Cold Case Homicide Reviews

This chapter provides an account of how the police seek to solve long term undetected homicides, shining a light on the opportunities and challenges faced by cold case review teams. The rationale for conducting cold case reviews is considered and a brief depiction of how they are conducted in the UK is illustrated. What becomes clear is that it is predominantly advances in forensic science techniques and technologies that are most relied upon in cold case reviews, both in the UK and internationally, along with information from the public and witness testimony. The challenges these opportunities present are also considered highlighting the difficulties investigators are faced with when investigating long term unsolved homicides.