor Randy Kirichkow had filed a complaint against Weber with the Fire and Police Commission regarding the incident. The commission has set a hearing on the matter to be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at South Beloit City Hall. There has been no indication that the hearing will be affected by the outside investigation. It also was not announced what the cost of the investigation will be.

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Katie Price Hires Private Detective To Track Down Lost Mobile Phone…

2010-11-02T10:19:00.001-06:00

As her book signing tour continued, Katie Price arrived at Waterstones in Northampton yesterday where she showcased a variety of odd facial expressions obviously to demonstrate the fact that she’s definitely not having Botox anymore – and boy do we believe her.

Meanwhile Jords is said to be mad, MAD with fear over Andrew Gould’s lost mobile phone. Apparently her horse-trainer’s phone contains a variety of intimate message sent from Gould to his wife, and the glamour model is for some reason worried that it’ll fall into the wrong hands therefore she’s allegedly hired a private investigator to track it down. A source close to Jords tells the Mirror today:

“As soon as Katie found the phone had been lost she went ballistic. People were wondering why she was so worried. There were some risqué text messages on the phone.

“Kate said she was worried that, no matter how harmless or innocent they may have been, the phone would fall into the wrong hands.”

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Politicians Using Private Investigators to Take a Closer Look at Opponents and Themselves

2010-10-28T10:52:00.003-06:00

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A questionable military service record. An immigrant housekeeper without a visa. A criminal charge from long ago. Sexual indiscretions.

Such private issues thought long buried are the currency of the secretive and growing world where campaigns hire private investigators. PIs dig up dirt on opponents and, increasingly, the candidates who've hired them.

"Were they really in the military? Did they actually serve in combat? well, maybe not," said Randy Torgerson, a PI and president of the United States Association of Professional Investigators based in Montana. "Some of the biggest things, as people move up the ladder, are sexual issues ... and then the embellishments.

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Private Eyes Aim to Kill Black Ops Video-Game Piracy with Kindness

2010-10-27T12:11:00.002-06:00

Private investigators have begun tracking down pirates of Call of Duty Black Ops, an unpublished video game that’s expected to be the hottest game of the season.

But instead of busting them and turning them over to the FBI, the investigators are trying a different tactic. They’re approaching the pirates and telling them to please stop selling illegal copies of the game.

One of the people who bought a disk online has even posted a four-part video on YouTube describing his experience (part one of BlackGate is posted below) of buying a game and getting caught. He described the investigator who cornered him as “polite.”

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Family Launches Private Investigation into Spokane Pastor Shooting

2010-10-26T10:26:00.001-06:00

SPOKANE VALLEY -- The family of an elderly Spokane Valley pastor killed in an officer-involved shooting in August has hired a private investigator to dig deeper into the case.

On the night of August 25, Spokane County Sheriff's deputy Brian Hirzel shot and killed Scott Creach, 74, in the parking lot of Creach's business, The Plant Farm.

Creach's family is still waiting for a decision from Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker on whether Hirzel will be criminally charged, but they are also conducting their own investigation into what happened that night.

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Casey Anthony: Texas EquuSearch Volunteers Cite ‘Tampering’ by Defense Private Eye

2010-10-21T11:59:00.002-06:00

Two Texas EquuSearch complained to WFTV-Ch. 9 that a defense private investigator in the Casey Anthony case tried to tamper with their testimony.

The two men said investigator Jeremy Lyons tried to get them to change their testimony about searching for Caylee Anthony’s remains, WFTV’s Kathi Belich reported tonight.

Volunteers Brett Churchill and Brett Reilly say the area — where the toddler was later found — was underwater when they searched it. Both men are prosecution witnesses in the murder case, and both told Belich that Lyons’ actions were like tampering. The two volunteers “say Lyons lied to Churchill that Reilly had changed his story about whether the woods were flooded,” Belich reported.

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Body Confirmed to be Missing Banker; Cause of Death Still Sought

2010-10-19T10:08:00.004-06:00

Harrison Township — The Macomb County Medical Examiner Office has determined the body found along the shores of Lake St. Clair is that of missing Mount Clemens bank executive David Widlak, but it's still unclear what caused his death, officials said.

The body of the 62-year-old from Grosse Pointe Farms was found in a marshy area of Lake St. Clair on Sunday night.

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said this afternoon the examiner's office was able to positively identify the victim from dental records.

The medical examiner was not able to find any evidence of blunt force trauma to Widlak's body and is waiting for the results of the toxicology report to shed more light on the cause of his death, Hackel said.

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Investigator: Kamp Grew Angry During Interview with Neighbor

2010-10-14T10:54:00.002-06:00

CHARLESTON — Heather Kamp grew angry when she learned private investigators were at her neighbor’s house, flashing money and asking questions about Kate Waring’s disappearance, according to testimony today.

Investigator Eugene Frazier told a Charleston jury said he and two other investigators went to Terry Williams apartment on James Island in August 2009 hoping to learn something about Waring. Williams lived next door to Kamp and Ethan Mack, who emerged as suspects in the case.

Frazier said he had been contacted by landlord Isaac Washington, who was troubled by an article in The Post and Courier in which Mack claimed to be living on Johns Island. Knowing that Mack and Kamp lived beside him, Washington was worried that Mack was trying to mislead police, Frazier testified.

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Forsyth Investigators Search Grounds Around Missing Woman's Apartment

2010-10-13T12:00:00.003-06:00

Forsyth County investigators Tuesday afternoon were preparing to search the grounds around the apartment of a 66-year old Cumming woman who has been missing for a week.

The family of Ann Marie Barker, who lived alone at the Oxford Summit apartments on Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Cumming, has hired Alpharetta private investigator T.J. Ward to help find her, Ward said Tuesday.

“I’m working with the sheriff’s office, and so far it’s still a mystery what happened,” said Ward.

Forsyth County sheriff Ted Paxton said in a statement released by his office that there was no sign of a struggle at Barker's apartment and her purse and cell phone were at the residence. Barker was last seen Oct. 5 when she made a routine transaction at a nearby Wachovia Bank.

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Testimony: Private Firm Hired for Booker Investigation

2010-10-12T10:32:00.001-06:00

ROCKFORD — Winnebago County Sheriff Deputy Chief Kurt Ditzler told a disciplinary panel today that the department hired a private investigator to look into allegations against Sgt. Aaron Booker because department staff couldn’t give the probe the time it deserved.

Ditzler, who holds the department’s No. 2 position, testified this morning in a Sheriff Department’s Merit Commission disciplinary hearing regarding Booker. The hearing has recessed until this afternoon.

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Director John McTiernan Prepares to Appeal Sentence

2010-10-07T10:46:00.002-06:00

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Die Hard" director John McTiernan was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000 on Monday for lying during the wiretapping investigation of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano and about his involvement in the wiretapping of producer Charles Roven. U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer gave a stinging rebuke from the bench before sentencing McTiernan, saying "the defendant doesn't feel the law applies to him."

McTiernan declined the opportunity to address the court or speak with reporters outside the courtroom, but free pending an appeal, he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Hollywood Reporter: You were given the opportunity to speak before sentencing, but you chose not to. Why?

John McTiernan: My lawyers said that if I said one thing that's really on my mind, than they could guarantee that I was going to prison right now. I was all prepared. They spent basically 36 hours pleading with me. (I was told,) "You'll feel good for about five minutes, and then you'll curse yourself for a long time afterwards."

THR: What would you have said?

McTiernan: I'm not saying anything. There wasn't any point in saying anything in that venue; that venue wasn't listening.

THR: There were pointed comments from the bench about not eating "aged cheese and fine wine" in prison. Where did that come from?

McTiernan: (Judge Fischer) was trying to ridicule me. I take a very heavy-duty antidepressant; I've lived on it for 35 years, and it has heavy dietary restrictions. And what they did was take the silliest of them and put them in. It was some ridicule the prosecution had put in their papers, and she just repeated it over.

THR: You'll be appealing?

McTiernan: We're already filing the papers. I've already paid the appeals lawyer.

THR: Are you optimistic that you will not serve the sentence?

McTiernan: I didn't start this because I was afraid to go to jail. It would have been much easier to go to jail. And less expensive. And some of the minimum-security prison camps are not bad, and there are actually interesting people there. And I have managed to live my life not being too afraid of new experiences, including going off to a federal prison for four months. That isn't why I started this fight. I started because these people have less respect for the law than they accuse me of having.

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Private Investigator Sues Fraser-Kirk

2010-10-06T11:57:00.002-06:00

Frank Monte, a private investigator, says he is suing the David Jones publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk for claiming he has been illegally bugging and stalking her.

Mr Monte said in a statement yesterday that he had hired a barrister and directed his solicitor to launch defamation and perjury proceedings against Ms Fraser-Kirk, who is suing her employer and former boss, Mark McInnes, for sexual harassment.

''They've dragged me into this screaming,'' he said. ''I've kept my nose clean for some time now.''

Ms Fraser-Kirk's legal team said this week in the Federal Court that the 27-year-old had developed a psychological disorder as a result of ''extreme'' media interest in the case.

Barrister Rachel Francois said in court that her client was ''particularly intimidated'' by reports that Mr Monte was running background checks and surveillance on her.

Mr Monte said yesterday he resented insinuations he was involved in illegal surveillance, such as ''bugging, stalking or bombing''.

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Few Clues in Brown Graduate's Disappearance

2010-09-30T10:29:00.003-06:00

PROVIDENCE-- Providence police and a private investigator are trying to determine what happened to a recent Brown University graduate from Russia who was reported missing.

Konstantin Salikhov is 31 years old and hasn't been seen since a trip to the West Coast last month.

Salikhov is 6 feet tall and recently completed a doctorate in math. He's an avid runner.

"Just a quiet reserved kid. Didn't need much. A minimalist. Never knew he was a Ph.D. in math," said Stephen Kariotis, Salikhov's landlord.

Salikhov has lived at 210 Waterman St. in Providence for the past five years. He left a note inside his small apartment saying he was on vacation until Aug. 24. He told his parents in Russia he was going out west on a camping trip in early August by himself.

He sent photos to his parents, whom he talked to regularly. He hiked in Sequoia National Park and visited geysers in Wyoming before returning a rented car to San Francisco on Aug. 20.

He called his parents the next day.

"I believe this because of the connection and whatever the time was, it (the phone call) was kind of broken up. He just stated, 'Mom and Dad, I'm home and I'm safe.' And that was pretty much the extent of the phone call and, 'I'll talk to you at a later time,'" said Mark Chauppetta, a private detective.

Salikhov's parents hired Chauppetta when they didn't hear from their son.

"They were pretty close-knit, kept in touch with each other. And then after not hearing back from him, that's when they became concerned and called the Russian consulate office," Chauppetta said.

Providence police said Salikhov's credit cards have not been used since Aug. 20 and that there has been no cell phone use in the past 2 weeks.

They said they believe Salikhov is still in California, but San Francisco police told NBC 10 that they know nothing about the case and that no one has contacted them.

