Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the beginning of our homicide response team here at the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. This group is called M-DOP, which stands for the Most Dangerous Offender Project, and it is led by Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Baird.

M-DOP was founded on the premise that having a deputy prosecutor team up with homicide detectives at the beginning of a murder investigation would make that case stronger as it went forward to trial.

The seven deputy prosecutors assigned to M-DOP take turns wearing the pager, nights and weekends. They wait for that inevitable call -- that someone has been murdered in King County.

The M-DOP deputy responds to the crime scene and becomes a partner in the investigation, keeping in mind that one day a judge and a jury will hear about this case. The M-DOP deputies can anticipate trial issues and potential defenses while still at the crime scene. It adds a valuable perspective to the entire investigation.

M-DOP has been, in my view, a remarkable success. What was once innovation is now standard operating procedure.

To their great credit, law enforcement agencies throughout the county have embraced M-DOP and our prosecutors, and invited them without hesitation to begin the teamwork at the crime scene.

Over the ten-year period we have marked many great successes and tough victories. We have never forgotten, however, that our victories are the conclusion of tragedies for families and whole communities.

Our recognition today is solemn, and in remembrance of those victims of criminal violence.

Counted among those victories are about 14 murder cases that we label "cold case" convictions. "Cold cases" may go on the shelf of a police agency when no more clues are found to move it forward.

We have found that modern forensic science can heat up a cold case, and provide powerful new evidence to solve an unsolved mystery, identify a suspect and lead to a conviction.

The largest of these "cold cases" was, of course, the case against Gary Ridgway, who was convicted of 48 murders. We also gained a conviction in the slaying of Seattle rock singer Mia Zapata more than 10 years after she was found murdered.

Many of you will remember also the 1982 slaying of 13-year-old Kristen Sumstad in the Magnolia neighborhood. Brilliant police work plus modern DNA science led to the conviction of her killer 22 years after the crime.

Many lesser-known cases have been solved over the past 5 years taking advantage of remarkable advances in DNA science and other forensic sciences.

There remain, however, over 550 unsolved homicide cases throughout King County. This number represents the last 40 years of our history and counts murder cases where the investigative efforts stalled and no perpetrator was charged.

There is no statute of limitations on murder. Unsolved cases may grow old, they may grow cold, but they are never over and they should never be forgotten.

We believe that it is not right to get away with murder; it is as strong an injustice as we can imagine.

When it comes to murder, justice is a concept that never grows old.

I want to take the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of M-DOP to announce the launching of a new initiative within our office -- the formation of a Cold Case Unit.

I have asked the County Executive and the County Council to join with us on this journey of justice, to fund three positions in my office, 2 prosecutors and a paralegal, to be combined with two of our present M-DOP positions and form a Cold Case Unit.

This is to be a 4-year project -- to review every unsolved murder case in King County.

We will review each case file, inventory what remains in evidence, what has forensic potential, and build a database for use now, and in the future, to catalogue each of these cases.

It is work that demands the full attention of a dedicated Unit of prosecutors, working with detectives.

We know we won't solve all of these cases. We don't really know how to predict how many we might be able to revive using the best new tools in our crime lab.

What we do know is that this effort is worth it. We have the ability, and therefore, in my view, the obligation, to go back and review these cases.

We will launch this effort in an organized and concerted way beginning January 1, 2006.

It is difficult to imagine the heartbreak of losing a loved one to murder. That heartbreak is compounded when the case remains unsolved.

It is those families that desperately seek answers and long for justice who will serve as the inspiration for the work of our Cold Case Unit.

See also: Maleng Proposes "Cold Case" Unit for Prosecutors Office"


Dated: September 21, 2005