News Crew and PI Check Out Hotel Security

Jennifer Hampton’s co-workers last saw the Alabama woman as she entered her room at the Days Inn Motel on Lovell Road. Ten days later, the medical examiner confirmed that a body found floating in Melton Hill Lake was hers.

That same day, we decided to inspect the rooms on the same side of the Days Inn that Hampton was staying in, to find out if they could be easily broken in to. Helping with the inspection was Kendall Shull, a former FBI agent who runs a private investigation firm in Knoxville.

"There doesn't appear to be some of the things I would want if my daughter, for example, was going to stay here," said Shull.

We quickly spotted our first problem, the security door guard which functions like a chain lock. It appeared to have been re-drilled at some point.

"It's obviously been broken off or repaired,” said Shull. “I don't know how secure it is and I don't know what it would take. I can guarantee that if I go out there and push or kick on the door hard enough, then I bet I can break it off of here."

We asked the Days Inn manager about the door guard and he said, “Safety is our number one priority. We try to prevent breaks before they happen through weekly checks. Anytime a lock is loose, we replace it immediately."

Since the door is the last barrier between you and a criminal, Shull continued inspecting the one in our room, right down the hall from where Hampton was saying. He said the deadbolt worked fine, but the “hard key override,” was something to be worried about.

"It just bothers me that there is a key there,” he said. “The key can be duplicated and if someone wants in they will duplicate the key."

Management at the Days Inn confirmed that maintenance and housekeeping employees have access to the key.

After inspecting the room, we drove across town to the Four Points by Sheraton’s Knoxville Cumberland House Hotel across from World’s Fair Park. Shull noted that the doors to each room had the same number and type of locks as the doors at the Days Inn. The difference was the overall construction.

PI Discovers Major Town Council Gaffe

Bungling town hall officials were condemned today after the locations of domestic violence safe houses were made publicly available on an official council website - for eight years.

Full addresses, complete with street numbers and postcodes were listed under the helpful heading 'safe houses'.

Safe house locations are supposed to be a kept a strict secret to protect victims from their abusive partners, as well as to safeguard police witnesses from reprisals during trials.

But today it emerged that the whereabouts of five shelters were accidentally published on the website of Northamptonshire's Corby Borough Council, alongside the addresses of sports venues, lock-ups and community centres.

The bungle meant the list of addresses has been easily accessible for eight years - and even came out top of a simple search using Google.

They were discovered within seconds by private investigators who were tracking a single mother and her children. Investigators also found proposed safe house locations in council minutes posted online - marked 'not for publication'.

PI's Cases Range From Mundane to High-Profile

Many people view his line of work with awe or disdain, but Ron Lax says being a private investigator isn't as glamorous, exciting or unsavory as often perceived.

"I enjoy what I do. It's rewarding. It's fun. It's just nothing like portrayed on TV and in the movies," said Lax, president and owner of Inquisitor Inc.

Marking its 30th anniversary recently, Inquisitor offers a full range of investigative services in such areas as insurance fraud and corporate theft but handles few domestic cases.

Lax is personally drawn to criminal defense work, especially death-penalty cases. Before working on a murder-conviction appeal in the late 1980s, Lax said he didn't give much thought to capital punishment.

"If you would have asked me back then, I would have said, 'Sure, I'm for the death penalty,'" he said. "But then I started looking at the death penalty, and I realized how unfair it was.

"Law enforcement and (district attorneys) usually do have the right person, but sometimes they don't. Innocent people are convicted, and guilty people go free. It's definitely lopsided. If someone has a good attorney, they can buy a very good defense."

Lax has investigated -- sometimes on a volunteer basis -- numerous high-profile capital murder cases, including the West Memphis Three.

In 2006, Lax was honored by the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for his "extraordinary work in the arena of capital defense investigations." He has worked cases as far away as California, Montana and Hawaii.

Florida Eye Institue Founder Felt Threatened

Florida Eye Institute founder Dr. Paul Minotty says he had a security system installed in the three-story building because he believed there was a conspiracy against him, threatening his well-being.

Minotty told jurors on Tuesday he wanted protection fearing that he was going to set up for an arrest for drunken driving following a Christmas party in 2007.

He also told jurors he heard a clinic employee bought a 50-caliber military rifle.

Circuit Judge Robert Hawley cautioned jurors that Minotty's testimony should only be used in judging the defendant's state of mind rather the truth of the assertions.

Minotty is on trial in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by three of the institute's six doctor-owners. The three contend Minotty financially mismanaged the firm, over their objections, and allegedly resorted to having electronic surveillance equipment secretly installed in their private offices in violation of state law.

The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of damages and want the institute put in a business receivership.

Private Eye Tracks Down Missing Dog

Members of a Derbyshire family have been reunited with their missing dog after hiring a private investigator to track it down.

The Kecks suspected their dog, a basset hound, had been stolen from their home in August last year.

A website appeal, a call to police and a search by the RSPCA failed to find the animal.

A chance encounter with another basset owner gave daughter Alicia, 22, the potential lead they were looking for. Someone had "found" a dog fitting the description at about the same time the pet went missing.

The Kecks hired a private investigator to look into the possible link and the pet, now a two-year-old, was traced to another family in Long Eaton, about 30 miles away.

