ELOCSoul has commented more than once that the problem with this case was that DH “fell off the radar” of LE, or words to that effect. This comment has stuck with me ever since DH was made known to us. But I’ve waited until we knew more before I commented. I sensed ELOCSoul was on to something significant, but I didn’t feel like I knew enough to respond to it. I think it is still an evolving opinion as new information comes in, but my take on this is that:
1. The LE community there in St. Joseph has also stated, more or less, that Jacob has always been a priority for them and his was considered an active case.
2. The information necessary to prosecute DH between 22 October 1989 and, say, 22 October, 1994, probably didn’t exist.
3. We learn (the public) only decades later that LE had three (I believe it was three altogether) candidates at the top of their list; meaning, there were 3 individuals whose identities they kept secret from the public for decades, who were most likely the persons responsible for Jacob’s disappearance.
4. There wasn’t evidence in any of those cases sufficient to prosecute with confidence, and you need that because of double jeopardy.
5. But there was enough crime scene evidence to make it obvious that one of the three must have been responsible. Looking back on what we now know they had, that seems obvious to me. It was circumstantial, but from a financial and resource perspective, they were good bets on a conviction if more evidence could be exposed with taxpayer money.
6. Despite this fact, and despite the supposed “high priority” on Jacob, no resources were expended to perform sting operations, cons, ruses, or other forms of manipulation of these three persons (or others connected to them) in order to expose additional evidence. This isn’t a new tactic; it’s been used for decades by police to solve tough cases (see the end). It can be ruthless and cruel perhaps, but it is legal and effective.
7. Around 2010 immense resources were spent on Daniel Rassier as a “person of interest”, despite the probability and priority that existed over these 3 persons since 1989. The public was not told about these three, and the public therefore had a strong confirmation bias against Daniel Rassier.
My conclusion is that there was a clear and resounding failure of middle management in the various agencies to manage this case effectively. It wasn’t individual police, agents, deputies or detectives. It wasn’t the Sheriff. It was the managers in the middle. The right way to have managed this case, if it was indeed a priority, would have been to assertively and without letup, manipulate these 3 men with whatever cons, scams, stings or other operations they needed to cause them to expose additional, prosecutable evidence. And it should have been precisely these three precisely because these were considered the 3 most likely to have been involved. Simple. And I can think of dozens of ploys that would likely work, it isn’t complicated to do. The FBI apparently came up with at least one we know about, and it worked (see below).
Only in 2015 (or thereabouts) did proper management seem to come into play. Whether it was ELOCSoul, DNA, or whatever, something jarred them back into proper management of this case when the FBI (and maybe others) finally ran just such a sting by using *advertiser censored* to ensnare DH. They now have a plea deal arrived at by pressure from *advertiser censored* charges. I know some will say this was because of DNA, but I think the DNA in reality only served to remind the FBI that DH existed. It was just a part of that jarring course correction. They had enough, from a management and financial perspective, to justify the increased costs of surveillance, stings and undercover operations long, long before the DNA match was made or WS existed. We only now know this because what they has now been revealed, and it directly (albeit circumstantially) tied DH to the Jacob abduction. I can list just some of that evidence:
1. The shoes DH owned were matched to (consistent with) the footprints in the driveway. The public was never told this until about a year ago. Authorities knew it within weeks of the abduction.
2. The tire tracks in the driveway matched (were consistent with) DH’s car he owned at the time. The public was never told this until about a year ago. Authorities knew it within weeks of the abduction.
3. DR saw DH’s car in the driveway, with what uncannily could have been Jacob himself in it, or a car once again matching the description of DH’s car. I know this was recalled under hypnosis, but if serious interviews (not hostile ones) were done at the time when his memory was fresh, this might not have been needed.
4. By far the most uniquely identifying aspect of DH’s M.O., his tendency to immediately grab the crotch over the clothes of boys he attacked, appeared in both the Jared case and the Jacob case. The public was never told this until about a year ago (the specifics of the sexual assault during the Jacob abduction appeared in Court documents related to DH’s latest *advertiser censored* case). Authorities knew it within days of the abduction.
5. The composite drawing, while not perfect, was consistent with DH’s appearance at that time. Authorities knew this within weeks of the abduction.
6. The M.O. of the attacker of other boys was consistent with the M.O. of Jacob’s abductor. Given the town’s size, the overall M.O. pattern described indicates that it was unlikely that this tiny farming town featured two or more men with this same peculiar tendency to knock boys off bikes and immediately grab their clothed crotch. It was plain as day what was going on, and that the same man that attacked Jared was the same man that had abducted Jacob. But granted so far, not enough for a jury.
While not enough for a jury, this was more than enough to justify a management decision to employ far greater resources on these three men, and pretty much ignore every other angle until they had pursued this to its end. There was no reason for all that other garbage, particularly the Daniel Rassier investigation. Therefore, in my mind, this was clearly a failure of middle management. And that is not to point fingers, it is to expose what roles in government need more work and attention.
Better training and standardization of means and methods in managing complex cases should be sought. Specifically, a more rigorous and standardized application of probability, risk, impact and priority; as it all relates to financial and fiduciary responsibility to the public, is needed. The public has a vested interest in identifying murderers as early as possible, and local agencies have a vested interest in identifying perpetrators of serious crimes to assuage public discontent with government, to enhance cooperation with police and to ensure adequate funding in the future.
There was a case in Australia where a cold-blooded, psychopathic serial killer, surprise, killed a bunch of people. Circumstantially, they knew he did it. Same problem. It was obvious he was guilty, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you could convict on. And they had no bodies, just a bunch of missing people that were circumstantially tied to the POI. So, they set up an elaborate sting and totally duped this guy. He took them right to the remains in the Outback and they found several bodies there. He was convicted and is now in prison. That is how you take the gloves off, that is how you manage assertively and that is how you prioritize.
If I learn something new to change my mind I will, but so far that is how I see this. Bad management.