OH OH - William 'Bill' Comeans, 14, Columbus, 7 Jan 1980 - #1

[GoingByMyGut]

Can we start to track down all students who were in Bill's classes? I found this website with members listed in and around the same time Bill was at Westland high school.

<modsnp>

Might be worth a shot to email them and try to find out who Bill's best friends were?

This, I believe, is why the family needs LE. This case comes down to people and the tools that allow LE to investigate them. Murkmanz, I could be wrong, but my understanding of TOS is that we aren't allowed to sleuth anyone on this thread who hasn't officially been named a suspect or POI.

All the questions about the DNA test are valid, IMO, though I don't think two hours of Internet research means a test doesn't exist. That said, were they even waiting for a specific test? I want to look it up but I don't have time this morning. My sense is that, because the sample they have is so small, they figured they waited this long, why not wait longer to see if a new technology ensures they they maximize the sample. Isn't that what we all think LE should have done with past samples that have been screwed up in just this way?

Also, it seems like I see a news article every week about another cold case being solved. IOW, it happens. Officers without the old connections -- and with new training in the technologies and hands-on work needed to solve cold cases -- and the dedication to do so -- are making headlines across the country. So why not Bill? How many of us have said, "this is solvable"?

I do not have blind faith in LE. Nor am I of the illusion that "LE has [n]ever lied before." But neither will I decide on the basis provided here that a particular LEO can do no good who has not had a chance to prove himself. We can only do so much. My fingers are crossed that the Cs are partnered with one of the good guys and that together they make some headway for Bill.

In the meantime, I think we should continue to help them toward that goal in whatever way we can.

 

[carolann0308]

I don't think you need to sleuth the entire class. What you could do is use an existing membership to Classmates and post on the class forum. Ask people to contact the family on their FB page or join this site and leave any information they recall. Maybe someone that graduated remembers something about the family across the street, the threatening notes or the teacher.

 

[rosemadderlake]

…Imo What makes this case potentially solvable, now 34 years later, is Bill’s family participation across the board; social media, MSM, blogs, WS, and taking a cold case out of the deep freeze with a new detective. It is a big fan out. I think they need to be careful and mindful because there is the due process of review. It might not be wise, or in the best interest of Bill, (in the context of a reopened investigation), for this family to blindly share contents of Bill’s parent’s personal files at this time.

I see people who knew Bill in high school commenting on the internet. But because Bill was a freshman in HS there would not be the same kind of “established” class of ’83 for him.

Does the crime scene look like it was in chaos? Yes, even LE says so. What would they have been able to tell had they been the first to arrive on the scene? Those here on WS reconstructing that night have provided some revelations, to be sure.

A couple of months ago, I spoke with a case manager at Namus about a possible UID match on an old missing person’s case. She said they wait for new advancements in DNA testing and analysis for a variety of reasons as it is an evolving science. And, because of that they are able to retest, exhume and test for the first time some very, very old cases. So, if the sample they want to test is so small, it may be fortuitous that DNA testing is happening now, rather than then. Imo…

 

[GoingByMyGut]

&#8230;Imo What makes this case potentially solvable, now 34 years later, is Bill&#8217;s family participation across the board; social media, MSM, blogs, WS, and taking a cold case out of the deep freeze with a new detective. It is a big fan out. I think they need to be careful and mindful because there is the due process of review. It might not be wise, or in the best interest of Bill, (in the context of a reopened investigation), for this family to blindly share contents of Bill&#8217;s parent&#8217;s personal files at this time.

I see people who knew Bill in high school commenting on the internet. But because Bill was a freshman in HS there would not be the same kind of &#8220;established&#8221; class of &#8217;83 for him.

Does the crime scene look like it was in chaos? Yes, even LE says so. What would they have been able to tell had they been the first to arrive on the scene? Those here on WS reconstructing that night have provided some revelations, to be sure.

A couple of months ago, I spoke with a case manager at Namus about a possible UID match on an old missing person&#8217;s case. She said they wait for new advancements in DNA testing and analysis for a variety of reasons as it is an evolving science. And, because of that they are able to retest, exhume and test for the first time some very, very old cases. So, if the sample they want to test is so small, it may be fortuitous that DNA testing is happening now, rather than then. Imo&#8230;

BBM1: Thanks, Rose. I completely agree with that. None of us has any idea who our lurkers are. The guilty parties in a case are at least as likely, IMO, to lurk here to see what the family knows, as they are to start a false social media site. Protecting their case has to be the family's top priority as it gives them the best chance of solving Bill's murder. Fortunately, I think this family is particularly information savvy and had no intentions of doing that.

