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County’s cold cases start to thaw
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Related Topics: San Mateo County
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Todd Anderson holds a picture of brother Tracey, one of the victims in a 1979 triple homicide at a San Mateo Payless Super Drug Store.
San Mateo County (Map, News) - Like many family members of victims in unsolved killings, Judy Lau’s torment has been especially burdensome because she knows someone walks the world a free man despite taking her father’s life.
After years of anguish, only recently has Lau — who was 19 when her father, Can Lau, was shot twice at point-blank range and killed in his car in Burlingame in 1997 — contacted police to seek details of that night.
“Our [family’s] life turned around 180 degrees in one night,” said Lau, now 30. “You just can’t imagine how awful it was.”
Lau is among hundreds of family members still without closure from the 292 unsolved killings in San Mateo County from 1987 to 2006. Decades later, some cases are filed in boxes labeled “cold,” others are frustrating diligent detectives and a few are on the brink of being solved thanks to new technology.
The most promising aspect of revisiting old slayings, authorities say, is the hope that DNA technology will allow investigators to open doors not available when the crime was committed, said Sgt. Bryan Cassandro, a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office cold-case investigator.
“For a lot of the cold cases back 20-plus years ago, we didn’t have the technology or resources that are available to law enforcement now,” South San Francisco Detective Bob Collins said.
Recent advances in forensic science — such as ballistics and DNA testing — have helped solve many cases by re-examining old evidence.
There is also a computerized national database called CODIS — the Combined DNA Index System — storing more than 1 million DNA profiles of known felons that can allow police to match an unidentified sample with a known criminal. CODIS also permits the cross-comparison of DNA in the database with biological evidence found at crime scenes.
In addition to the national archives, California’s Bureau of Forensic Services’ DNA database has more than 1 million profiles of people convicted of a felony or arrested for a homicide or sex offense. The lab has released more than 5,000 cold hits that have helped solve crimes.
“Nothing’s ever cold,” Hillsborough police Capt. Mark O’Connor said. “It’s just a matter of how much time and how many contacts can be made.”
Occasionally, cold-case investigations pay off. The District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting two once-cold homicides from 1989 and 2001. Both were cracked by Daly City detectives, including Gregg Oglesby.
“The families in the ’89 and ’01 cases were still deeply affected by what happened and hadn’t really recovered,” Oglesby said. “This kind of brought them one step closer to getting some closure.”
For Judy Lau, seeing her father’s killer behind bars may be the only way.
“Until they find this person, I don’t know if I would ever be able to find closure,” she said, fighting off tears. “When and if they do, I think I would be more at peace.”
Burdensome cost of manpower leaves investigations dawdling
Most officials from the 22 law enforcement agencies that preside over the more than 700,000 residents in the county say re-examining cold cases is challenging because they have the manpower to only examine fresh crimes.
“We don’t have the bodies for a cold-case unit,” Burlingame police Cmdr. Mike Matteucci said.
Many Peninsula police departments assign detectives to work on cold cases sparingly, police said.
A few larger police departments, such as Daly City’s, have a few detectives who regularly work on cold cases when they can. Other departments, including the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, contract a homicide detective who occasionally reviews cold cases for new leads.
Cost is a factor in how police departments can tackle cold cases. With looming state budget cuts threatening the livelihoods of police officers around the county, there likely will be fewer eyes on cold cases.
The cost of DNA analysis is yet another factor. Though local evidence is prepared at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Crime Lab, the actual DNA testing is done in Santa Clara County.
Fortunately, the families of victims in unsolved killings have become inspired by television programs such as “CSI” and are becoming more involved in cold cases, South San Francisco Detective Bob Collins said.
“It wasn’t popular for families at all to be involved in investigations in 1979,” said Ardis Lionudakis, whose husband, Michael Olson, was killed in an unsolved San Mateo triple slaying in 1979. “We basically sat home waiting to hear things.”
By the numbers
San Mateo County
» 292: Unsolved killings between 1987 and 2006
» 189: Homicides between 2000 and 2007
California
» $31.5 million: Spent by state on DNA technology for cold-case investigations
» 1 million: Profiles in DNA database of convicted murderers or sex offenders
» 5,000: Exact matches of profiles to cold cases
» Jan. 1: Beginning of DNA collection for arrested felons
Source: California Bureau of Forensic Services, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
Headline-grabbing unsolved cases in county history
» North County Serial Killer
A man went on a killing spree in the northern parts of the county during a three-month period in 1976, killing five young women and sexually assaulting four of them. Five local police departments working on the case have been able to collect a DNA composite on the suspect, but have no sketch.