"They probably felt that there was no crime committed, that he's a 31-year-old male. He likes to camp. He hasn't shown up. He graduated from college. So, I don't think they were that concerned," Chauppetta said. "But now, not being in touch with his parents, not being in touch with anyone, not being seen here."

The car Salikhov used in Providence is also missing. It's a silver Hyundai Elantra with Rhode Island license plate 712-678.

Officials at Logan International Airport and at T.F. Green Airport reported no sign of it.

The detective is trying to obtain records from Salikhov's checking account and to find any record if he flew back from California.

Providence police asked anyone with information about Salikhov to call them.

Brown University released a statment on Wednesday, saying Salikhov received his PhD in mathematics from Brown in May 2010.

In early September, Providence Police contacted Brown's Department of Public Safety (DPS) concerning a possible missing person investigation of Salikhov. Although Salikhov is no longer a student at Brown, DPS has been cooperating with Providence police on this matter.

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Famed Private Investigator Hired by Bishop Eddie Long

2010-09-29T12:12:00.002-06:00

DULUTH, GA -- He's investigated some of the highest profile missing persons cases in the country. The disappearance of Natalee Holloway made private investigator T.J. Ward a superstar on cable news. Now he's been hired by Bishop Eddie Long.

11Alive News spoke to Ward in his Duluth home.

"I was called by attorney Dwight Thomas," Ward said. "They said they needed somebody that was experienced in doing investigations to look into these allegations that have been brought against Bishop Eddie Long and the church."

Dwight Thomas stood behind Long as he held a press conference inside New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia on Sunday. Ward has been been hired by the Bishop's team to investigate each of the allegations made against Long and to investigate the four young men making the claims.

"Each of these charges is frivolous and we plan to address them accordingly," Ward said.

This is a time when the tables will be turned.

The four accusers have made shockingly intimate sexual allegations against their church leader. Now it's Ward's turn to delve deep into their lives, their pasts, to defend his client.

Whatever he finds will be used to help Eddie Long.

Meantime, Long got some support from his peers. Approximately 30 area pastors met with Long for a prayer service Tuesday night at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

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Private Investigators Offering HD Surveillance Footage For Clients Online

2010-09-28T10:10:00.002-06:00

Davis Investigators, Inc. are among the first in the country to offer High Definition (HD) surveillance footage that their clients can access online at any time. Davis Investigations has always been at the forefront of technology, using the latest equipment to obtain surveillance footage for their clients.

There’s both a science and an art to video surveillance. After 21 years of video surveillance in medical malpractice, personal injury and matrimonial cases, Davis Investigations has the practical experience and the equipment to obtain the best footage.

In maintaining Davis’ commitment to professionalism in both conduct and evidence produced, delivering our videos via our personalized “Client Home Page” presents a user experience that is straightforward, fast, and easy to navigate. Additionally, our highly praised photos extracted from the video are available next to the video on the surveillance case page.

Delivering High Definition (HD) video online increases our client’s day to day efficiency, allowing them access to their videos from any computer, anytime. By viewing the video on a computer screen the client will be able to enjoy the benefits of our HD videos - crystal clear and sharp; exposing the subject’s true abilities and / or intentions like never before.

“Delivering our surveillance videos to our clients online via our secure website revolutionizes the way we present our videos to our clients,” said Adam Frasca LPI/Vice President Davis Investigations, Inc. “Viewable from any computer, clients receive their videos faster and no longer need to secure a DVD player to view them.”

This means clients aren’t dependent on technology to view their footage, but can be strategizing or conferring about the content footage immediately.

About Davis Investigations, Inc.:
Davis Investigations, Inc. is a family owned and operated private investigations firm whose three principal owners have over 40 combined years experience in the specific discipline of video surveillance. Davis Investigations, Inc. are licensed Private Investigators in the states of New York and Connecticut.

Our private detectives are experts in executing the most sophisticated surveillance techniques and the use of the latest high technology equipment including: High Definition (HD) video cameras, hidden video cameras, GPS tracking devices and other surveillance equipment.

Davis’ investigators are not just highly skilled at understanding human behavior to maximize surveillance success, but they are highly reliable and credible expert witnesses when testifying about our videos and observations; a critical point often overlooked when hiring a Private Investigator.

Our surveillance videos project a professional image - whether exchanged with plaintiff’s counsel to initiate settlement negotiations or offered in to evidence to influence juries. If the case goes to trial, our surveillance videos ultimately win defense verdicts.

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Boynton Beach Commissioners Oust CRA Director After Investigation into Relationship with Vendor

2010-09-23T08:47:00.005-06:00

BOYNTON BEACH -After months of back-and-forth allegations, the city commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Board, voted 4-1 not to renew the contract of Lisa Bright, the CRA executive director.

Commissioner Woodrow Hay cast the dissenting vote.

The decision came just days after commissioners were hand-delivered the final report from a private investigator hired in August to look into the ties between Bright and one of the CRA's vendors. The investigation concluded Bright did not disclose the connections to the board.

Bright's contract would have automatically renewed for another year at the end of September. The board voted at last week's CRA meeting to put Bright on administrative leave with pay, but the commissioners were split 2-2 on not renewing Bright's contract, with Commissioner Bill Orlove undecided.

Commissioner Marlene Ross, who spoke in support of Bright last week, said that her decision was made based on the findings of the investigation.

"Based on all of these reports, I can see that according to this information, some procedures were not followed and some disclosures were not made," she said.

Orlove said that he found some information revealed in the report to be "troubling."

"In my opinion, Lisa Bright, as a government employee, should have disclosed her relationship regarding Joseph Ferrer to the CRA Board and let it determine the outcome of the contracts," he said.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, prior to the discussion about the investigation, Bright's attorney, Isidro Garcia, spoke on behalf on his client, calling the investigation a "witch hunt."

The report states that evidence shows that Bright has known the vendor, Joseph Ferrer, for at least 10 years, and that she lived at and leased a cottage on Ferrer's property prior to her employment with the Boynton CRA.

It also says that Bright was "untruthful or misleading" at a July 20 CRA Board meeting when she publicly said that she never lived at Ferrer's home and only used that address to get her daughter into a different school.

Hay, who voiced his support for Bright last week, said tonight that Bright should be given back her job.

"The problem is not the CRA," he said. "The problem is the CRA Board. I've lost confidence in many of us who are sitting up here with me tonight."

Bright, who sat calmly composed in the audience during the discussion, declined to comment after the vote was made. She will get a severance package of 150 days paid, according to her contract. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office also is investigating Bright, according to Bright's attorney, but the reason is not known.

Due to time constraints, the commissioners voted to table the appointment of a seven-member independent CRA Board until the Oct. 5 commission meeting.

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Newspapers Used me as Fall Guy, Says Convicted Private Eye

2010-09-22T11:34:00.002-06:00

A private investigator paid by journalists to illegally obtain information about celebrities and public figures has said he was a fall guy for the powerful newspaper groups he worked for. Steve Whittamore told Radio 4's PM programme that he had played "Oliver to the press's Fagin".

He said it seemed unfair that newspaper executives and journalists who commissioned him had not been convicted of any wrongdoing. "It would appear unfair," he told the programme. "It would appear they should have stood and be counted but quite frankly I wasn't expecting any support from them.

"[Journalists] actually asked me to do it on their behalf. I suppose you could view it as my Oliver Twist to the press's Fagin. Something along those lines. Requests were asked of me by people who I viewed as really being above reproach. They were huge corporations. I assumed they knew what they were asking for."

Whittamore was found guilty of obtaining and disclosing information under the Data Protection Act in 2005 after passing information obtained from the police national database to newspapers. He was given a two-year conditional discharge.

His office in Hampshire was raided by the Office of the Information Commissioner two years earlier as part of Operation Motorman, an investigation designed to crack down on the growing trade in information obtained illegally.

Newspapers who used Whittamore included the News of the World and many other titles. A report by the information commissioner said more than 50 Daily Mail journalists bought material from Whittamore on 952 occasions. Other customers included the Daily Mirror (681 transactions), News of the World (228), Sunday Times (4) and Observer (103). The Observer is owned by the Guardian's parent company Guardian Media Group.

Whittamore was speaking for the first time since the Guardian revealed last year that the News of the World's owner News Group Newspapers, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News International, had paid three people whose voicemails were hacked more than £1m out of court.

The revelation cast light on the extent of phone hacking at the paper and led to several investigations into how much Andy Coulson, the paper's former editor, knew about it. Coulson is now David Cameron's director of communications.

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Indictment of Private Investigators Hired by Oleg Deripaska's Aide to Spy on Michael Cherney

2010-09-21T10:00:00.001-06:00

TEL AVIV, Israel, September 20, 2010 / -- On Sunday, Tel Aviv Magistrates Court charged two private investigators, Rafael Pridan and Maxim Gurevich, with the illegal wiretapping of Businessman Michael Cherney. The two had been hired by an aide to Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, Cherney's ex-partner.

According to the indictment, in April 2007 Alexei Drobashenko (Director of the "Eurasian Group", one of Deripaska's companies) turned to a previously convicted Israeli radical activist Avigdor Eskin, with an offer to conduct a smear campaign to discredit Michael Cherney. Eskin has introduced Drobashenko to PIs Aviv Mor and Rafael Pridan who had been earlier stripped of his Private investigator license. From May to October 2007 Eskin, Mor, and Pridan met several times in Moscow with Drobashenko, who wanted to dig for any compromising information on Mr Cherney. The detectives conducted surveillance of Mr Cherney and illegal wiretaps of his line for about 6 months.

After being arrested in November 2007 Rafi Pridan was charged yesterday with illegal actions in private investigation, illegal wiretapping, and illegal use of obtained materials. Avi Mor, another private investigator involved, cut a deal with the Prosecution last January. For the illegal surveillance of Mr Cherney, he was sentenced to six months of communal service and eight months of suspended jail time.

Michael Cherney claims that a smear campaign against him was launched by his ex-partner in aluminum trading Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. In early 2007 Mr Cherney filed a suit in UK against Deripaska for $3 billion for violating their contract; Mr Cherney believes that this caused Deripaska to launch a smear campaign, including illegal wiretapping.

In February 2008 Mr Cherney filed a suit in Tel Aviv's District Court against Deripaska and eight other people, demanding a compensation of 10 million shekels (about $3 million) for moral damages suffered in the smear campaign. Among the respondents are also Eurasian Group's

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Cops: Phony DEA agent tried to pull over a Suffolk Police detective

2010-09-16T10:58:00.000-06:00

Detective William Zambito was driving home from work Monday afternoon in his private vehicle when he was stopped by an unmarked car with flashing lights and sirens, police said.

Victor Alfaro-Marquez, 35, approached the vehicle and identified himself as a Drug Enforcement Agency agent, police said.

Mr. Zambito, of 43 Ruland Rd., identified himself as a detective and Mr. Alfaro-Marquez quickly returned to his black 1999 Mercedes Benz SUV and left the scene, police said.