Father and Son Reunited After 30 Long Years

An east London man’s burning desire to meet his long lost father and a local private investigator’s Sherlock Holmes skills recently brought closure to a seven-year search.

Dreams turned into reality for Beacon Bay businessman Richard Terwin, 30, when he f inally came face to face with his estranged father two weeks ago.

The heartwarming union between Terwin and his father, Charalampos Vorreas, 69, happened in Cuba after persistent and determined investigations by private eye Christian Botha.

“Once I start something, I want to finish it ,” said Botha, relating how it took him almost seven years to solve the case.

Equipped with only a nickname (Babis), and the name of the ship on which Vorreas had worked, Botha began his epic investigation, which involved global connections with other investigators.

“All Richard could provide me with was that his father was a marine engineer who worked on a vessel that had been docked in East London for some time to undergo repairs. There was also a letter from the ship’s captain written to Richard’s mother allowing her entry on board the ship. That was all,” said Botha.

Shrine Bowl Chairman Charged with Embezzlement

The chairman of the annual East/West Shrine Bowl football game in Great Falls has been arrested on charges that he embezzled $55,000 from the charity event.

Prosecutors allege that Jerrold Evans, 78, wrote checks to himself from the organization's bank account during the past three years.

Evans, who has no previous criminal record, according to court documents, made his initial appearance in Cascade County District Court on Wednesday. He was released after posting bond.

According to the charging document filed by prosecutors, Evans told a private investigator that a problem with alcohol and gambling led him to steal money from ticket sales for the game and donations, both of which were meant for a children's hospital.

The Great Falls chapter of the Shrine Club oversees the Shrine Bowl, an annual all-star game for the previous year's top high-school seniors. Since its inception in 1947, the game has raised more than $1 million for the Shriners' pediatric hospital in Spokane. The game is played at Memorial Stadium.

PI Helps Locate Missing Children

A former lieutenant with the Waldo County Sheriff's Department, who now works as a private investigator, assisted authorities in finding two girls who went missing Monday, Aug. 24, from Maine.

Jodie Perfect of Carroll Plantation hired Gary Boynton, who operates World Wide Investigations in Belfast, to help find her two daughters, Aleah Perfect, 6, and Amara Perfect, 2.

Jodie Perfect reported the girls missing Monday, Aug. 25, after their father and her estranged husband, Peter Perfect, 44, did not bring the girls home Sunday.

Jodie Perfect hired Boynton, a 26-year veteran of the Waldo County Sheriff's Department, soon after reporting her daughters missing to the Maine State Police.

Jodie Perfect had reportedly recently served her husband with divorce papers.

Friday afternoon, Boynton returned from Ohio with Jodie Perfect and her daughters after retrieving them from the home of Peter Perfect's brother in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

PI in Rockefeller Case Talks About His Profession

Marshfield private detective G. Robert Warren has been named as a witness in the case of Clark Rockefeller, who is charged with abducting his 7-year-old daughter in Boston last month.

The incident sparked an international manhunt for Rockefeller and his daughter, Reigh Boss. Rockefeller was arrested outside Baltimore earlier this month.

Warren, of Diverse Investigative Services in Webster Square in Marshfield, confirmed that Boston police have named him as a witness, but would not comment on the investigation.

But he did say most of a private eye’s work isn’t so exciting.

“Most of the time, it’s slow, mundane, boring,” he said. “You sit for hours and hours and hours on surveillance. If you blink, you might miss what you’re waiting to see.”

"Investigator to the Stars" Convicted in Wiretapping

Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator who once worked for Hollywood stars, and a prominent lawyer, Terry N. Christensen, were convicted Friday in the wiretapping of the ex-wife of the investor Kirk Kerkorian in a child-support case.

Both Mr. Christensen and Mr. Pellicano, 65, were convicted of conspiracy to commit wiretapping in Federal District Court here. Mr. Christensen was also convicted of aiding and abetting a wiretap; Mr. Pellicano was also convicted of wiretapping.

The conclusion of the six-week trial before Federal District Judge Dale S. Fischer opens the door for a number of civil suits against the two men as well as several others in the case. The suits, which were delayed during the criminal proceedings, largely involve victims of wiretapping seeking damages for incidents in which private conversations were recorded.

Republican VP Nominee in Ethics Probe

A state ethics probe that was launched just a few weeks ago is already drawing attention in the opening moments of her debut as the Republican vice presidential pick is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

An independent investigator appointed by a panel of state legislators earlier this month is looking into whether Ms. Palin dismissed a top law enforcement official in her administration because he failed to fire a state trooper, Mike Wooten, who went through a messy divorce with Ms. Palin’s sister.

The investigation follows on the heels of Ms. Palin’s abrupt decision in mid-July to dismiss Walt Monegan, her Public Safety Commissioner. Ms. Palin said she wanted to take the department in a different direction, but questions emerged after Mr. Monegan said he felt pressured to fire Mr. Wooten.

Mr. Monegan said members of Ms. Palin’s administration, as well Ms. Palin’s husband, Todd, and the governor herself talked to him about Mr. Wooten.

Mr. Monegan told the Anchorage Daily News that Mr. Palin showed him some of the findings of a private investigator the family had hired and accused him of variety of misdeeds, including drunk driving and child abuse.