Aussie Police Hire PIs to Snoop Online

The internet communications and websites of anti-war campaigners, environmentalists, animal rights activists and other protest groups are being secretly monitored by state and federal agencies.

A Melbourne private intelligence firm specialising in "open-source intelligence" has been engaged by Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's Department to monitor and report on the protest movements' use of the internet.

Life Can Look "Funny" Through a Private Eye's Eye

WRAL News spent time recently with a Raleigh private eye, who says her job is dangerous, emotional and sometimes humorous.

Jet skiing can be a risky activity no matter what condition you are in. But imagine how surprised an insurance company was to see a man they insure out on the open water when he is supposed to have a back problem so severe he cannot make it up a flight of stairs.

PI Worked to Discover Voter Fraud

Audio recordings between a private investigator hired by former Jeffersonville Mayor Rob Waiz and several voters who used absentee ballots during the 2007 Democratic Party primary detail allegations of voter fraud that would have benefited Mayor Tom Galligan.

Galligan defeated Waiz during the race and then won the office that November.

Shoe Print Evidence Gets the Google Treatment

A shoeprint etched in blood or dust can make a crucial difference in a criminal case, but it all depends on the ability of human examiners to identify a matching shoeprint pattern from thousands in their databases.

It's a laborious, inefficient task.

That's why University at Buffalo computer scientists are developing tools to make the search-and-match process more like a Google search and less like hunting for a needle in a haystack.

PI Uses Metro Card as Witness

When Jason Jones was arrested in a fatal shooting in the Bronx in May, he told the police that he had been nowhere near the scene. He said he had left work, ridden the bus with some co-workers and cashed his paycheck, and later had taken a subway to see his girlfriend.

Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Jones and his older brother, Corey, in the shooting, saying they had killed the victim because he had been a government witness in drug and gun cases. Both men could face the death penalty if the government decides to seek it.

But in recent weeks, the case has taken an extraordinary turn — because of Jason Jones’s MetroCard.

PIs Keep It in the Family

“Five years ago, it was mostly women hiring us to investigate their husbands for infidelity. Now it’s reversed...I don’t know what’s happened,” said Josh Livermon with a smirk.

Bob Livermon, Josh’s father, bought Central Virginia Investigations from Cecil Glunt in 2002. At the time, Josh, a Powhatan High School graduate, was working in Florida as a licensed private investigator, having completed that state’s mandatory two year internship program that Josh only half jokingly describes as a “legal slave trade.”

Casey Anthony's PI Speaks

Over the weekend, Equusearch spearheaded a massive effort in the Orlando, Florida area to locate the remains of missing toddler Caylee Marie Anthony. Over a thousand volunteers combed the terrain for two days -- but found no signs of the child.

There is one man who is not in the least surprised by the outcome.

Dominic Casey, head of D & A Investigations, Inc., the agency working with the Anthony family to find Casey Anthony's missing daughter, spoke exclusively with momlogic. And he vehemently believes the three-year-old is alive

Puppy Mill Owner Faces Charges Thanks to Investigator

Team 5 Investigates exposed a Minnesota puppy mill that has sent thousands of dogs to pet shops all over the country, including Massachusetts.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported Sunday that because of the undercover video shot by an investigator for the Companion Animal Protection Society, the owner of the puppy mill is now facing charges.

 

Fifteen hundred miles northwest of Massachusetts the relentless sound of barking can be heard from Pick of the Litter. There's no mistaking who's in charge. Kathy Bauck handles the leash for roughly 800 dogs at her Minnesota farm.

The undercover video which has been turned over to police, shows Bauck is cautious about people determined to shut down her family operation that has shipped hundreds of dogs to Massachusetts pet shops for years.

"I've never met so many liars, cheats and thieves in my life as I have in the dog business," said Bauck.

Private Eye Outlines Work for Indicted PA Senator

A private investigator says he did personal investigative work while under contract with the Pennsylvania Senate for veteran Democratic Sen. Vincent Fumo.

Frank Wallace testified Monday in Fumo's trial on charges of defrauding the state Senate, now nearing the two-week mark in federal court in Philadelphia.

Wallace says he was hired for personal, political, and senate work. He says most assignments from Fumo were personal or political.

PI Turned Novelist has Great Stories from Being on the Job

Born in California, Castle came to Massachusetts in the summer of 1983 to visit her grandmother while her parents were going through a divorce. She decided to stay and finish high school in New England. At the age of 15, Castle joined an after-school police explorer group for teens and was hooked.

"I learned a lot about what police officers do," said Castle. "I wanted to be a cop."

After high school she earned her associate's degree in criminal justice at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, juggling numerous jobs during the two years.

Castle worked for a retired police officer as a private investigator, primarily following married men to confirm their infidelity, while she held down an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at Worcester City Hospital as a security guard, where she did everything from moving bodies in the morgue to restraining belligerent patients.

"When I finished at 7 a.m. I would go home, change my clothes, and go to class," said Castle. "On a good day, I'd get four hours of sleep."

After college, in the late 1980s, Castle joined another private investigation firm, where one of her assignments took her to a local manufacturer, where she was asked to investigate complaints about the human resources director and suspicions that assembly line employees were involved with drugs.

"When I would go into these companies, I would have to get a [legitimate] job," said Castle. She spent six months working a wave solder machine, making circuit boards, and socializing with employees after work at a local pub. Castle said one employee would smuggle a flask of liquor to work and another sold cocaine.