But the detective was suspicious of Mr. Alfaro-Marquez's behavior and conducted an investigation, which led to the arrest of Mr. Alfaro-Marquez at his home, police said.

Mr. Alfaro-Marquez's vehicle was impounded and police recovered two badges, handcuffs, a pellet pistol in a holster and a DEA baseball hat and shirt. Mr. Alfaro-Marquez was charged with criminal impersonation second-degree and released on bail, police said.

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Cops: Phony DEA Agent Tried to Pull Over a Suffolk Police Detective

2010-09-16T10:48:00.001-06:00

A Selden man was arrested Monday and charged with impersonating a federal officer after he pulled over an off-duty Suffolk Police detective in Centereach, authorities said.

Detective William Zambito was driving home from work Monday afternoon in his private vehicle when he was stopped by an unmarked car with flashing lights and sirens, police said.

Victor Alfaro-Marquez, 35, approached the vehicle and identified himself as a Drug Enforcement Agency agent, police said.

Mr. Zambito, of 43 Ruland Rd., identified himself as a detective and Mr. Alfaro-Marquez quickly returned to his black 1999 Mercedes Benz SUV and left the scene, police said.

But the detective was suspicious of Mr. Alfaro-Marquez's behavior and conducted an investigation, which led to the arrest of Mr. Alfaro-Marquez at his home, police said.

Mr. Alfaro-Marquez's vehicle was impounded and police recovered two badges, handcuffs, a pellet pistol in a holster and a DEA baseball hat and shirt. Mr. Alfaro-Marquez was charged with criminal impersonation second-degree and released on bail, police said.

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Nevada settles Able Services suit over Private Investigators Licensing Board investigation for $580,000

2010-09-15T12:35:00.002-06:00

Nevada has agreed to pay $580,000 to the owners of a former credit screening firm who said their business was ruined by comments from an investigator with the Private Investigators Licensing Board.

The Board of Examiners approved the settlement Thursday with Hugh, Bret and Janice Lantz of Able Services in Reno.

Able Services provided credit screenings for landlords and employers. The state attorney general's office said an investigation was launched in 2003 after a citizen complained the firm also was conducting background checks, which requires licensing.

A federal court jury in Reno awarded the owners $670,000 in March. A settlement was later reached on appeal for $580,000.

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Minister Hired Private Detectives to Spy on Aides

2010-09-14T10:37:00.003-06:00

LONDON — A justice minister on Friday admitted hiring private investigators to spy on colleagues, after publication of their findings revealed they thought he was dishonest, lazy and a "disaster" who needed to be removed.

Conservative Jonathan Djanogly admitted he might have "overreacted" by using the investigators to unearth their private criticisms of him following allegations about his parliamentary expenses.

But he insisted they had not acted illegally and said he had not used public money to pay for the probe, which he said was sparked by a series of "very malicious, anonymous attacks on my family."

An aide to Cameron said he agreed Djanogly had gone over the top but said: "He will be judged as a minister on the work he does for the government."

Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon -- a constituency once held by former Conservative prime minister John Major -- spoke out after the results of the private probe were published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The paper revealed that investigators had been instructed by Djanogly to conduct "discreet inquiries under the pretext of writing a newspaper article."

They questioned Peter Brown, the minister's election agent who reportedly described Djanogly as "lazy", as well as another senior colleague who said the minister was "dishonest" over his expenses.

Yet another colleague told an investigator: "He has been a disaster and we need to de-select him (remove him as a lawmaker), but it will take time."

The junior minister at the Ministry of Justice ordered the probe by Morris Chase International, which reportedly cost more than 5,000 pounds (7,700 dollars, 6,000 euros), after the Telegraph alleged last July that he had claimed 13,000 pounds in expenses to pay a Polish student who was working for his family as an au pair.

In a statement Friday, Djanogly said: "Following a series of malicious allegations made against me in newspapers last year, I felt I had to act to find out who was spreading these untrue stories."

He said he was "very disappointed" that the investigators' report had been published, adding: "I am sorry if some people judge that I made a mistake.

"With hindsight I can see that I may have overreacted, but I was being subjected to very malicious, anonymous attacks on my family."

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Kerry Katona tells detective: Find me a decent man

2010-09-09T10:18:00.001-06:00

Having clawed her way back from the brink of bankruptcy after her ex-husband Mark Croft wasted all her cash, Kerry Katona, 30, could be forgiven for being a little wary of the next guy who comes sniffing around.

Now can reveal that Kerry has hired a private investigator to complete background checks on all potential suitors.

‘Kerry was very hurt by Mark and he took her for everything she had,' a friend tells Now.

‘She was totally destroyed, emotionally and financially.'

Kerry, who now lives in Surrey, split with Mark, 38, seven months ago.

But instead of being able to make a clean break, she was left with nearly £500,000 of debt after discovering he'd spent all her money on fast cars and fruitless business ventures.

Kerry has since dated painter and decorator Adam Waldron, 33.

But that soon ended in tears after she dumped him, citing his drinking as a reason.

Adam's family have denied the accusation.

Now she's dating kick boxer Scott Gibson, who she met on the dating website Match.com.

And it seems her investigator - who's helped Kerry with various situations in the past - has put her mind at rest as she happily arranged to meet Scott for a drink two weeks ago at a bar in Brighton.

‘The private eye finds out where they live, what their financial situation is and if they have children, ex-wives, a criminal record or any other skeletons to hide,' says the friend.

‘Although Kerry loves a bad boy, Mark lost a lot of her money and she doesn't want to end up high and dry again.

‘Her management fully support her decision to safeguard her finances.'

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San Bernardino Argues Private Investigator's Claim Lacks Merit

2010-09-08T11:49:00.003-06:00

San Bernardino contends that a private investigator has failed to provide clear-cut evidence to support claims in a lawsuit that the city owes him nearly $39,000 for investigating allegations of police misconduct.

Private investigator William Schneid filed the four-page lawsuit July 6, alleging the city breached its oral contract and still owes him $38,815.38 for his services.

The city argued in its three-page response to the lawsuit Aug. 5 that the city entered into a written contract with Schneid that called for a payment of $22,000.

"The parties agreed orally and confirmed in writing that any obligation of the city to plaintiff (Schneid) would be satisfied in full by the city's payment of approximately $22,000 to plaintiff," according to the city's response to Schneid's lawsuit.

Schneid, however, alleges that he investigated allegations of police misconduct for two years, including a police sergeant accused of illegally detaining suspects and stealing department funds. When he submitted billing statements to the city totaling more than $38,0000, the city refused to pay him.

City Attorney James F. Penman said he is unaware of any oral agreement between Schneid and the city that stipulated for more money.

"No one had authority to enter into that kind of agreement anyway. The Mayor and (City) Council would have to approve that, and they did not," Penman said.

The city believes that the allegations in Schneid's complaint are vague and fail to state specific facts and details.

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Retired Santa Clara DA's Investigator Wins Honor from International Organization

2010-09-07T10:15:00.001-06:00

The International High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA), a consortium of law enforcement, private investigators and corporate security professionals, has awarded its annual Lifetime Achievement honor to retired Lieutenant John McMullen, formerly of the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation.

A founding member of HTCIA and a pioneer in the investigation of high technology crime cases, McMullen played a key role in the successful prosecution of several high-profile Silicon Valley criminal cases. He served as supervisor of the Silicon Valley Computer Forensic Lab, Project Director for Silicon Valley’s regional high tech crime task force (REACT), and as HTCIA’s representative on the California Governor’s High Technology Crime Advisory Committee.

Also a highly respected and sought-after instructor, McMullen helped develop the computer crime investigation and computer forensic training curriculum for the California Department of Justice Advanced Training Center.

“John McMullen has been one of the best HTCIA has to offer,” said Todd Shipley, HTCIA International President. “His dedication not only to investigating his cases, but also to bringing his knowledge and expertise to his colleagues and the next generation of investigators, is something we want every member to strive to emulate. His kind of example is the reason why we have an annual Lifetime Achievement Award.”

McMullen added: “I am deeply honored to be this year's recipient of the HTCIA Lifetime Achievement Award. There is no greater honor then to be singled out and recognized by your peers for your achievements. My membership in HTCIA over the last 25 years truly enhanced my career and the many opportunities that were presented to me.”

McMullen will formally accept his award at the HTCIA International Conference being held this year in Atlanta, GA. The conference, which runs from September 20-22, will also honor the association's Case of the Year and Chapter of the Year Awards.

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Prescott May Seek Judicial Review of Phone Hack Claims

2010-09-03T11:02:00.003-06:00

Lord Prescott has said he is prepared to take legal action to find out whether News of The World journalists hacked into his phone messages.

The ex-deputy prime minister said he would seek a judicial review if the police did not say whether claims his phone had been tapped were true.

The paper's royal editor was jailed for conspiracy to access messages in 2007.

The paper said that was an isolated case, but suspended a reporter earlier this year pending an investigation.

It has also confirmed it was looking into the conduct of a unnamed journalist regarding alleged attempts to hack into the phone of a public figure. The paper said it would take "swift and decisive action" if there was proof of wrongdoing

Last year, the Metropolitan Police chose not to launch an investigation into claims, made by the Guardian newspaper, that a host of public figures - including Lord Prescott - had had their messages hacked by journalists.

'Clearly available'

At the time, it said the evidence did not warrant it and suggested Lord Prescott's phone had not been tapped.

But Lord Prescott told the BBC this had never been confirmed and he now wanted to "find the truth".

He said he expected to hear from the police next week and, if he did not, he would take further action.

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Weld County Man Jailed for Hiring PI to Track Estranged Wife

2010-09-01T12:07:00.003-06:00

GREELEY, Colo. - A local private investigator is under arrest, for what some say is simply doing his job. And a Weld County father is in jail, simply for hiring the investigator.

Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck is charging both with felony stalking.

Jeff Schudel says he hired the investigator because he was concerned about his 17-month-old son's safety. The investigator was hired to track Schudel's estranged wife's movements.

"We needed to create an accurate picture for the courts to determine custody," Schudel told us.

He says he never questioned the investigators methods.

According to police reports, the investigator did routine surveillance on the estranged wife and placed a GPS tracking device on her car. She found it and called La Salle Police, who arrested Schudel and the investigator for felony stalking.

Schudel maintains they did not do anything illegal.

"This was a legal endeavor. We hired professionals to conduct this investigation," he says.

Schudel says while he sits in jail, he remains concerned about his son's safety.

We talked with other private investigators who expressed concern that routine surveillance was being considered a felony. They say the GPS devices fall into a gray area. Some private investigators use them, but many do not.

Schudel is due back in court in late September.

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Using Private Eyes to Keep Track of Tenants

2010-08-31T10:14:00.004-06:00

As a parade of slovenly dressed 20-somethings passed through the entrance of a downtown Manhattan apartment building on a weekday afternoon, these seemingly savvy New Yorkers did not seem to notice they were the subjects of a photo shoot.

That is because this shoot was covertly orchestrated by their landlord, who had hired a private investigator to root out illegal tenants.