BBM2: That is what I am seeing online ... it's a constantly simmering beaker and no one knows what's going to precipitate out of the pot until it does ... but everyone seems to believe something is bound to.

 

[Tulessa]

Not much more we can do here, so I'm gonna point my eyes to a case that is sleuth able, and try to help another loved one missing.

 

[rosemadderlake]

the family needs LE to do this work for them. Who else can run license plates/search vehicle registrations, test fingerprints and DNA, interview POIs, review case files, sleuth neighbors, etc., etc., etc.

I get the suggestion in your BBM, but am doubtful that Bill's parents were able to finger someone as suspicious whom LE formerly wished to protect. These suspicions are bequeathed across generations, and that does not appear to be the case here. JMO, but I think the family is in the dark about what happened to Bill, has no one to finger. MOO

GBMG -TBM

Bbm: I think this is very true about this case. Bill Knew, or could ID his killer (s), but his family does not know.

 

[bessie]

Can we start to track down all students who were in Bill's classes? I found this website with members listed in and around the same time Bill was at Westland high school.

<modsnip>

Might be worth a shot to email them and try to find out who Bill's best friends were?

Murkmanz, I greatly admire your willingness to help! :thumb:

Obviously, you're free to do that on your own. It's not something that WS would endorse as a group effort, however.

 

[Tulessa]

Murkmanz, I greatly admire your willingness to help! :thumb:

Obviously, you're free to do that on your own. It's not something that WS would endorse as a group effort, however.

And I would hate to post names, and then, them become a target of some sort. Too many weirdos out here to take that chance. :scared:

 

[bessie]

One thing we do know. Present LE has delayed running a DNA analysis, as apparently they say they were awaiting a "new" DNA testing procedure or new/updated testing equipment/machine (I'm not sure exactly).

I'm very curious to know *specifically* what it is, as far as this "new" procedure, in detailed manner, that is the reason for their delay all along. I have yet to hear exactly what it is they are or have been awaiting, causing this delay.

ETA: I would also like to know exactly who/where will do this DNA testing.
Ohio State Police crime lab? or Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation? Exactly who/where?
These are all reasonable questions that the family should have been provided detailed answers already.

This doesn't speak specifically of that LE agency, but it's an example of new technology solving a well known cold case.

DNA finally nails the notorious Boston Strangler

01:32 20 July 2013 by Hal Hodson
In a bid to solve the mystery, the Boston Police Crime Lab dug up DeSalvo's corpse and removed three teeth and a section of bone from his left arm. The DNA matched degraded samples of DNA that were from the crime scene, which were analysed using sensitive techniques that have only become available in recent years.

50 Years Later, a Break in a Boston Strangler Case

The New York Times
By JESS BIDGOOD
Published: July 11, 2013
Don Hayes, of the Boston Police Department crime lab, found the blanket among a trove of police evidence in 1998, and the department received slides with the sample taken from Ms. Sullivan&#8217;s body in the early 2000s. But early attempts to recover usable DNA samples were inconclusive. So Mr. Hayes stored the samples and waited for technology to improve. Last fall, investigators sent the samples to two private labs for another try &#8212; and this time got a DNA profile for an unknown male.

&#8220;The evidence in this case never changed, but the scientific ability to use that evidence has surpassed every hope and expectation of investigators who were first assigned to the case,&#8221; Mr. Conley said.

There's some discussion of it here.

MA MA - The Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, 1960's - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community



I also wanted to add that DNA testing in many labs is backlogged, and I think that would be the case of any lab employing the latest technology.

 

[rosemadderlake]

--Just winging some (imo) thoughts-

I don't think this is a case of "we know who did this, and it could not be proven". Was LE savvy in their investigation? -Especially after the coroner ruled it a homicide? Maybe not. While I do think they could well have missed what was "hidden in plain sight", was it one of their own? -A rogue cop, son of a rogue cop, and a cover up? It is fair to wonder about that because Bill was so silenced in the attacks.

