May 8 2023 lengthy article. rbbm.
www.kitsapdailynews.com
"It has been over 15 years since the severely stabbed body of 47-year-old Linda Malcom, a Navy veteran and former paralegal, was brought out from the rubble of her burned rental home in Port Orchard.
Initial leads that included a person of interest in the April 30, 2008, killing dried up and, to date, it remains one of only two unsolved homicides in the city. The other, the murder of Hi-Joy Bowling janitor James E Smith, is nearly 62 years old.
The killing of Malcom is being looked at again. Even after all this time there is hope that the cold case can be solved as a pair of podcasting investigators say the trail to catching the killer is heating up.''
..................................
''Malcom’s case is one of dozens submitted to Jennifer Bucholtz, leader of a volunteer Cold Case Investigative Team at American Military University and a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent. She and partner George Jared, an author and investigative journalist, have worked to reopen cold cases nationwide with the intention of getting a conviction. Cases they have worked on include the 16-year-old murder mystery of Rebekah Gould of Arkansas, whose killer was just sentenced last October.
Jared hopes to have a similar ending with this case, which was referred to them by Mike Booker, Malcom’s nephew and a student at AMU. The pair took interest in the case early on due to its perceived solvability as well as a heightened presence of behavioral analytical traits, something that he said could not be analyzed properly by smaller departments like Port Orchard’s back in 2008.
“A lot of local law enforcement agencies…they don’t always have the resources to do that type of work, and we have the expertise, and we have the time, and we’re willing to do it because, Jen, I think it’s fair to say, this is kind of a calling for us,” he said.''
''The fresh start has allowed the team to consider the biggest and smallest elements of the case, questioning experts on anything from what type of knife was used to speculating how Malcom’s lifestyle may have led to her death.
From the start, one of the biggest points was the level of overkill the assailant took to end her life. Autopsy reports indicate more than a dozen stab wounds, and while it’s believed that Malcom fought back, Jared said it was a brutal murder.''
''After just a few months, Jared and Bucholtz feel they are honing in on a suspect. Their message: that he or she should be scared. “I feel very, very, I guess, satisfied right now. The case is basically being worked as hard as a department can work it,” Bucholtz said.
Jared said the number of suspects is dwindling into single digits. “We told at the meeting we had today, it wouldn’t shock us at all if any one of these three or four ended up being the person who actually did it,” he said.
Chief Matt Brown has also confirmed high activity in the case and that multiple agencies, including federal, are actively participating. He said they’ve been collaborating with the FBI and the state Attorney General’s Office.''
Search for cold case killer heating up after 15 years | Kitsap Daily News
It has been over 15 years since the severely stabbed body of 47-year-old Linda Malcom, a Navy veteran and former paralegal, was brought out from the rubble of her burned rental home in Port Orchard.
www.kitsapdailynews.com
"It has been over 15 years since the severely stabbed body of 47-year-old Linda Malcom, a Navy veteran and former paralegal, was brought out from the rubble of her burned rental home in Port Orchard.
Initial leads that included a person of interest in the April 30, 2008, killing dried up and, to date, it remains one of only two unsolved homicides in the city. The other, the murder of Hi-Joy Bowling janitor James E Smith, is nearly 62 years old.
The killing of Malcom is being looked at again. Even after all this time there is hope that the cold case can be solved as a pair of podcasting investigators say the trail to catching the killer is heating up.''
..................................
''Malcom’s case is one of dozens submitted to Jennifer Bucholtz, leader of a volunteer Cold Case Investigative Team at American Military University and a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent. She and partner George Jared, an author and investigative journalist, have worked to reopen cold cases nationwide with the intention of getting a conviction. Cases they have worked on include the 16-year-old murder mystery of Rebekah Gould of Arkansas, whose killer was just sentenced last October.
Jared hopes to have a similar ending with this case, which was referred to them by Mike Booker, Malcom’s nephew and a student at AMU. The pair took interest in the case early on due to its perceived solvability as well as a heightened presence of behavioral analytical traits, something that he said could not be analyzed properly by smaller departments like Port Orchard’s back in 2008.
“A lot of local law enforcement agencies…they don’t always have the resources to do that type of work, and we have the expertise, and we have the time, and we’re willing to do it because, Jen, I think it’s fair to say, this is kind of a calling for us,” he said.''
''The fresh start has allowed the team to consider the biggest and smallest elements of the case, questioning experts on anything from what type of knife was used to speculating how Malcom’s lifestyle may have led to her death.
From the start, one of the biggest points was the level of overkill the assailant took to end her life. Autopsy reports indicate more than a dozen stab wounds, and while it’s believed that Malcom fought back, Jared said it was a brutal murder.''
''After just a few months, Jared and Bucholtz feel they are honing in on a suspect. Their message: that he or she should be scared. “I feel very, very, I guess, satisfied right now. The case is basically being worked as hard as a department can work it,” Bucholtz said.
Jared said the number of suspects is dwindling into single digits. “We told at the meeting we had today, it wouldn’t shock us at all if any one of these three or four ended up being the person who actually did it,” he said.
Chief Matt Brown has also confirmed high activity in the case and that multiple agencies, including federal, are actively participating. He said they’ve been collaborating with the FBI and the state Attorney General’s Office.''
