Omaha double murder

[YellowDog]

Does anyone know if the police were able to retrieve any fingerprints or DNA from the perpetrator at the scene? Why all the silence?

 

[Snick1946]

Does anyone know if the police were able to retrieve any fingerprints or DNA from the perpetrator at the scene? Why all the silence?

You pinned it, YD. Nada- just as usual.

About three weeks ago, I received a tip from someone via this board about something involving Tom that needed to be looked into. I passed this onto LE via the Crimestoppers site. By the way, I did this same thing about six months after the crime on another tip. No acknowledgment, no reply, nothing. Not even a thank you, we'll look into it.
Following my first tip I spoke to someone who had been in phone contact with a detective at OPD on the case. They told me the cop they talked to was making disparaging comments about Websleuths and me in particular, I was 'that a..hole on the internet.' I was also told the comment was made that some of us could be charged with impeding the investigation (!) I told my friend that next time they talk to this guy maybe they should tell him there has to BE an investigation to be impeded.
I have not posted some of this other than in PMs to selected Websleuth friends. From what I understand the detetives handling this case check this thread periodicaly. With that in mind I have a message for them:
We all understand you cannot share much of what is going on in this case with the public. That's a given. You need to protect information in case it is needed later for a trial. We also understand this involves a prominent medical family and an educational institution that is respected- if not feared- in this community.
Having said that I have to ask: do you or do you not want to solve this thing? If you do, and I think you very much want to- you need to start acting like it. That means you throw out a few things you can safely do so to the media to keep it active in people's minds so maybe someone who has been keeping silence comes forward. It means acknowledging tips. It also means to stop treating those of us who are sleuthing this case as the enemy. It also means to stop tiptoing around Creighton and the Jesuits who are so afraid some scandal will make them look bad. It means you keep the families in the loop as to progress- you have done so for one family but not for the other.
It also means accepting AMW's offer of assistance. Many months ago you refused that for no apparent reason other than something about the 'crime scene'. Why on earth??
Well that's my challenge and I have no doubt it will be met with silence but it needed to be said.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

:clap::clap::clap::clap: Excellent post Snick!

I will respond to your post but I want to give it some thought first.

Is it just me because I get the feeling that some involved wish this would all just go away.

wm

 

[Knox]

I must say Snick I'm taken aback by the comment from the OPD Detective regarding Websleuths and you personally. If he is so offended by your/our efforts to find a motive for the murder of Shirlee and Tom, why read here? Is he sensitive to some of the criticisms voiced here regarding the way OPD has handled the case? I applaud the way you have kept this on the main page for so long and agree with your challenge for the Detective; quit trying to be politically correct, use all the resources at your disposal and solve the freaking case!!

Impede; to interfere with or slow the progress of :waitasec:

 

[YellowDog]

Could it be we've explored more possible scenarios than the police have and, when reading here, they realize it?

 

[allthatjazz]

Just a thought on this post. If she was not usually scheduled to work that day, maybe they did schedule her because the mom was out of town and the father was at work. The parents might have wanted someone to be home with the boy when they couldn't.

 

[allthatjazz]

deleted

 

[allthatjazz]

deleted

 

[Claycat]

Very well said, Snick!

 

[Snick1946]

Families of the two stabbing victims in Dundee in March 2008 want answers.

By John Ferak

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A snapshot of Tom Hunter sits on his mother's desk, a reminder of a happy 11-year-old boy and of all the unanswered questions in the year and a half since he was stabbed to death.

Late in the afternoon of March 13, 2008, someone walked into the Hunters' home in Dundee, killed Tom and stabbed to death Shirlee Sherman, 57, the family's house cleaner.

Since that day, the families of the victims have found little solace and no answers.

No suspects have been named. No arrests made. Little physical evidence gathered.

The two families have grown so frustrated that Tom's mother, Dr. Claire Hunter, agreed to her first news media interview since his death. She told The World-Herald that she has little hope that the killer will be caught soon. Other homicide cases with fresher leads take priority, she said.