There is an old unsolved murder in my hometown that haunts LE.
My sense is because the fact that Bill's case was reopened, not only is it in the best interest of Bill's family to solve his murder, it is also in LE's best interest.

I do think the subsequent notes/letters/death threats really threw a wrench into the 1980 investigation, like a wild goose chase. -There are some good theories here put forth about that, like a cover up, take the fall, things we can't sleuth here... That would be high on my list for the CCD to revisit. And now there is the opportunity to do that.

 

[Tulessa]

Are the letters still in existence? Could DNA or fingerprints be lifted from them??

 

[rosesfromangels]

I agree with all of you re - your latest questions and thoughts relating to both the notebooks, and the "revolutionary" new DNA testing. One would THINK that if there was such a thing, that it would definitely have been published in either a scientific journal, a forensic science journal, or a medical journal. If Methodical hasn't found anything and he's spent 2 hours searching....it makes me skeptical.

Which leads me to believe that they meant, "we have a new PROCESS for testing DNA, vs. we have a new METHOD of testing". Meaning, the new "process" would be logistics, vs. the actual testing process.

 

[rosesfromangels]

--Just winging some (imo) thoughts-

I don't think this is a case of "we know who did this, and it could not be proven". Was LE savvy in their investigation? -Especially after the coroner ruled it a homicide? Maybe not. While I do think they could well have missed what was "hidden in plain sight", was it one of their own? -A rogue cop, son of a rogue cop, and a cover up? It is fair to wonder about that because Bill was so silenced in the attacks.

There is an old unsolved murder in my hometown that haunts LE.
My sense is because the fact that Bill's case was reopened, not only is it in the best interest of Bill's family to solve his murder, it is also in LE's best interest.

I do think the subsequent notes/letters/death threats really threw a wrench into the 1980 investigation, like a wild goose chase. -There are some good theories here put forth about that, like a cover up, take the fall, things we can't sleuth here... That would be high on my list for the CCD to revisit. And now there is the opportunity to do that.

The "rose" people are aligned on this one. My spotlight of suspicion is on anyone who would stoop so low as to write disturbing notes immediately after a precious child had been murdered. In my opinion only, if they are disturbed enough to write such notes, who knows what else they were capable of? MY OPINION ONLY.

 

[zoomom]

The "rose" people are aligned on this one. My spotlight of suspicion is on anyone who would stoop so low as to write disturbing notes immediately after a precious child had been murdered. In my opinion only, if they are disturbed enough to write such notes, who knows what else they were capable of? MY OPINION ONLY.

I'm with you 100%, rosesfromangels.

 

[zoomom]

Do we know the address where the letter-writer lived? (I know it was across the street from the Comeans)


Nevermind! Found all the stuff in the media thread.....she sounds more wacko than just the letter writing. :twocents:

 

[Betty P]

For Informational Purposes Only, relative to Ohio's DNA testing.

This brief video will show the basic procedure on Ohio's DNA testing.
It was filmed at Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification's lab in Richfield OH.

I'm not sure how long ago this was filmed, or how equipment/procedures are at other Ohio BCI labs are done, such as in London, OH, but it gives you a view of how evidence is tested for DNA profiles to be matched to a suspect via CODIS (Combined DNA Index System).

Ohio BCI DNA Testing Labs (Richfield, OH)

The Richfield, OH lab is fairly new. It was built just about 5 or 6 yrs ago, iirc. Its supposed to be very state of the art. Thst said there is probably a backlog.

 

[bessie]

A new technique developed in Pittsburgh is getting a lot of press.

Is DNA analysis stuck in the past?

By Matt Stroud on January 2, 2014 03:00 pm

...laments that "DNA tests performed on a contaminated or otherwise compromised sample cannot be used reliably to identify or eliminate an individual as the perpetrator of a crime."

In reality, that&#8217;s not true anymore. DNA analysis has moved way beyond both FBI standards and NAS&#8217; depiction of DNA&#8217;s limits.

Harris points to Cybergenetics, a company based down the road from his university office in Pittsburgh, that&#8217;s developed software called TrueAllele...

Because it&#8217;s computer-based, it can interpret a lot of DNA evidence at once. The technique can also interpret DNA evidence currently considered tarnished. And it can identify as many as five unknown contributors to a DNA sample instead of just one.