Masked by lunchtime crowds and afternoon rain, the private eye, Joseph Mullen, who has run a sleuthing firm for more than 40 years, parked his car in front of the building, flipped through papers showing that several residents of the seven-story building were “dead or living somewhere else,” and waited.

Shane Williams, a vice president of the firm, J.T. Mullen Inc., slouched strategically in his seat and photographed people as they entered and left. The affable pair looked like observers at an antifashion show as food deliverymen paraded through, an older portly renter stepped out to buy cheese biscuits and renters dressed in gym clothing shuffled outside to smoke.

“We don’t know half the people who live in this building,” Mr. Mullen said. He released a gravelly chuckle, rustled through papers and glanced through the tinted window. “The landlords say, ‘I got to get these illegal tenants out and make some money.’ ”

In a high-rent borough like Manhattan with plenty of rent-regulated apartments ripe for exploitation, real estate investigation has long been a big business. Private detectives say it has picked up in the past year as some New Yorkers have tried to find extra money by moving out of their apartments and subletting to other renters for more than they are paying, which is not allowed.

And, of course, there are landlords pressed for cash, trying to root out people who are using rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments illegally. This would allow the landlords to find new tenants and raise the rent by 20 percent or more under state housing law. During the speculation boom of the last decade, some large landlords were accused of using private investigators to harass legal tenants out of their apartments in order to raise rents to cover large mortgages and increase their profits.

Landlords who root out illegal sublets and absentee renters — a rent-regulated tenant must occupy the unit for at least 183 days a year — crow about how profitable these investigations can be.

Craig Charie, a lawyer and landlord who has hired private investigators for such cases since 1994, described a tenant at one Chelsea building who held onto her $433-a-month apartment while living primarily in New Jersey. An investigator tracked her commuting patterns, and Mr. Charie kicked her out, combined the apartment with another to make a duplex and raised the rent.

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Judge Appointed to Hear Case of Tonya Craft’s Private Investigator

2010-08-26T10:35:00.001-06:00

A Cobb County judge was appointed for the trial of Tonya Craft’s private investigator, who is charge with interfering with a witness.

After all the Catoosa County Superior Court judges recused themselves from Eric Echols’ case, a new judge had to be appointed to hear the case, Echols said.

Echols trial is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Echols, who worked as an investigator in Craft’s child custody and molestation cases, was charged with three counts of tampering with a witness last August. He was arrested after the father of an alleged victim in the molestation case said Echols threatened him.

Craft was acquitted May 11 on all 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery.

Echols filed the written transcript of the taped conversation he had with the father in August 2009. The conversations show Echols having a cordial conversation with the man.

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Chevron's Private Investigation Firm Attempts to Recruit Independent Journalist To Spy in The Amazon

2010-08-25T12:19:00.001-06:00

An exposé in the Atlantic magazine reveals how one of the world’s largest private investigation firms, Kroll, hired by oil giant Chevron, tried to recruit an American journalist to undermine a massive $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron brought by the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We speak with the journalist, Mary Cuddehe, and with Han Shan, the coordinator for Amazon Watch’s Clean Up Ecuador campaign.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today with a new twist in the 17-year legal battle between oil giant Chevron and the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who say decades of reckless oil drilling have taken a deadly toll on their health and their environment. They accuse Texaco, now Chevron, of dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest. Chevron now faces a $27.3 billion lawsuit.

An article in the latest issue of the Atlantic magazine reveals how a private investigation firm, hired by Chevron, tried to recruit an American journalist to undermine the high-profile lawsuit. According to the first-person account of Mary Cuddehe, the investigative firm Kroll flew her to Colombia and offered her $20,000 to spend six weeks in Lago Agrio, the jungle town in Ecuador where the trial is being held. They wanted her to say she was an independent journalist, while spying for Chevron, and find out if the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had "rigged" a health study that found the community suffered abnormally high cancer rates. But Mary Cuddehe said no. She refused the offer to become a corporate spy.

The article is called "A Spy in the Jungle," and Cuddehe writes: "There was a reason they wanted me. With one Google search, anyone could see that I was, in fact, a journalist. If I went to Lago Agrio as myself and pretended to write a story, no one would suspect that the starry-eyed young American poking around was actually shilling for Chevron."

We invited Chevron to come on the program, but they declined. Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson did, however, not directly address Mary Cuddehe’s claims, but acknowledged hiring Kroll. Robertson said in a statement to Democracy Now! that "It should come as no surprise that we have hired an outside investigative firm to help document the fraud being perpetrated by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and their associates in this case. There are now numerous documented examples of falsified expert reports, fraudulent evidence, unsubstantiated health claims and collusion with court experts," he wrote.

Mary Cuddehe is based in Mexico City. She joins me now via Democracy Now! video stream. We welcome you to Democracy Now!, Mary Cuddehe.

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VideoGate Cop Andrew Cohen Now Private Investigator

2010-08-24T10:40:00.001-06:00

The five-year-old VideoGate scandal is back in the news, as Officer Wendy Hurley released some of the offending videos to the public for the first time at her disciplinary hearing last week. Meanwhile, the ringmaster of the entire video scandal, Andrew Cohen, officially said sayonara to the department on July 1 and has found a new line of work: hunting down child predators.

Goodbye, department blues. Hello, fedora hat. Cohen nabbed his private investigator license and started a Berkeley-based practice, Theia Investigations, last month focusing on child predators and educating kids and parents about the potential perils of the Internet.

"It's one of my pet peeves as a cop," says Cohen, who has two teenage daughters. "That kids were so easily groomed online as easy prey and parents were so easily ignoring the signs."

Cohen never worked in the SFPD Juvenile Division, the department that handles child sex crimes, yet things would often come up while he was working as an officer at Francisco Middle School. He says so far, the bulk of his work has been on adultery cases -- one case involves a woman worried that her husband may be a pedophile - and live-scan fingerprinting.

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Widow Says Man’s Eyes Were Stolen; Body Exhumed

2010-08-19T10:31:00.001-06:00

HENDERSON, N.C. -- A woman who says her husband's eyes were removed from his body without permission is having his body exhumed for a private autopsy.

A private investigator who is working for widower Linda McMichael said the body of Elven Alston will be exhumed from the Alston family cemetery in Warrenton.

The body is expected to be taken to Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

McMichael filed a police complaint last month because she claims parts of her husband's eyes were removed after the 61-year-old man died in February at a Henderson hospital.

Police Lt. Chris Ball said Wednesday an investigation found no criminal wrongdoing but wouldn't say what led to that conclusion.

McMichael has said her husband wasn't an organ donor.

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N.J. Appeals Court Denies Handgun Permit for Warren County Private Detective

2010-08-18T11:05:00.001-06:00

A state appeals court today upheld a denial of a handgun permit for a private detective in Warren County because he “lied” about whether he previously had such a permit rejected, according to the ruling.

Scott Churchill, former treasurer of the county’s SPCA and former trustee at the county’s community college, had a permit to carry a handgun since 1994, but in July 2008 was denied a renewal by New Jersey State Police, according to the Appellate Division decision.

One of the questions on the renewal application asked whether he had any prior gun-permit applications denied, and Churchill answered “No.”

But that was “inaccurate,” as Churchill “failed to disclose that New York had previously denied his application for a gun permit because he had lied about his business and obtained a private-investigator license under false pretenses,” the ruling states. It also says the permit was denied by police because Churchill “failed to demonstrate a justifiable need for a handgun.”

Churchill appealed to state Superior Court, claiming he believed the application was inquiring only about being denied a permit in New Jersey. But last year an appellate judge upheld the ruling, finding “Churchill was not a person of good moral character because he ‘purposely falsified his renewal application and attempted to mislead the investigating officers and the court as to his reasons for doing so.”

Churchill then appealed further, claiming he is a person of good moral character, there was no evidence he “knowingly falsified his New Jersey application” and he has a justifiable need to carry a handgun.

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Lou Smit, Detective in JonBenet Ramsey Case, Is Dead at 75

2010-08-16T10:11:00.002-06:00

Lou Smit, a longtime police detective who was called out of retirement to help investigate the 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty pageant winner, but resigned after concluding that the police had wrongly focused on her parents, died Wednesday in Colorado Springs. He was 75.

The cause was colon cancer, a spokeswoman for Pikes Peak Hospice said.

Detective Smit helped solve several cases that gained national attention, including the killing of Karen Grammer, the sister of the actor Kelsey Grammer, in 1975.

He is also credited with identifying the killer of 13-year-old Heather Dawn Church. She was killed in 1991, and her father was among more than 40 suspects, but in 1995 Detective Smit arrested Robert C. Browne, who confessed to the crime and has since admitted to 47 other murders.

Detective Smit was proud to assert that of the more than 200 murder cases he had investigated and turned over to prosecutors in his 30-year career, all led to convictions. “I’ve never lost a homicide case,” he told The Denver Post.

But he was unable to solve the Ramsey case.

JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled and bound in the basement of her upscale home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. The case, which attracted enormous attention, remains unsolved.

Three months after the killing, the district attorney asked Detective Smith to join the investigation. He initially explored the Boulder Police Department’s theory, that JonBenet’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, was the killer and had written the ransom note she said she had found in her home. The department also believed that JonBenet’s father, John, was protecting Mrs. Ramsey.

Eighteen months after joining the investigation, Detective Smit resigned, accusing the police of pursuing the Ramseys as suspects despite substantial evidence to the contrary.

“The Ramseys did not do it,” he wrote in his resignation letter, dated Sept. 20, 1998. “There is substantial, credible evidence of an intruder and a lack of evidence that the parents are involved.”

For years after his official involvement in the case ended, Detective Smit continued to work to identify the killer, both independently and with a private investigator hired by the Ramseys. He carried a photo of JonBenet in his wallet.

He also teamed up with a former F.B.I. agent, Charlie Hess, and a former publisher of The Colorado Springs Gazette, Scott Fischer, to investigate local cold cases.

In 2008 the Boulder County district attorney, Mary T. Lacy, said in a letter to John Ramsey that DNA evidence, unobtainable by earlier methods, had “vindicated your family.” The evidence pointed to an intruder, as Detective Smit had concluded.

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Christina Milian Served Divorce Papers While Pregnant

2010-08-12T10:27:00.002-06:00

Christina Milian and The-Dream confirmed their separation to UsMagazine.com earlier this month -- but according to documents obtained by TMZ, the singer's husband had already filed for divorce in February.

In the papers, the 32-year-old producer (real name: Terius Nash) claims his marriage to the 28-year-old "Dip It Low" singer is "irretrievably broken." Despite being parents to 5-month-old Violet, he also says "there is no hope for reconciliation" between him and Milian.

Earlier this month, Nash blogged that he attempted suicide in the wake of his "failing" marriage.

"I've cried about this for months, after interviews, after prayer and I've tried to take my own life at a point because of the failure that was looming," Nash wrote. "This is not to justify anything, it's true emotion! It's a real thing that involves real people!"