“It is a cold case,” Claire Hunter said. “Do they have any leads? What's their plan? Where are we now? We have gotten so little information from the police the past several months. … It doesn't look like they are moving on anything.”

She said she knows the families would hear if the police had news to share.

“In fairness to the Omaha Police Department, we appreciate everything they are doing,” she said.

Sherman's son, Jeff, said his family is also aching. In February, the Sherman family doubled a reward for information to $50,000. Eight months later, with no arrests, the reward still waits.

“We refuse to let this case go cold,” Jeff Sherman said. “Both of our families lost somebody special. We lost a mother.”

Interim Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes said Friday that police officials understand both families' frustrations.

“We are diligently working on this case, and we are still following up on leads as they come in,” Hayes said. “Solving a homicide … it is long, tedious work.”

Hayes said the homicide unit investigates the Dundee slayings on a daily basis. Part of the work, the chief said, involves computer forensics.

Claire Hunter said her family has faith in Sgt. Ken Kanger, who leads the department's cold-case unit and has a track record of solving some of Omaha's most difficult cold cases.

Kanger's unit made an arrest in the 2006 slaying of local actress Pasinetta Fitzgerald, 40. His unit recently obtained a murder conviction of Stephen Pullens for pushing his mom off a balcony in December 2004.

Kanger took over the Dundee investigation in February. Family members of both victims received personal phone calls from Kanger late last week to reassure them that the case is still being investigated. Claire Hunter also questions why the FBI is no longer involved in the case:

“Why not? It is a major case,” she said.

FBI officials in Omaha said they have not been asked to assist for more than six months.

Hayes said the department cooperates with the FBI and will seek help when needed.

The killer left behind bloody knives, Claire Hunter said. But police told the Hunters that they found little other physical evidence.

That's why the public's help is needed, she said.

Officer Jacob Bettin, an Omaha police spokesman, said the reward, now at $54,500, will remain available as long as the case remains open.

Police still want to know the identify of a dark-haired, professional-looking man neighbors recalled seeing outside the home that afternoon, wearing a black coat and carrying a briefcase or satchel.

Brad Waite, Sherman's brother, said the family is confident that the $50,000 reward would have flushed out a suspect if the slayings were connected to his sister or to drugs or burglary.

Bill Hunter, who found the bodies, has said that police have found no evidence the killer targeted anyone in his family. The Hunters also have three adult sons in their 20s.

Both the Hunters are on the faculty at Creighton University's medical school. Claire Hunter was in Hawaii at a medical conference the day of the killings.

Now, 20 months later, she wonders why the killer picked her house. Why Tom and Shirlee?

“I still wonder who the real target was meant to be,” she said. “You try to think about all the persons who the family has crossed paths with. And why did the person pick a Thursday? Were they researching our family? Were they casing our house the days before I was gone?”

For now, she keeps Tom's memory close, in the form of a snapshot taken by Bill Hunter just a few months before their son was killed.

“Tom's been sent to a higher mission,” she said, “all too soon.”

Contact the writer:

444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com

 

[tapu]

Unbelievable! Still absolutely nothing. There doesn't even seem to be any further speculation going on. This is one of the strangest cases I've ever seen.

Thanks for the update, Snick. Must be frustrating for you, being local and all.

--tap

 

[Snick1946]

Here's a link to the site with the story- there's a previously unpublished picture of Tom and his mother, Dr Claire Hunter:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091025/NEWS01/710259859

I have some thoughts on this article but will post them shortly, wanted to get it out on the board. I can say however that what jumped out at me was the acting chief's comment that 'computer forensics' are being applied in the investigation. More later.

 

[colette]

That "computer forensics" jumped out at me too, but I think they are barking up the wrong tree. Maybe they should interveiw former students first then former patients and families.

If they were following Tom's online activities, it shouldn't take this long.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

This is probably nothing at all, but in my own mind the perp in this case would resemble this guy! Scary thought. JMO!