CMU Professor Takes DNA Testing To New Levels

May 21, 2013 12:10 AM

&#8220;True Allele is the most advanced and most powerful system for commercial DNA evidence interpretation that exists,&#8221; said Mark Perlin of Cybergenetics.

Using a supercomputer, True Allele succeeds where conventional DNA analysis can&#8217;t &#8212; getting results from tiny and damaged bits of DNA.

DNA test put on trial

By Paul Nelson --Updated 7:13 am, Monday, September 16, 2013

Schenectady murder case prosecution uses revolutionary technology for the first time in state

The software, which analyzes low-quality and mixed DNA samples, has been accepted as evidence at trial courts in Virginia, Pennsylvania and California, according to its developer, Mark Perlin of Pittsburgh, Pa. He said the method, known as probabilistic genotyping, was used to help identify victims of the 9/11 terrorism attack in New York City and will be implemented at the State Police crime lab in Albany.

Perlin said the new technology, known as True Allele, which has been subject to review by experts in the field, has been used in 15 trials in Pennsylvania, California, and Virginia, including state, federal and military courts. "The bottom line is that True Allele is a useful tool in finding truth in DNA evidence," said Perlin. "We work on the evidence in order to find the truth."

 

[bessie]

After reading the terrific timeline Bessie put together I am *very* interested in the family where the notes came from (all of them), as well as the teacher that has made claims that Bill was asking certain questions. (I'm skeptical about that).
AND, I would be interested in knowing the connection this teacher had with any members of the note writing family.
VERY interested. Look there LE, look there.

I'd love to take the credit, but that terrific timeline was created by GoingByMyGut.

 

[pdxmama]

The "rose" people are aligned on this one. My spotlight of suspicion is on anyone who would stoop so low as to write disturbing notes immediately after a precious child had been murdered. In my opinion only, if they are disturbed enough to write such notes, who knows what else they were capable of? MY OPINION ONLY.

I agree that she is seriously disturbed but there are many stories of people harassing families of victims, inserting themselves into cases for attention and even falsely confessing to crimes. I fully believe that she was unstable and attention-seeking but had nothing more to do with this crime. All IMO, of course.

All of that being said, absolutely anything is possible with this case.

 

[ellemo]

First, has this been submitted to Cold Justice for consideration? in the last episode I saw they mentioned having to interview 90 witnesses and I think this case could benefit from someone willing to speak to all Billy's neighbors, classmates, etc. Does the request need to come from LE?

While I wouldn't rule out a cover up by LE, I am not sure that is what happened here. I think that LE got an idea in their head and that clouded their judgment and how they moved ahead in the case. Billy's story was suspect and pieces didn't add up. I agree with others who believe that this was probably because Billy knew his attackers and/or was victimized in a way he didn't want known. Sadly, LE didn't see it that way and this knowledge clouded their judgment from that point on.

I also think that this was done by older teens/ young adults. Many of the things that made Billy the wonderful person that he was could also make him the target of bullies -- did well in school, in choir, dressed up as Santa for neighborhood kids. They need not be someone directly known to Billy. As a kid, I was the target of bullies and one day walking home from school I became a target of boys I never knew before. To this day, I don't know who they were or how they knew me. They lived in my neighborhood but didn't go to my school but since I never " hung out" in my neighborhood or hung with any boys, I have no idea why they targeted me. I can only assume they knew someone at my school. (I went to an all girls school)

It was very frightening, much more so then the bullies at school, precisely because I had no idea what made me target them. (They harassed me several times until the main antagonizer got so close to me and I felt physically threatened some hit him, something I had never done before. I guess being hit by a nerdy girl was not something that he wanted to experience again so they never bothered me again)

Anyway, my point is, if these bullies were someone with no known connection ( maybe a younger sibling knew him or they saw him do his paper route) to him, that would be terrifying enough, add on the violent strangling and you have enough fear to make Billy susceptible to any threats against himself or family. I think they are young adults due to the fact that he was strangled three times. Either they didn't want to kill him the first two times, just really terrorize him. Or they did want him dead but because they were young did nt think to do it another way ( e.g. knife) that would be bloody. Alternate theory is the budding psychopath who wants to experience a death this way.