The couple first wed in a quickie ceremony in September 2009; they had a second, more traditional ceremony in Rome in December. But earlier this month -- after photos surfaced of Nash frolicking in the Caribbean with his assistant of one year, Melissa Santiago -- the couple announced their separation.

"Terius 'The-Dream' Nash is saddened to announce that his marriage to Christina Milian was unsuccessful," his rep told Us. "The couple reached this decision in late 2009, but decided to keep the news private in efforts to protect their baby daughter Violet. They ask for consideration and respect for their family moving forward."

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Mel Gibson Had P.I. Grilling Witnesses in Oksana Grigorieva Case; Actor's Ex Alleges More Abuse

2010-08-12T10:19:00.003-06:00

Mel Gibson hired private investigators to visit key witnesses in an attempt to discredit former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva's abuse claims, reports say.

Radar Online says PIs visited at least two witnesses poised to provide evidence against Mel, who stands accused of battering Oksana on January 6.

Oksana has told police, who are investigating Gibson, that he punched her twice in the face, leaving her with two broken teeth and a concussion.

One of the witnesses visited by Mel’s private eyes was her dentist, Dr. Ross Sheldon, whose accounts of the injuries Oksana suffered have varied.

“This calculated ploy explains the conflicting stories the dentist supposedly made about injuries Oksana suffered at the hands of Mel,” said a source.

Despite his apparent conflicting stories, Dr. Sheldon says willing to go on record stating that Oksana did indeed suffer a major blow to her mouth.

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Spotting a Troubled Employee Before Mass Murder is Almost Impossible, Law Experts Say

2010-08-11T09:45:00.004-06:00

It has become a disturbingly familiar workplace scenario, statistically rare, but occurring often enough to have a ritualistic feel.

A head-case employee, after a series of run-ins with managers, decides to even the score. He - and it almost always is a he - storms the factory floor, guns ablaze, leaving a string of bodies in his wake.

Such was the case last week near Hartford, Conn., when an employee at a beer distributor, caught on videotape by a private investigator stealing beer from his delivery truck, reached into his lunch pail for two 9mm handguns, and shot 10 of his coworkers, killing eight, before taking his own life.

The killer, it was learned afterward, had been viewed by some of his acquaintances as a terrific guy.

And that underscores a central reality for employers and the labor and employment lawyers who advise them on how to handle workplace conflicts: Identifying the one-in-a-million person on the verge of committing mass murder is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

"It scares the heck out of me every time I advise the employer to go ahead and fire the guy," says Michael Ossip, a partner in the labor and employment practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. "I always counsel people: Make sure you know exactly what you are doing, because once you let someone go, you lose control over them."

Fred D'Angelo, a labor and employment lawyer at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. and based in Philadelphia, said one tragic error made in the Connecticut case was that the employer permitted the dismissed employee to go unescorted to an adjacent room, where he retrieved two handguns concealed in a lunch box.

Even so, D'Angelo, who happens to represent many of this region's beer distributors, says he doubts employers can change much.

That's because horrific workplace killings, though they rivet national attention, are so unlikely that it wouldn't make sense for employers to dramatically reconfigure their workplaces.

Employers seem to recognize this. D'Angelo, who counsels employers on how to deal with workers who are about to be disciplined or dismissed, says he has never been asked by a client about what to do if an employee shows up with a gun.

The worst case of workplace violence he ever dealt with, and he has been at this for 35 years, involved a shop steward who threw a punch at his supervisor and was dismissed on the spot.

So does that mean society must simply accept a certain level of workplace carnage as the cost of doing business?

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Hero Cop and Private Eye John McNally is 'Longtime Associate' of Gotti Hired Gun, Fed Files Reveal

2010-08-09T10:14:00.003-06:00

He was a hero cop, an ace detective and a private eye extraordinaire - but now prosecutors say John McNally is an unindicted co-conspirator to one of the mob's most vicious hit men.

McNally, 76, is the "longtime associate" of John Gotti's hired gun, Joseph Watts, and has worked with him on extortion and money laundering for years, documents filed in Manhattan Federal Court say.

"At this point, he's really old and really sick," said a friend of McNally, who assisted in the recovery of the Star of India sapphire as a detective and helped win the O.J. Simpson case as private eye.

"They are just trying to besmirch his career, to embarrass him."

McNally has been eyed by the FBI before, most notably when he was working with F. Lee Bailey on the Simpson defense team in the 1990s, and when he did "security" in the 1980s for Gene Gotti, the Teflon Don's brother.

But now McNally's name is all over government papers filed against Watts, who is charged with racketeering in connection with a slew of homicides during the mob's go-go 1980s.

One hit is among the most notorious of all - the murder of Gambino godfather Paul Castellano that paved the way for Gotti to take over the New York mob.

McNally isn't tied to any of those homicides, or with any of the crimes committed by Watts' co-defendant John D'Amico - who is expected to take a plea today in exchange for a three-year sentence.

But McNally's name is linked to more recent extortion and money-laundering allegations against Watts.

"In January 2007, Watts longtime associate John McNally, a retired NYPD detective who has performed various services for Watts, traveled from Florida to New York to try to collect at least $30,000 that [Wail] Al-Khalib owed Watts," according to a court paper filed last week.

Prosecutors also allege that Watts once transferred approximately $200,000 from a Swiss bank account to a Staten Island bank where McNally then paid off debts.

Calls to the ex-cop's phone were not answered.

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Tarot Card Readers Used in Missing Girl Case

2010-08-06T08:31:00.001-06:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A former private investigator for the family of Caylee Anthony regularly consulted tarot card readers for leads into the case of the missing Florida toddler.

New evidence released Thursday by the State Attorney's Office in Orlando contains e-mails between private investigator Dominic Casey and a team of tarot card readers who offered leads into the 2-year-old toddler's disappearance.

Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with her daughter's murder. Casey has pleaded not guilty and says a baby sitter kidnapped her daughter.

The tarot card readers also provided leads on other missing-persons cases in Florida, including that of Haleigh Cummings, a 5-year-old girl who disappeared in February 2009.

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Private Investigator Credited by NBC's Dateline for Freeing Wrongly Convicted Man

2010-08-04T10:14:00.003-06:00

(SALEM, Ore.) - The night Bimla Boyd killed her property caretaker at her home on what is now known as 'Murder Hill' near Salem, Oregon in 2002, Bonnie King and I were there on assignment for Portland TV station KGW Channel-8. It was a memorable night. We were a freelance TV news camera crew and the only other person on scene beyond the cops, was a single newspaper reporter.

It was raining, it was cold, and the Polk County Sheriff's Office kept us way back, but I had a serious lens and could see the house to some degree. Otherwise it was as dark as any night could be. Still, KGW was glad to receive it.

Shortly after this freelance period, I was hired by Portland's KATU Channel-2, the ABC station in this Northwest city. There I quickly became friends with Eric Mason, a veteran investigative TV reporter who had recently crossed over from KOIN TV, Portland's CBS station. Eric had a reputation for pulling off big stories and exposing corruption in ways that few could. The fact that he transitioned into the role of a private investigator a few years ago, always struck me as a perfectly logical move.

Monday night Eric's role in helping free a falsely convicted Oregon prisoner serving a life sentence for three tragic murders, was featured in a very compelling episode of NBC's Dateline program. They are murders that happened on the same property, the Bimla Boyd residence in west Salem.

It was the afternoon of 23 Nov. 1998 when Jason Kinser, Suzan Osborne and Celesta Graves were all shot to death, reportedly execution style, in the head with a .22-caliber pistol.

Scott Cannon as it turns out, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This plumber, also a recreational drug user and firearm collector, called out to a mobile home on the West Salem property owned by Bimla Boyd, ended up taking the fall for the murders.

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Video Shot By Private Investigator at The Center of County Investigation

2010-08-02T10:27:00.002-06:00

YULEE, Fla. -- Allegations of misuse of public money have led to the suspension of four Nassau County administrators.

Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said last Friday he was approached by a group of concerned Nassau County taxpayers, who hired a private investigator to trail the officials, who traveled to attend the governor's hurricane conference in Ft. Lauderdale in late May.

Seagraves said he has seen an hour and half worth of video that was taken by the private investigator and is now part of the investigation.

The concerned taxpayers, who wanted to remain anonymous, gave First Coast News video clips. The video showed the county officials walking near a dock and hanging out on a hotel balcony with beverages in their hands.

One video clip shows a man and a woman embracing and caressing in a dimly lit outdoor area. Another video clip appears to show a nude woman standing on a balcony.

"It's an embarrassment to our community. It's an embarrassment to Nassau County to have this occur. It's a sad situation," said Seagraves.

When asked to characterize the video, Seagraves said that some portions he would not want to show his wife or see published in a church bulletin. He said the behavior in the video was unbecoming of county officials but would not specify what he meant.

"We are going to have to determine what did occur at the conference," said Seagraves, who has reams of documentation detailing the nearly $4,000 taxpayers invested in sending the department heads to the conference.

County manager Ted Selby said he started work on the paperwork last week after being contacted by Sheriff Seagraves.

"I am not going to discuss anything that is on the video," said Selby, who added the employees have more than 70 years of combined service to the county.

Seagraves said he intends to ask an outside law enforcement agency to handle the nuts and bolts of the investigation because of his closeness to county government.

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Murdered Couple’s Family to Hire PI

2010-07-30T12:25:00.002-06:00

Family of murdered former Dispatch employees Graham and Kate Lizamore are hiring a private investigator to help find answers to the pair’s brutal death last week.

Kate’s sister, Patricia Hayes , yesterday said they wanted an independent investigation into the killings.

“The family will be looking at that route just to assist with the investigations. A private investigator will be used for this. We need to know what happened and why they were murdered,” said Hayes.

On Friday last week, the Lizamores were found dead in their Pinetown home near Durban.

Their death, which has shocked many of their former colleagues and friends, has puzzled police and family members after it was established that nothing was taken from their home.

Last week, the couple’s family had to call police to investigate why they were not responding to numerous phone calls.

On arrival at the couple’s home last Friday, police noticed that the main door was unlocked. Their bodies were discovered in a toilet.

Graham’s legs and hands were tied at the back while Kate had a black plastic bag around her head.

According to the police, the couple’s bodies were partly decomposed, suggesting they might have been murdered a few days earlier.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed there was nothing taken from the couple’s home.

“Detectives are currently combing the couple’s place to check for any clues that might assist in their investigations. We are following any information that will assist us with this case,” said Mdunge.

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Private Investigators are Victims in Alleged Scam

2010-07-28T10:02:00.001-06:00

For the private investigators who authorities say became victims of Kevin Sianez, the job wasn't the cloaked adventure and jaded triumph of Hollywood. Many were just scraping by, trying to pick up scarce jobs via the Internet when they crossed paths with the one-time police officer.

Dave Qualls of Qualls Investigations in Elkton, Md., said he did a surveillance job in 2006 as a subcontractor for Orange County-based Sianez, who found Qualls through an online search. Qualls spent two weeks on the job and sent Sianez the results. It wasn't until after Qualls received weeks of promises to pay — and an overnight envelope that arrived empty — that he began to believe he'd been scammed.

