If you know me, you know that I am interested in true crime stories. (Natch, since I write fictional crime stories and true crime is a great resource for ideas.) What you may not know is that I am especially interested in cold cases. I'm a 'justice for all' kind of gal, and the fact that crimes like these have gone unsolved for years... decades even... just pisses me off.
Recently, I came across this story from a rural newspaper (https://www.cassville-democrat.com/2025/10/09/murder-on-the-tracks-who-killed-justin-hocutt/*) of a 14-year-old boy who was murdered and left on the train tracks - either to hide evidence or to hide the nature of the death. I expect the killer(s) wanted the death to look like a suicide.
From parsing through the article above, it looks like this murder involved a troubled kid with troubled parents in a troubled area, investigated by a police force that didn't have the skills or the resources necessary to solve a crime of this nature, presented to a prosecutor who wasn't really interested in anything but a slam-dunk.
It sounds like they have some good evidence to go on, and several worthy suspects. They just need a shove to bring it all together.
Personally, I'd love to see Kelly Siegler from Cold Justice take this one on. I think all the pieces are there - they just need to be put together by a competent person to make a cogent picture. She's good at that.
Hubs was joking just now that 'writer B.E. Sanderson breaks the case wide open... solves 26-year old cold case'. Wouldn't that be something? But I'm just a writer. What this needs is a seasoned team of investigators and prosecutors.
The only thing I could do is write a book about it. Hmm...
*It's hard to read... not because of the gruesome nature of the crime, but because it isn't as well-written as one would hope.
Cold caseds are fascinating. I always thought it would be cool to form a "cold case squad" with a bunch of retired experts. I'm amazed that some have been solved recently due to advances in DNA and other scientific tests.
ReplyDeleteAlso, where you'd go after the story as a crime procedural, I'd write it with the "assistance" of the dead boy's ghost. No! Sit down and be quiet, Iffy! We are NOT starting a new series. Heck, we can deal with the series we already have!