» The Payless Murders
The only unsolved triple killing in California took place in a San Mateo drugstore in 1979. Three employees — age 16, 17 and 23 — were killed when the Payless Super Drug Store was robbed after it closed.
» Little Girl’s Tragic Walk Home
Michele Matteucci, 12, was only a few doors from her home in Daly City when she was strangled to death after school in 1987.
» The Decade-Long Manhunt
Burlingame police are still looking for Wei Tung Woo, the alleged killer of Can Lau. Police said Lau was killed after he gave Woo’s ex-girlfriend a ride home in 1997. Woo allegedly pistol-whipped his ex-girlfriend, walked to the other side of the car and shot Lau twice at point-blank range.
» No Area Too Safe
Priscilla Ng, 58 at the time of her death in 2004, was tied up and beaten to death inside a house on Hillsborough’s Butternut Drive, a street lined with multimillion-dollar homes. A male acquaintance of Ng survived the 2004 slaying in the home’s master bedroom.
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Examiner Reader said:
Hi this is Nilesh Pund Plz send me information about how take land for tower by company {in short}on my e-mail pund2007@rediffmail.com
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Examiner Reader said:
Really, we're [game developers] pretty sick of being called "Nerds" by the media; it's a ridiculous characterization. I doubt you'd use the same kinda of language when discussing race or gender. I.e "where being a Ni**** is cool" or "where being a bi*** is cool."
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Examiner Reader said:
san carlos removed the only person that was earning her salary. REMOVE THE EMBEZZLING OFFICIALS !
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Examiner Reader said:
We know who, we know where, we kind of know how, and we get an idea of when... but why did he do this?
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Examiner Reader said:
Wind turbines certainly generate clean energy (preferrable), but I wish leaders would allocate some of their design engineers to study how to protect the wildlife (birds) fatalities. It seems easy enough to place a cage around the turbines, just like the smaller, domestic models that protect children from getting their fingers clipped by the fan blades. I'm sure there's a way to make this look attractive in a super-size turbine.
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Examiner Reader said:
The Dice Report. “Baltimore-Washington has the third-highest average salary for IT professionals at $81,750 a year, ahead of the national average of $74,570.” WOW and yet the jobs which I applied for are paying way below the average. Usually a company asked what salary range I'm looking for, and usually that's a sign of we can't afford you. I answered negotiable, they pursuit for a number. When I give them a number I don't hear from them. Most of the positions I come across are bombarded with responsibilities and has a failure of matching the pay.
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Terence said:
What the article failed to address is that if you have an a non-business major and have an engineering or computer science degree, it is advisable to pursue an MBA degree and as such you would tend to pursue something like an IT degree and in that case, the jump in salary is significant. If you have a business undergrad in IT and pursue an MBA, that jump is significantly less. I still do not understand why students would do both an undergrad and grad in business. Really the textbooks are almost the same, the delivery is the difference. In some cases, classes are cross-taught at both the undergrad and grad. Pursuing a masters of science in marketing, operations and IT is the appropriate route not an MBA for undegrad in business. Just IMHO
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Iconic Xer. said:
I find this story missing a critical and informative element. Sure, tech companies and institutions such as NASA may be losing *employees* to retirement. But that doesn't mean there aren't *lots* of tech professionals around. Quite the opposite. There's an abundance of them. Companies have got to change their cultures, compensation and engagement of workers to be in alignment with the preference of many tech professionals to work outside of organizations, to work for multiple companies, to be flexible, nimble and not dependent on one industry or company for survival. It's a generational thing, really, with your GenXers (27-47 in 2008) heavily leaning in this direction. Re: the lack of kids entering STEM. It has nothing to do with them not wanting to be cool. They are achievement, affluence and team-oriented. Sing their song and they'll come in droves. Sing *your* song & they won't hear you ... or even bother trying. And, mistakenly, you'll conclude they're not interested. What
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Examiner Reader said:
Possible health risk of cancer too! See international studies.
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Examiner Reader said:
You can't stop it now and usually there is a reason its done that way
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