After my last post I went back and realized I had not posted this article, it has lots of detail:
More than 2½ months have passed since the stabbing deaths of 11-year-old Thomas Hunter and 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman, with no word of an arrest or even a possible suspect.
But Omaha police say it's not for lack of trying.
Police have received more than 160 tips about the deaths through Crime Stoppers and other phone calls - a dozen leads in just the past two weeks.
No detail too minor in pursuit of killer
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If you have information any information that could be related to the slayings of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman, call the police.
Police say they welcome tips, even if the details seem trivial. Those details, police say, could connect to another piece of information. That in turn could lead to something else, which ultimately could help solve the case.
If you think you have a name to go with the sketch (shown here), police ask that you explain in your call why you think the person might be involved.
People with tips can contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at 444-STOP or online at omahacrimestoppers.net. A $25,000 reward will be paid for information that leads to the killer's arrest. "We continue to get tips, and we continue to follow up on these immediately," said Mary Newman, an Omaha deputy police chief.
The Omaha Police Department's homicide unit has seven detectives and a sergeant on the case. And they are getting outside help: The Douglas County Sheriff's Office crime lab and the local and national offices of the FBI are part of the investigative team.
The county crime lab is processing evidence from the crime scene. And the FBI is providing expertise in two specific areas: computer forensics and behavioral profiling.
The boy's father, Dr. William Hunter III, found the bodies of his son and Sherman, the family's housekeeper, inside the house when he arrived home from work March 13. He called police just before 5:50 p.m.
Police have not released much information about the case, saying they don't want to jeopardize their investigation. However, interviews with law enforcement officials familiar with the case and public records provide some details:
Thomas and Sherman each died of multiple stab wounds to the neck.
The boy's body was found in the dining room.
Police found Thomas' video game, set on "pause," in the basement.
Sherman's body was found about 20 feet from the dining room, in a first-floor hallway. A bucket of cleaning supplies was a few feet from her body.
Police recovered knives from the crime scene.
Police have not yet been able to identify the man depicted in a composite sketch that was released within days of the killings.
About two hours before the bodies were discovered, neighbors saw a dark-haired, olive-skinned man with a dark coat and briefcase walk to the Hunter front porch at 303 N. 54th St. Some neighbors later saw the man return to a gray or silver sport utility vehicle parked on the street.
Newman said police gladly will take more tips if people "can identify the composite drawing or the vehicle." The vehicle and composite are "still very important to us."
The FBI's behavioral science unit at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., is helping in trying to identify the killer.
To develop a profile of the killer, FBI agents analyze the circumstances of the killings, the weapons and other unusual factors. Officials would try to determine why both the boy and his family's housekeeper were slain, said Gary Plank, a recently retired criminal profiler with the Nebraska State Patrol.
"You are not blaming them, but you ask 'Why would those people be victimized?' " said Plank, who is not part of this investigation. "The boy may not be the target. It would be very odd if both victims, as a combination, were singled out."
Because it's possible the killer was aiming his rage and aggression toward one or both of the boy's parents, FBI agents also would try to determine whether they could have been the intended targets, Plank said.
William Hunter is a professor and residency program director for Creighton University Medical Center's department of pathology. His wife, Dr. Claire Hunter, is an associate professor of medicine and director of Creighton's cardiovascular fellowship training program. Thomas was a sixth-grader at King Science and Technology Magnet Center.
Besides the criminal profiling, the FBI's computer forensics unit typically examines computer hard drives, laptops and personal e-mail accounts of people who have a connection to the victims - such as friends, relatives or acquaintances - or those who could be considered suspects.
The FBI would pay close attention to any online correspondence of the victims or their families, particularly if there were indications of threats, intimidation or verbal harassment, bureau officials said.
The FBI rarely gets involved in an Omaha homicide investigation, but federal agents helped in two recent cases: the probe into the death of Amber Harris, the 12-year-old north Omaha girl whose remains were found in a park in May 2006; and the prosecution of two large-scale marijuana dealers from Omaha, who were convicted of shooting three out-of-state men in Omaha in May 2005 and burning their bodies.
Since the FBI came on board in early April, FBI agents have entered extensive details about the slayings and what they believe they know about the killer into their national crime database and investigative matrix.
The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, known as ViCAP, is a nationwide data information center used to collect and analyze homicides. Cases may appear random or motiveless, but the information is entered to allow investigators to compare details from similar crimes that have been logged by other police departments across the country.
Newman said the Omaha police detectives assigned to the Dundee case continue to investigate other unsolved slayings. She said she wants the community to realize that clearing the case with an arrest is of the greatest importance to police.
"In every homicide, there is a loss, because a family just lost a loved one. We feel a responsibility to the victims and their families," Newman said.
Omaha Police Lt. Kathy Belcastro-Gonzalez said detectives aren't frustrated by the case.
"They're not frustrated," she said, "they're just diligent."
Meanwhile, the housekeeper's family remains optimistic that the killer will be identified.
"We feel Shirlee's case will eventually be solved, and we're willing to be patient, although it can be hard sometimes," said Brad Waite of Omaha, Sherman's brother.
"Right now, the police detectives don't have a true road to follow," Waite said. "We don't know if this was a targeted killing, a serial killer or a house selected at random because it was easy pickings being in a nice, quiet neighborhood."
In a brief e-mail note, William Hunter said his family maintains regular contact with homicide detectives but had not heard any noteworthy information about the case. "We do not know what happened," Hunter wrote. "The neighbors, schools, the university and the community have been very supportive. Our hearts go out to Shirlee's family also, and the police would appreciate any information or tips from the public."