It is nice to see this case getting some press. Thanks John Ferak for keeping the word out!

wm

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/us/2009/10/24/americas-wanted-fugitives?slide=10

 

[Knox]

YES, Thank You John Ferak!! This is the interview I have been waiting for since I became interested in this case!! In addition, we have confirmation directly from Claire that this is a "cold case" and has been assigned to a OPD cold case detective with a good track record.

My heart goes out to both of these families who lost their loved ones. Part of the healing process that comes with the loss of a loved one due to violent crime is closure and neither of the families have been able to move forward. God Bless the Hunter, Sherman and Waite families, I have faith that justice will be served in this case, too many eyes are upon it. Thank you again Snick and John for keeping this case in the forefront.

 

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

Ditto everything Knox said. WaltzingMatilda, that picture does look a lot alike the sketch. Scary thing is that a lot of people probably look like the sketch. I just can't believe that the only links to this perp are the knives. How frustrating for the families. I think about this case all the time and hope they get it solved soon.

 

[YellowDog]

Thanks for posting that Snick. I'm glad at least one reporter is still interested in this case and bravo to Dr. Claire Hunter for granting the interview.

I find the bit about the computer forensics VERY interesting because the killer seems to have been a complete stranger to the neighborhood and the house. I don't think he selected this house randomly. I think he had business to conduct there and was searching for a specific person at this address.

I just saw a TV show today about a woman who was gaming on the internet and met a person she thought to be a man and fell in love. The "man" turned out to be another woman and when the first woman found out she had fallen in love with a woman instead of a man she went "ballistic". Just one incident as to how game playing on the internet can go awry and how people can pretend to be something or someone they aren't.

It sounds as if even Dr. Claire Hunter is angry that they aren't releasing more information to the public.

These two victims deserve justice. Let's hope this article will stir the pot and maybe something will come up.

I wonder why the OPD is not requesting help from the FBI anymore. Strange.....

 

[colette]

Maybe they ought to look and see who googled or mapquested that address just before the murders.... maybe they might do that if they haven't already.

 

[redfish]

A couple of things jumped out at me too.

Mom is interviewed... nothing much from Dad.

The Sherman's put up $50,000 reward.

The reward is now 54,000

Computer forensics now? Why has this taken so long? I've followed other cases and these definitely don't take THIS long. What is the hold up?

Little to None in the way of Enlistment of public information... declining help from one of the most widely watched crime programs in the nation???? They LET IT grow cold. I am still blown away by this.

So sorry Tom. You deserve better.

 

[Snick1946]

A couple of things jumped out at me too.

Mom is interviewed... nothing much from Dad.

The Sherman's put up $50,000 reward.

The reward is now 54,000

Computer forensics now? Why has this taken so long? I've followed other cases and these definitely don't take THIS long. What is the hold up?

Little to None in the way of Enlistment of public information... declining help from one of the most widely watched crime programs in the nation???? They LET IT grow cold. I am still blown away by this.

So sorry Tom. You deserve better.

You hit it exactly- they LET this case grow cold, and didn't push when they could have. Worse, there seems to be nothing any of us in Omaha can do about it, OPD does not respond to input at all. I have tried commenting on local chat boards about police inaction and all I get are the 'Shame on you, support our brave police' sort of comments. Mostly I think from cops themselves.
I'd like to welcome you all to Omaha, Nebraska; it's a city for years run and controlled by its police department. There is a strong element there that has contempt for civillian control and seems to think they can do anything they want to. Brief history lesson: we have had mayors 'taken down' by OPD in the past, and a police union that openly runs political ads against politicians who won't play ball with them. You also have a population largely naive about what is going on. As I mentioned, anyone who tries to point out this stuff is shouted down as not supportive of police.
I have long felt that the answer to this crime lies in an area that they do not want to go into. Some secret locked away in the dark halls of Creighton perhaps. Or maybe some prominent person has a secret that is being protected. Someone I think maybe is being protected; perhaps not the killer himself but someone who may know the motive. Possibly it's explosive.
I agree; Tom and Shirlee deserve more. We all do. What about it, OPD??