COLD CASES SOLVED

In February 2007, 25-year-old Carrie Hicks was found dead in a rural New Hampshire home with two gunshot wounds to the head, launching a nearly two-decade-long cold case investigation. New forensic analysis by the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit has now identified 51-year-old Wayne Ring as her killer, resolving the case as a murder followed by an attempted suicide. This episode examines the evidence, the victims’ stories, and the power of persistent investigation in delivering long-overdue closure


In August 1992, 85-year-old Alwin Schoefer was brutally beaten, stabbed, and shot inside his Weimar, California home, which was then deliberately set ablaze with the exterior doors padlocked from the outside in an apparent effort to conceal the crime. The investigation remained cold for nearly 34 years until advanced DNA testing in 2025 linked the evidence to Joseph Foster, a local man already serving multiple life sentences for prior Weimar-area murders. This episode examines the horrific details of the case, Foster’s pattern of violence spanning decades, and the recent sentencing that delivered long-overdue accountability through modern forensic science.

A 34-year-old cold case resurfaces with the arrest of a previously convicted sex offender—revealing critical failures in risk assessment, offender monitoring, and early forensic limitations. This episode applies forensic psychology, behavioral profiling, and modern DNA science to analyze how violent offenders persist, adapt, and evade detection for decades. A deep dive into sexual homicide typologies, psychopathy, and investigative breakthroughs at the intersection of psychology, law, and forensic science.

Tucson Police have arrested Rafael Alvarez in the long-unsolved 2008 cold case murder of 20-year-old James Noriega, who was shot five times while leaving a crowded Southside Halloween house party. For nearly two decades the victim’s family pleaded for answers as the case went cold, until this shocking breakthrough brought first-degree murder charges and a $1 million bond. This episode explores the tragic night, the years of unresolved grief, and what the recent arrest means for justice in Arizona true crime.

A true crime and forensic psychology podcast exploring how decades-old evidence—gloves, clothing, and biological traces—helped solve a 1988 cold case through modern DNA analysis and investigative techniques. This episode examines the conviction of Aloysius Winthrop James, highlighting cold case forensics, DNA evidence, criminal profiling, and long-term investigative strategy. Ideal for listeners interested in violent crime, forensic science breakthroughs, legal evidence standards, and the psychology of offenders who evade justice for decades.

In this episode, we explore botanical forensics through the compelling concept of the “Guilty Tree,” where plant growth rings and microscopic pollen grains serve as silent witnesses in long-cold criminal cases. Dendrochronology and palynology allow investigators to pinpoint burial sites and timelines with remarkable precision, even decades after a crime. The discussion highlights how these natural records provide objective, tamper-resistant evidence that has solved cases where traditional forensic methods failed.