The police didn't help, saying it was a civil matter, so Qualls took to the Internet to warn others. But almost as soon as he posted a complaint, one appeared attacking his business. Others who were allegedly defrauded and tried to give warning also said they found themselves under attack and without recourse. Some said they had to change their business names, while others — such as Qualls — decided it just wasn't worth the effort to fight back.

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Tony Hayward Fired and Asked to Repay Spill Cleanup Costs

2010-07-26T10:43:00.002-06:00

Everyone expected Tony Hayward, embattled CEO of BP Oil to be fired eventually over his mishandling of the Gulf oil spill, but it was a big surprise when news came out that BP is holding Hayward personally responsible for the cost of the clean up.

The results of a private investigation by BP on the cause and subsequent botched clean-up efforts indicate that Hayward knew ahead of time that this was going to happen and that it was going to be the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

Proof comes in the fact that just weeks before the oil platform explosion occurred, Hayward cashed in a substantial amount of stock to pay off his mansion in Kent, England. That, and the fact that any caring CEO would not have gone yacht watching when the handling of the oil spill was his responsibility. Those two factors were the primary reasons blame for the entire fiasco was placed squarely on Hayward's slight, but firm shoulders.

But before we feel the slightest twinge of pity for Mr. Hayward, understand that men like him don't usually end up actually having to pay anything and regularly go on to head other businesses making ridiculous sums of money. Besides, as Hayward once said, "I am but a lowly geologist who just happened to be in charge of the wrong platform at the wrong time."

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Hobbs to Stay in Jail Family Hires Private Investigator

2010-07-23T10:06:00.003-06:00

The first time JoAnn Hobbs saw her son after he was charged with killing his 8-year-old daughter and her young friend, he blurted out that he'd confessed to the slayings, she said.

"Mama, they broke me," she said he told her.

She believed Jerry Hobbs III when he told her he was forced to confess after 20 hours of interrogation in May 2005 — and she believes him today, she said.

After staying silent for years out of fear of jeopardizing the Zion case, she said she decided to speak up Wednesday after Lake County prosecutors were granted a second two-week continuance to investigate DNA evidence linked to another man in custody.

Hobbs' attorney also filed a motion asking for a hearing to argue that Hobbs should be released on bond. Judge Fred Foreman set a status hearing and bond hearing for Aug. 4.

For now, Hobbs, 39, remains in jail with a murder trial scheduled Oct. 6. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

"He was optimistic about getting out but, after today — he's scared," said JoAnn Hobbs of Wichita Falls, Texas. "It's like they are still trying him for something he didn't do."

She has talked to her son several times weekly on the phone but hasn't seen him in two years, she said.

Hobbs said her son's public defense team has discouraged her from visiting, saying he had received death threats and that they couldn't guarantee her safety. Hobbs was kept isolated from other prisoners for more than four years, she said, spending most of his time drawing pictures and reading.

"I can understand a mother's frustration at seeing her son incarcerated for a crime that she believes, perhaps rightly, that he didn't commit," said Keith Grant, assistant public defender. "However, she and we remain united in our goal to see Jerry released."

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Cargo Theft’s Private Eyes

2010-07-22T08:38:00.003-06:00

“To be a cargo theft investigator, you need to be both passionate and dogged. There’s a misconception out there that if you don’t recover stolen cargo in 48 to 72 hours, you’ll never see it again. We’ve actually made recoveries 30 days, 60 days, even a year later. That’s why you’ve got to be willing to not let go of a case.” –Scott Cornell, national manager, specialty investigations group, Travelers Investigative Services

They don’t carry badges, handcuffs, or firearms. They don’t drive supercharged squad cars or wear matching monochrome suits and sunglasses. Yet they are some of the most potent weapons facing off cargo thieves these days: the Special Investigations Group (SIG) within the Inland Marine division at Travelers Insurance

Organized five years ago, SIG’s mission is twofold – investigate cargo thefts while helping clients adopt policies and procedures to “harden” their operations against such criminal activity. Scott Cornell, today SIG’s national manager, got the group off the group with himself and just one other agent. Now, however, he commands a force of nine agents scattered across the U.S. – agents that for the most part are former law enforcement personnel that specialized in working the cargo theft beat.

“We’ve got agents in New Jersey, Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA, Los Angeles – all the ‘hot spots’ where most cargo thefts occur,” he explained to me recently. “You’d also be surprised how difficult cargo theft investigations are, how far stolen goods will travel, and by how much logistical knowledge our investigators need. Furthermore, we’re on call 24/7, which means a lot of nights and weekends are spent working these crimes.”

While they have neither the firepower nor the arrest capabilities the law enforcement units dedicated to combating cargo theft do – such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.’s Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, known as the Cargo CATs for short – Cornell’s team possesses one distinct advantage; national investigate scope.

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'Die Hard' Director Pleads Guilty in Wiretap Case

2010-07-19T10:29:00.001-06:00

LOS ANGELES — "Die Hard" director John McTiernan pleaded guilty Monday to lying to FBI agents and a judge during the investigation of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano in a wiretapping case.

McTiernan, 59, entered his plea to two counts of making false statements to the FBI and one count of perjury for lying to a federal judge while trying to withdraw a guilty plea. He could face up to a year in prison.

Attorney S. Todd Neal, who represents McTiernan, said the plea will allow his client to appeal certain pretrial rulings made by a federal judge.

"We continue to believe that the charges against him were developed in an unfair way," Neal said. "The FBI should not be in the business of ambushing citizens with surprise phone calls in which they ask 'questions' for which they already know the answers."

McTiernan previously pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in 2006 about the investigation of Pellicano. The director later withdrew that plea, arguing he didn't have adequate legal representation.

Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of wiretapping film producer Charles Roven for McTiernan and of bugging the phones of celebrities and others to get information for clients.

Pellicano was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

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Jesse James Accused Of Hiring Private Investigator To Frame Ex-Wife

2010-07-16T12:08:00.002-06:00

The bitter custody battle between Jesse James and Janine Lindemulder took a bizarre twist on Wednesday when the motorbike mogul was accused of trying to put his ex-wife behind bars for tax evasion through a private investigator he had hired.

Lindemulder’s lawyer Richard Masson claimed that in 2006, James hired Oregon private investigator Brad Martin to spy on Lindemulder. Masson told the court that he had proof that Martin passed on information to special IRS agent Todd Anderson, which ultimately led to Lindemulder going to jail. He argued that James’ actions showed how much he did not want Janine to co-parent Sunny.

James admitted that he hired Martin to find out where Lindemulder and six-year-old daughter, Sunny, were staying at the time, but he denied that he received any report on his ex-wife from the private investigator.

James’ lawyer John Schilling said that Masson’s claims had no relevance to the custody case because Lindemulder plead guilty to tax evasion, which had nothing to do with his client.

Commissioner Thomas Schulte agreed with Schilling, ruling that the allegation that James had hired Martin to trace Lindemulder in Oregon (and the claim that Martin had allegedly turned information about Janine into the IRS) was irrelevant to the case and not in the court’s interest to pursue.

Earlier in the hearing, the court heard how James instructed Sunny not to tell her mom about Sandra Bullock adopting Louis Bardot last April because he didn’t trust her to keep it secret.

He said, “I told Sunny not to tell Janine because I knew she would leak the information to the tabloids.”

James also raised concern about Janine continuing to work in the porn industry and doing exotic dancing because it could end up with her going to jail and not paying taxes again.

He did concede during cross examination that Sunny was happy when she visited her mom, and that he would be willing to offer visits or Skype conferences between the pair if their daughter was permitted to move to Texas.

Later in Wednesday afternoon’s proceedings, the tough biker teared up when he admitted he is still receiving therapy to cope with his personal childhood abuse.

The reality star, who spent a month in rehab in Arizona after his marriage to Oscar winner Sandra Bullock crumbled over womanizing, got emotional during the custody hearing.

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Use of PI in City of Montreal Probe Attacked, Opposition Calls Move 'Disturbing'

2010-07-14T10:20:00.003-06:00

MONTREAL - Questions are being raised about the city of Montreal's decision to use private investigators to grill a civil servant in 2008 over an alleged phony-billing scheme in the city's computer-systems division rather than leave the matter to police.

As The Gazette reported yesterday, a high-ranking city director wrote to a Surete du Quebec investigator on the case in February 2009 saying the civil servant, Gilles Parent, admitted under questioning by the city's investigators that he made up the involvement of former city executive committee chairperson Frank Zampino in the scheme in order to gain the confidence of a city contractor who was allegedly being told to pay false invoices.

The letter, from city director Pierre Reid, was accompanied by excerpts from a transcript of Parent's interview on Sept. 10, 2008, with two investigators from the firm Navigant Consulting.

Zampino's lawyer, Claude-Armand Sheppard, gave the documents to The Gazette last week. He said Zampino, who quit politics earlier in 2008, gave him the documents. Zampino has never been questioned by the police in the matter, Sheppard said.

Reid's letter and the interview excerpts also say that Parent made up the names of two people he said worked in the mayor's office and the city's legal department and were involved in the alleged scheme.

The city's policy is to launch an internal probe whenever administrative irregularities involving a municipal employee are flagged, but the city contacts the police as soon as any criminal activity seems apparent, city spokesperson Gonzalo Nunez said in an email response to questions from The Gazette yesterday. The city filed a complaint with the SQ on July 4, 2008, he added, two months before Parent's questioning by the private investigators.

"The city does not investigate cases of a criminal nature since that's the job of the police, but as soon as we note the presence of elements of a criminal nature in the case, we transfer the case to the police," Nunez wrote.

The city apparently went farther than its policy in the case, the opposition Projet Montreal party contends.

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PI Bala to Meet French Cops Tonight

2010-07-12T09:35:00.001-06:00

LONDON: Private investigator P Balasubramiam is on his way to Paris, where he will be a key witness in investigations into suspected corruption in the Malaysian purchase of submarines.

He is due to meet French investigators at 8 pm Malaysian time.

A source said French police had officially contacted him and told him they were keen to record his statement this afternoon in Paris at police headquarters in Nanterre Prefecture.

Bala is travelling with lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon.

Malaysia completed the acquisition of the two Scorpene submarines last year, but the deal with DCNS, a French defence conglomerate, was struck in 2002, when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was defence minister. Najib led the negotiations with the French government.

The probe is focused on a €114 million (US$151.1 million) commission paid to a company called Perimekar, which investigators suspect was established in 2001 purely to receive the kickback.

Perimekar is a subsidiary of KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda, a close Najib associate and lover of the late Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was a translator in the deal. Abdul Razak was charged with abetting in her murder but was eventually acquitted.

Balasubramaniam, whom Abdul Razak hired to keep Altantuya from harassing him for money, has alleged that Najib had a relationship with the murdered Mongolian.

