Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Team
From 1990 through 2000, there were 19,747 murders committed in the State
Of Texas. Of those, 70.5 % were cleared or an average of 7 out of
10. This is pretty good. But, the 29.5% that were not cleared
represents a total of 5,825 that remained unsolved. 5,825 victims
whereby justice is no where to be found. 5,825 families who have
suffered a lost and have no sense of peace because they never been told
why there loved ones were taken from them. Of course, this
statistics are only for the last decade alone. There are many more.
When a case is solved, it helps bring the families some understanding why
their loves ones were taken away from them and some satisfaction that
someone has been punished for their actions.
In 1990, the body of an elderly woman was found in San Antonio. She
had been raped and stabbed to death. The case remained
unsolved. In 1996, at the insistence of the victim’s family,
additional interest was generated in this murder. A ranger working
along side with the originating agency, discovered unprocessed
evidence. In this case, a rape kit that had been collected, but
overlooked and never processed. As a result, the evidence was
processed and DNA testing identified the next door neighbor as the person
responsible for the murder. He was arrested and plead guilty to
this murder.
Groups such as the “Parents Of Murdered Children”, “Justice For All”,
Texans For Equal Justice and others, composed of family members and
friends of victim’s of murders, are the advocates whose voices are being
heard by legislators to create a task force to investigate these types of
unsolved crimes.
In January 2001, State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos and State Representive
Helen Giddings introduced a couple of bills to create an unsolved crimes
investigation team to be under the direct command of the Texas
Rangers. As a result, the 77th legislative session passed
house bill 1748 and senate bill 786, creating the Texas Rangers Unsolved
Crimes Investigation Team (Ucit). The law took effect in September
1st, 2001. The requirement for a ranger to be a member of this team
was to have at least two years experience in major felony type
investigations.
This unsolved crimes investigation team is currently located in San
Antonio and composed of eight rangers, of which one is being trained as a
phychological profiler. It is commanded by a lt. The team
also has a crime analyst assigned to the team to help in conducted
research, backgrounds, criminal histories, obtaining driver license
photographs, constructing photo lineups etc……
the approached that we have taken is to investigate each case by a least
a two ranger team. They in-turn work with an investigator from the
originating agency that requested our assistance and with the field
ranger currently assigned to the area. It always been said that two
heads are better than one, so the more heads the better.
Teamwork is essential.
We have the luxury of working on nothing but unsolved homicides or major
felonies. Compared to all police agencies and current field
rangers, they must deal with a constant bombardment of cases. As a
result, it’s only natural to work on case that are “hot” and have
leads. Whenever they have a break, they go back to the cases that
are now in the “cooling” off stage. But that time is short and far
between. It’s not their fault contrary to popular belief. The
public must remember that the police are just humans and can only work
with what the investigation at the time revealed.
We approach each case with 110 % commitment, devotion, energy and skills
to that one case. As long as there is leads to follow; we stay on
that one case dedicating all our resources to that single case. We
approach the investigation with the mindset that we must look under every
stone, no matter how small. The key to success is time and
devotion, by a group of investigators whose total commitment is to that
one case in front of them.
Of course, not all cases can be solved by us or anyone else. There
are cases out there that simply don’t have anything to go on. It’s
nobody’s fault. The suspect just got lucky. We take on cases that
have the highes probability of being solved. We look for
certain factors within each case to see which ones have something to work
with. The factors are as follows:
- documentation; which
consist of case reports, autopsy reports, lab reports, photographs, crime
scene sketched and statements from witnesses.
- evidence; three
types:
- direct evidence (eyewitness accounts, co-defendant
statements,
- physical evidence (such as: blood, fingerprints,
fibers, weapons, expended cartridges) and
- circumstantial evidence
(evidence that couples with other factors point to a suspect)
- identification of
suspect(s) developed last but, not enough evidence was found for an
indictment or arest.
Texas rangers UCIT didn’t actually begin to investigate unsolved
homicides until march of 2002. This was due to determining where
the best place to headquarter the squad and the recruitment of
experienced rangers. Because it doesn’t matter how much funding
this squad got or any other squad in the world, if the right people are
not recruited, nothing is going to get done. The key is having the
right personnel, after all, they are the ones who apply their
investigative skills to help solve the crimes. They are the corner
stones of this concept.
On March 1st, 2002 the Rangers took on their first two cases. A
march 18th, 2001 murder in Eagle Pass and a September 19th, 1992 murder
in Seguin. Within a three-month period, both cases were solved and
arrest made on both cases. Both are pending trial.
We currently have thirty (30) cases excluding the two above that have
come in for possible re-investigation from all over the state. The
dates of the murders ranger as far back as 1960 to 2000. Eight (8)
are currently being investigated with potential of being solved.
Some of cases currently being investigated that look promising have
evidence that has been submitted to the DPS lab, but due to heavy
caseloads, those lab analyzes are pending which creates a delay. So
funding for additional lab personnel is also essential to keep up with
the caseload. Due to our size ( 8-rangers), the number of cases
investigated is low, but our goal is not to investigate many and see how
many we solve. Our goal is to approach each case with the attitude
that each case will be solved. “we are not going to throw a
handfull of darts on a dart board and see how many stick. We want
to throw one dart at a time and make each one stick.” this
naturally is slow, but we owe it to that victim and their family.
We set no time limit to how long we are going to invest in investigating
a case. As long as there is something to work with, we will pursue
it until we just can’t go any further.
If we have a case that stalls due to having to wait for lab results, we
select another case and begin that one. But, once the evidence
comes back and the results warrant a continuation of the first case, we
suspend the second and continue the first one. If a case stalls due
to no more leads, that investigation is suspended and another case is
again selected and the investigation initiated.
The mission of the Texas Rangers unsolved crimes investigation team is to
provide Texas Law Enforcement Agencies with a processs for investigating
unsolved murders or what appears to be serial or linked criminal
transactions. Since there is no statue of limitation on murder, there is
no clock running on investigating these cases.
If you or someone you know has suffered a lost of a love one to a violent
crime, we encourage you to contact the originating police agency and ask
for current status of your case. You must have patients due to
heavy caseloads. If the case is not being actively investigated,
let them know about our existence, but don’t push our team into their
investigation. We must be invited into their case with open
arms and not with any resistance. We depend in their initial
investigative findings and reports. Give the originating agency a
chance. The only difference between them and us (I mean agencies
with no cold case squad) is that we have the luxury of working on nothing
but unsolved homicide without the interruption of other cases being
thrown at us on a daily basis. Their interest is the same as you
and I, and that is to bring those responsible to justice.
All that is required from any Police Agency or Sheriff’s Department is a
letter requesting our assistance in re-investigating the unsolve
crime. Also a copy of the investigative report is necessary so we
can properly screen the case to determine if we are going to get involved
or not. Our mailing address is:
Texas Rangers UCIT
8918 Tesoro Suite 108
San Antonio, Texas 78217
Office: (210) 832-9447 Fax: (210) 832-9495
Our ultimate goal is to “bring peace to the living and justice to the
dead.”
PS: We need to get full funding (salaries, travel, equipment, housing
etc..) From the next legislative session to keep us going without having
to get grants. DPS will present to the legislators our budget which
covers all our operating expenses, all they have to do is approve
it!