In an interview broadcast on YouTube, Bala — as he is known to Malaysians — also claims that he was a victim in a high-level conspiracy to cover Najib’s tracks in the Altantuya affair.

He alleges that he was bribed and blackmailed to leave Malaysia and that the culprits were Najib’s brother, Nazim, and carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan, a close friend of the Prime Minister’s wife.

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Family and Friends of Missing Woman Mitrice Richardson Plan Fundraiser to Hire a Private Investigator

2010-07-09T09:53:00.005-06:00

Family and friends of a young woman missing since she was released from a Los Angeles County sheriff’s station almost 10 months ago plan to host a fundraising event Sunday to collect money to hire a private investigator to help search for the woman.

Mitrice Richardson, who turned 25 in April, has not been seen since she was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff’s station in the early morning of Sept. 17, after having been arrested for failing to pay a restaurant dinner bill. She was without her cellphone, purse or car, which had been impounded, relatives said.

Richardson’s family want to hire renowned private investigator Lawrence Olmstead, according to a statement released by Richardson’s family. Olmstead has helped in cases such as last year’s rape and murder of Southern California teen Amber Dubois by convicted sex offender John Gardner and the 1997 killing of actor Bill Cosby’s son.

Richardson’s father, Michael Richardson said in the statement that the fundraiser was necessary because “I have exhausted my savings and reduced my method of living severely” since his daughter’s disappearance.

Private donors and corporations have contributed several items to be raffled off during Sunday’s event at Leimert Park, including a 22-inch flat-screen television, a digital camera and a personally autographed jersey from New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce.

Last month, Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, filed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials. The suit alleges that authorities neglected to provide Richardson with a medical or psychiatric evaluation after she was seen to be behaving in an infantile manner in video footage taken of her in a holding cell.

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Investigator Files Suit Against San Bernardino

2010-07-07T09:58:00.004-06:00

SAN BERNARDINO - A private investigator hired by Police Chief Keith Kilmer in 2009 to examine problems in the Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the city in an attempt to force the city to pay bills that City Hall's legal team says are unwarranted.

The case was filed Tuesday in San Bernardino Superior Court. The investigator, William Schneid, began work for Kilmer in June 2009. The city has thus far paid Schneid about $22,000, but his lawsuit claims he is still owed nearly $39,000.

The suit alleges that the city has broken an oral contract with Schneid by refusing to pay remaining bills.

Schneid's work included the investigation of a police sergeant who has been accused of illegally detaining individuals without probable cause and stealing Police Department funds.

There was no written contract between Schneid and the Police Department, and the City Council did not authorize payment for Schneid's investigation. San Bernardino policy requires the council to greenlight expenditures of $25,000 or more

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Private detectives: A Pre-Nuptial Priority for Some in India

2010-07-06T10:04:00.002-06:00

NEW DELHI — The wedding, to be celebrated in sumptuous Indian style, was due for June and everything was progressing smoothly until the groom suddenly lost interest.

Suspicious of an affair, the bride did what increasing numbers of anxious lovers and nervous families are doing in India: she rang a private detective to find out why.

In a country where nine out of 10 marriages are still arranged and modern social pressures are putting the institution under pressure, the industry of snooping on lovers has expanded fast over the last five years, say insiders.

In this case an investigation by the agency AMX -- "marriage is a gamble," says its website -- revealed that the groom had recently discovered he was HIV positive.

The discovery was made by an attractive female undercover agent sent by the agency, who befriended the groom and found his medicine.

The wedding was eventually called off, like 20 percent of cases after a probe, AMX boss Baldev Kumar Puri told AFP.

"A pre-matrimonial investigation is your duty," Puri said. "A post matrimonial investigation is much more costly."

Puri and others, like Kunwar Vikram Singh, director of the New Delhi-based Lancers agency, are in a growth industry being driven by social changes and the way in which weddings are arranged.

In cities, families are relying increasingly on small advertisements in newspapers and websites or specialist dating agencies to find the perfect match for their children.

The problem is that everyone exaggerates, or even lies, about their qualities.

"Unlike the old days when a close-knit society meant that marriages were usually held between known families, these days marriages are increasingly being arranged through unknown, unfamiliar sources," said Singh.

"There is an increased risk involved in dealing with strangers."

To bridge the trust gap, private detectives are taken on to assess candidates without their knowledge.

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Private Investigators Working to Solve the Murder of Slain British Columbia Real Estate Agent

2010-07-02T09:21:00.003-06:00

With private investigators now believed to be working to solve the murder of realtor Lindsay Buziak, Saanich police have revealed more about their own investigation, which has so far led to no arrests.

"One of the first things to lead you (to solving a crime) is the why, and we have not been able to figure that out," said detective Sgt. Chris Horsley, who's working on the file since the incident in February 2008.

"We have theories and strong inclinations that would support the theories, but we have nothing definitive. We never have been able to positively identify why Lindsay was murdered."

This week media outlets reported Buziak's father, Jeff, as saying PIs are now working on solving the murder, but police are not aware of any such investigations.

"If these private investigators are actively speaking with people...we haven't heard of anything. And we normallyl expect to receive phone calls if there's someone going around asking questions about an open case," Horsley said.

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Estranged dad missing for three decades, so Queens woman becomes private investigator to find him

2010-06-30T11:14:00.002-06:00

After three failed attempts to find her estranged father, Eliza Perez decided to get some professional training to aid her search - she became a private investigator.

It paid off.

She met her father, Louis Perez, for the first time in 29 years on May 17 and had the added satisfaction of introducing him to her newborn daughter, Valeria.

They are now living in South Richmond Hill, catching up on decades of being a family.

"Sometimes now I sit here, and I look at her, and I'm shocked. It took a little while to sink in," Louis, 57, said of being reunited with his daughter.

The family saga may have found its happy ending in Queens, but it started in North Carolina and took a long detour in Puerto Rico.

When Louis was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1975, he moved to Manhattan. He was struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder from his three years working in an armory in North Carolina during the Vietnam War.

It was during one of his flashbacks that he stabbed his wife, Rosa, he said.

"I just woke up in the middle of a bad nightmare," he recalled. "I didn't really wake up until I heard her screaming and saw the kitchen knife and all the blood."

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Former Police Officer Facing Fraud, Intimidation Charges

2010-06-28T09:49:00.005-06:00

SANTA ANA – A former police officer and unlicensed private investigator was charged Friday with defrauding clients, threatening another investigator and attempting to commit sexual assault by posting Craigslist ads seeking women to engage in bestiality with his dog.

The Orange County District Attorney's office charged Kevin Michael Sianez, 53, with a 63-count criminal complaint tied to what prosecutors describe as an illegal private investigation service and his online activities seeking women willing to engage in sexual acts with his Labrador retriever.

Prosecutors say Sianez, who worked for the Santa Ana and former Stanton police departments from 1979 to 1986, owned and operated his private investigation service from November 2005 to June 2010. He reportedly ran the business under several names, including KMS Investigations, Fore-Front Investigations and 4Front Investigations.

Prosecutors say Sianez falsely identified himself to clients as a licensed private investigator, posted false online reviews to increase his web presence and mislead people into thinking he operated a nationwide network of offices and investigators rather than a small suite office in Fountain Valley with less than five employees, primarily family members.

Sianez allegedly did little or no work on his cases, and defrauded properly licensed investigation firms by subcontracting work to them without paying.

Deputy District Attorney Israel Claustro said that on some cases Sianez would simply reiterate details his clients had given him or provide no proof that he had conducted surveillance activities.

"Other times, he didn't do any work and dictated reports off the top of his head to employees," Claustro said.

When two of his former employees alerted authorities, prosecutors say Sianez intimidated them by threatening to use his police contacts to file reports against them. Once another private investigator began posting Internet comments warning people about Sianez, prosecutors say he called the woman's business and threatened to burn down her house.

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Putting a Private Detective in Your Laptop

2010-06-25T11:26:00.003-06:00

Baruch Sienna figured his teenage son’s laptop was gone forever. During a party in Israel, a thief had taken his MacBook, and there were no witnesses.

“The police were very unhelpful,” Mr. Sienna said, speaking from Jerusalem. “They said, ‘You’ll never see your laptop again.’ ”

But the son was fortunate that his father had installed Undercover, an antitheft program, on his computer. He remotely activated the software, which grabbed screen shots of the thief’s online activities, while the Mac’s built-in camera shot pictures of him. After eight months of activity on the Mac, the software had given police enough information to identify the thief and put the MacBook back in Mr. Sienna’s hands.

For the very reason you like to carry laptops, iPads, e-book readers and smartphones — they are lightweight and portable — they are easy to steal or misplace. The 2009 Computer Security Institute Computer Crime and Security Survey found that 42 percent of respondents had lost a laptop or other portable device to a thief in the last year. According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, 12,000 laptops are lost each week in American airports. Most people assume they are gone for good; only a third of those turned in to the airports’ lost-and-found departments are reclaimed.

You can keep an eye on your devices and not leave them visible and unattended, but they might best be protected with some software. A number of good programs are available for laptops, phones and tablets. Many will try to locate the computer when it is connected to the Internet. Others log keystrokes, take snapshots of Web pages visited, monitor e-mail being written and even take a picture of the user with the device’s built-in Webcam.

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Private Investigation Firm Hired to Dig Into Shady Business Man Solomon Obstfeld's 'Suicide'

2010-06-23T10:09:00.003-06:00

A private investigation firm has been hired to review the death of a wealthy Brooklyn investor who plunged from the terrace of his posh Essex House condo.

The medical examiner has ruled the June 9 death of Solomon Obstfeld a suicide.

NYPD detectives have yet to close the case, although they have not found anything that contradicts that conclusion.

But some of Obstfeld's friends are not convinced.

They say the father of five was involved with a host of shady business partners - including one caught in a bribery scandal involving former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"The people who hired us do not believe it was a suicide, but what they really want are answers to why this happened," said Tom Ruskin of CMP Protective and Investigative Group.

Ruskin declined to comment on whether he was hired by Obstfeld's family or by one of the businessman's close friends.

"People who commit suicide, even those really depressed, leave a note, make a will, think of the family they leave behind and take care of them," Ruskin said.

Obstfeld was entangled in a series of murky business deals, including ties with billionaire Martin Schlaff. Israeli police recommended this week that Schlaff be indicted for bribing Sharon.

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Kyron Horman Investigation Receives Questionnaires for Possible New Leads

2010-06-21T10:18:00.006-06:00

Portland, Ore. - Kyron Horman investigators are gaining new leads from a questionnaire turned in by Skyline Elementary School parents and students, according to News Channel 8 Portland KGW.

Kyron Horman questionnaire investigation - why authorities handed out fliers

On Friday, June 18th, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office handed out a flier with several photos of Kyron Horman's step-mother, Terri Horman, and of her white Ford F250 pick-up truck. Attached were questions for anyone in and around Skyline Elementary School the day Kyron went missing. Capt. Jason Gates said in a news conference on Friday the questionnaire was designed to "jog" people's memory if they saw Terri Horman or her truck anytime that day. The questions were due Sunday, June 20th.

Kyron Horman questionnaire investigation - what leads are investigators sharing?

Many parents had emailed the questionnaires to Multnomah sheriff over the weekend and a large amount were turned in Sunday.

What are the answers so far in the missing Kyron Horman investigation? All the authorities are indicating, is that Kyron's step-mom, Terri Horman, is the prime focus. She is not an official "person of interest."

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Sheriff's Detective Accused of Having an Affair With Suspects Wife

2010-06-18T10:12:00.003-06:00

A Los Angeles County sheriff's detective is the subject of an internal investigation looking into accusations that he had an affair with a woman whose husband he had investigated and helped prosecute for allegedly threatening her.

The department opened an investigation into Det. Phillip Solano in April after the allegations were brought forth by the husband, Alberto Gutierrez. Solano, who had been assigned to the City of Industry station, is on administrative duty for now.

A lawyer representing Gutierrez said his client was taken into custody twice in 2008 on charges of violating a restraining order. The criminal charges, which Gutierrez was acquitted of, were meant to hurt his chances in divorce and custody proceedings, he alleges.

Solano "was the investigating detective and he had my client arrested," attorney Arnoldo Casillas said. "The guy has been put through the ringer."

During Gutierrez's trial, Casillas said, information surfaced that Mayela Gutierrez Gil and the detective were Facebook friends who had exchanged messages and calls.

Solano could not be reached for comment.

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Heidi Montag Hires Private Investigator

2010-06-16T10:00:00.001-06:00

Heidi Montag has allegedly hired a private investigator to find out whether her husband has been cheating on her.

The reality TV star is reportedly concerned her estranged spouse Spencer Pratt - who she split from in May - has been romancing other women.

An insider told RadarOnline.com: "She is very anxious to find out if her suspicions and the rumours are true, especially if he's spent any money on another woman.

Private investigator: Joran Van der Sloot is a 'homicidal maniac' Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/06/10/2010-06-10_private_investigator_joran_van_der_sloot_is_a_homicidal_maniac.html#ixzz0qYmDbKhX

2010-06-11T09:51:00.000-06:00

He has looked into the eyes of alleged murderer Joran Van der Sloot, and what he saw gave him chills.
"This is a homicidal maniac," said private investigator Bo Dietl on CBS' "The Early Show" on Thursday. "I've met him. I looked in his eyes... We should be checking Interpol and the FBI should be checking where he's gone all over this world. You've got a serial killer here."

Brought in by the Holloway family, Dietl worked with the FBI during its sting to snare Van der Sloot for extortion, as well as attempt to gain evidence to prove he killed their 18-year-old daughter Natalee in 2005.

The private detective previously claimed the 22-year-old admitted to him he killed the Alabama high school student.

PI: Joran Van der Sloot had $25K from FBI sting

2010-06-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A private investigator who helped build an extortion case against Joran Van der Sloot says the young Dutchman should have been arrested before he went to Peru.

Bo Dietl says FBI agents recorded a meeting last month in Aruba where Van der Sloot requested money from a lawyer for the family of Natalee Holloway in exchange for information about her 2005 disappearance

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Private Eye Guilty of Land Scam

2010-05-17T15:28:00.000-06:00

Albert Topasna was charged with theft by deception as a second-degree felony after investigators discovered Topasna received $12,500 for piece of land the defendant sold by executing a "warranty deed."

That buyer later found out from the Department of Land Management that he couldn't register the title to the property in his name because it didn't belong to Topasna, the press release stated.

Closing arguments in Topasna's trial were held Thursday. A jury returned a verdict that same afternoon.

Assistant Attorney General David Rivera, who prosecuted the case, thanked investigator Juan Salas and other staff members at the AG's office for the successful prosecution.

Kidnapped Boy May Owe His Life to Private Investigator After Rescue

2010-05-12T11:14:00.002-06:00

Samuel Amoes, the five-year-old son of an Angolan mining magnate who was kidnapped in Troyville on Sunday, has been ransomed and returned to his family.

According to reports Declan Condon, a private investigator, attended at a a supermarket in Troyeville which was the place designated by the kidnappers to exchange Samuel for a substantial ransom.

While he was there one kidnapper met him to take the ransom - after Condon had first been given proof of life - and thereafter another delivered the child to him.

Both of Samuel's parents were out of the country at the time of the kidnapping but his mother flew home immediately after hearing about the incident which took place at a church play school in Johannesburg.

Condon confirmed that he had allowed the kidnappers to escape but had put the child's safety first.

Police have confirmed they are investigating.

Samuel is very fortunate to have survived his ordeal as far too often the victims of kidnappings do not make it back. The cool head shown by the private investigator might well have played a big part in that.

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COLORADO ANTI-SURVEILLANCE BILL DEFEATED

2010-05-11T14:57:00.000-06:00

Colorado HB 1012 was defeated when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against it 4 to 3 on Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

This bill would have drastically impacted the ability of employers and insurance companies to conduct surveillance on suspected fraudulent or exaggerated worker's compensation claims.

The Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC) waged war together with the assistance of members and non-members alike. In addition to substantial grass roots lobbying, PPIAC hired a lobbyist to assist in the battle. The lobbyist was paid for partially from PPIAC funds, but approximately 50% of the cost came directly from members and non-members.

Joining together with PPIAC in support was the National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS) and the World Association of Detectives (WAD).

NCISS assisted with letters sent from Association Officers and their Legislative Chair, Jimmie Mesis. NCISS Lobbyist, Larry Sabbath of Washington, D.C. provided assistance with drafting the text for a sample letter to be distributed for use of those who wanted to voice their opposition to the bill.

WAD assisted by voting to donate $1,000 to PPIAC from its legislative fund to help cover expenses associated with opposing the bill. This is the first time WAD donated money to any group other than a national association.

PPIAC Officers, Board of Directors and members greatly appreciated the involvement of both NCISS and WAD.

The end result of this unified effort was that one brave Senator, Senator Linda Newell www.linda4senate.com, voted against party lines to do the right thing. Without her vote, Colorado investigators would still be fighting for their livelihoods.

We can all thank Senator Newell for protecting the interests of PIs everywhere as the language of this restrictive bill had the potential of being adopted across the country if passed.

This is a great example of what can be done when we all work together for a common cause. In unity there is much strength.

OLCC investigator accused of taking murdered Ohio boy's identity

2010-05-05T14:27:00.000-06:00

BOISE, Idaho. (AP) — Friends say they're shocked to hear an Oregon liquor control investigator is facing charges for allegedly assuming the identity of a murdered Ohio toddler.

Prosecutors have said the man calling himself Jason Robert Evers was 17 and living in Colorado when he took the name in 1996.

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SB Billing Feud With Private Investigator Intensifies

2010-05-03T12:37:00.001-06:00

A private investigator's report on possible police corruption has been deemed "suspect" by the City Attorney's Office and a lawsuit likely looms as the investigator tries to recover roughly $40,000 the city has refused to pay him.

No written contract exists and officials declined to say whether billing guidelines were given to Dr. William Schneid when he was hired in June by Police Chief Keith Kilmer.

The city has paid about $22,000 of a $60,662 bill Schneid submitted months ago after completing a report that included reviewing internal probes on whether a sergeant was illegally detaining suspects.

"We had problems with the quality of his work and we didn't believe it warranted an additional $40,000," said Senior Assistant City Attorney Diane Roth. "We thought his report was suspect based on a number of factors."

Schneid declined to comment, referring all questions to attorney Robert Weinberg, whom he recently retained.

Weinberg also declined to comment and said he will file a claim against the city "as soon as the appropriate time comes."

A claim usually precedes a lawsuit.

Among other things, Roth said city officials are concerned about Schneid's associations with the paranormal.

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22 Royal York Employees Fired Over Alleged Theft, Drug Use

2010-04-26T10:42:00.003-06:00

The Fairmont Royal York isn’t just Toronto’s classiest hotel. It’s a temporary abode for visiting kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers – not to mention diplomats, movie stars and music legends from around the world.

When the RCMP needs to lodge a “protected person” in the city for a night, the Royal York is often the place they choose. Winston Churchill, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ted Kennedy and Henry Kissinger – all have walked its halls, dined in its ballrooms or slept in its guest chambers.

With so many high profile patrons – and the hotel about to house some of them for the G20 Summit in June – security at the hotel is every bit as important as the housekeeping.

But a recent case of internal housekeeping had more to do with the hotel’s security than its laundry. Earlier this month the Royal York hired a private investigator to monitor the movements of some of its staff and then fired 22 employees.

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Pensacola private investigator to run against Rep. Miller in primary

2010-04-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

A Pensacola private investigator has paid the qualifying fee to run against incumbent U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller in his own primary.

John Krause, 53, paid $10,440 on April 12 to run against Miller, who lives in Chumuckla.

The primary election is Aug. 24.

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Social-Media Mining Opens Door to Privacy Issues

2010-04-22T14:13:00.002-06:00

Cynthia Hetherington is a dangerous librarian.

With just a few keystrokes, Hetherington tracked down a government employee who has access to sensitive intelligence information and then — using social networking sites he frequented, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter — found his telephone number, home address and pictures of his newborn twins.

Then she mused on the hypothetical of how she might kidnap his children and exchange them for access to the critical database.

The presentation on Friday was the capstone of a three-day meeting of the International Association for Asset Recovery on Miami Beach.

While much of the conference focused on the nuts and bolts of working with financial companies and national and foreign courts to track down hidden and illicit assets, it also veered into the burgeoning field of social-network mining.

Hetherington, who was trained as a librarian and is now using those skills as a private investigator, asked a reporter not to name the man whom she raked over the digital coals during her presentation before some 300 people.

But we can say he works at a government agency that starts with a C, ends with an A and may have an I in the middle.

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Private investigator looking into possible Cesar Chavez football violations

2010-04-21T11:37:00.001-06:00

A private investigator is helping the Arizona Interscholastic Association determine if Laveen Cesar Chavez's football program recruited players, the AIA confirmed on Monday.

The AIA relies on schools to self-report violations, but this is the first time the association has hired an investigator to look into one of its 274 schools. The AIA is trying to verify if Cesar Chavez coach Jim Rattay and the parent of a former Cesar Chavez player recruited players to go to that school.

Chuck Schmidt, the AIA Chief Operations Officer, declined to say who or what the investigator was looking into.

"That's not our decision," said Schmidt when asked if the AIA wants Rattay to step down. "The (AIA executive) board is trying to gather the facts as best as it can. Staffing decisions are strictly up to the schools and district. The board's concern is to uphold the AIA bylaws."

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Stevens Point private detective suspended by state

2010-04-20T10:48:00.000-06:00

William Stack, a Stevens Point-based private detective, was reprimanded today by the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing for having concealed weapons while on duty.

DRL Secretary Celia Jackson suspended Stack's private detective and private detective agency licenses for six months. His firearm permits were also revoked, and he will not be able to reapply for three years, according to a release from the DRL.

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