"Understand that I have never done drugs, so not only did I have to befriend [the dealers] and buy drugs, I had to act like I knew what I was talking about," said Castle.

Two O.J. Dream Team Members Address Private Investigators

Two members of the O.J. Simpson defense team from 1994 were reunited yesterday, as famed trial lawyer F. Lee Bailey and forensic scientist Henry C. Lee addressed a conference of private investigators.

The two men have participated in some of the country’s most sensational trials and cases, from Mr. Bailey’s work in the Boston Strangler and heiress Patricia Hearst cases to Mr. Lee’s investigations into the murders of JonBenet Ramsey and Chandra Levy, the suicide of White House Counsel Vincent Foster, and the reinvestigation of the Kennedy assassination.

For anyone who has heard or read the views of Mr. Bailey, it should come as no surprise that he was critical of law enforcement and the continued use of the death penalty during his 50-minute talk.

“The biggest flaw in the judicial system in the United States has been and continues to be the reliability of the fact-finding process,” he said. The majority of facts in criminal cases are collected by law enforcement officers.

Reporter Moonlights as PI

Private investigator

Fear factor: 0. I laugh in the face of danger.

Cool factor: 10. If private eyes weren't cool, there wouldn't be so many TV shows about them.

Coulda been worse: I could've spent eight hours in a car. Midnight till dawn. In January. In a blizzard. With a full bladder. Or worse.

It was dark. Really dark. The kind of dark you only see when it's not light. Somewhere off in the black-velvet night, a shot rang out and a woman screamed.

Either that or a car backfired and a cat yowled. I get 'em confused.

My name is Yarborough. Chuck Yarborough. I'm a gumshoe. A shamus. A sherlock. A private eye. Magnum with a beard and not just that woolly bear on his upper lip. Sam Spade without the Maltese Falcon.

For today's story, I am a private investigator for Demopoulos & Associates, the firm run by Pete D. and his wife, Bonnie.

Here's how it went down: The other day, I'm sitting in my office, minding my own beeswax, checking out the racing form for Thistledown and reminiscing about the days when newsroom desk drawers came with Scotch bottles, typewriters clattered a staccato symphony and stale smoke hung in the air like yesterday's sauerkraut. And then, this dame walks in like she runs the place.

City Hires PI to Look Into Campaign Allegations

A private investigator has been hired by the City of Dahlonega to look into allegations made by a city council candidate.

Robert Bridges, who is running for Seat 1, has accused city employees of fraudulent handling of the zoning map, obtaining free city water and embezzling funds. Most of these accusations have been made through campaign signs, ads in The Dahlonega Nugget and, most recently, a campaign letter that was mailed to every city resident in Dahlonega.

Private investigator Tim Huhn stated that Bridges declined to participate in the resulting investigation until after the elections.

As a result, city manager Bill Lewis said Monday that this would bring the current investigation to a close.

“Any time allegations of this nature are made, there is a responsibility to the citizens and to the employees named to take the claims seriously and determine whether there is any basis for them,” stated Lewis in a prepare release. “Mr. Bridges' failure to present anything to the investigator that would support his claims led the council to agree no further action on the matter is warranted.”

Chercover's Sophomore Novel "Trigger City" Gets Rave Review

Chicago private investigator Ray Dudgeon is having a bad night. Rolling over onto his right side, where a beating by two crooked cops had dislocated his shoulder, he triggered a nightmare and woke up with the taste of his own blood in his mouth. "The taste of blood, sudden sweats and flashback images sometimes happened when I was wide awake," he says. "... The episodes had diminished during the months I'd spent with my grandfather down in Georgia but when I came back to Chicago they were right here waiting for me. Chicago was full of triggers. Chicago was Trigger City."

This has been an unusually rich year for crime fiction. But Sean Chercover's second Dudgeon book, after 2007's terrific "Big City, Bad Blood," manages to rise to a unique height. He seems on his way to becoming the Ross Macdonald of his time, close to rubbing shoulders with Dashiell Hammett in the Crime Writers' Hall of Fame.

Business has been bad for Dudgeon since the aftermath of his mauling, and he and his part-time trainee, Vince, now mostly try to pay the rent and buy the occasional beef sandwich at Al's #1 Italian on Taylor by doing divorce work—snooping on errant lovers and spouses for a few dirty dollars. He's even trying to find a buyer for his beloved 1968 Shelby: "It easily constituted over 80 percent of my net worth. I could barely afford the insurance on it."

So when Isaac Richmond, a retired U.S. Army Intelligence officer, hands Ray a check for $50,000 for two months' exclusive work, looking into the murder of his daughter, Dudgeon is sorely tempted. "All I had to do is take a case that had zero chance of success," he says as he tries to convince Richmond that it's hopeless.

Private Investigator Catches Sunglass Counterfeitter

A 35-year-old Davenport man was arrested Tuesday after being accused of selling counterfeit sunglasses.

Kenneth Jason Watkins, of 2617 W. 49th St., is charged with one count of second-degree intellectual property counterfeiting.

According to the arrest affidavit, Watkins had been advertising on a Web site that he was selling Oakley “M” Frame sunglasses for $25. The “M” Frame sunglasses are a registered trademark product for Oakley.

A private investigator allegedly met Watkins on Aug. 24 and bought a pair of the sunglasses for $20.

The private investigator then sent the sunglasses to an employee of Oakley, who filed an affidavit Aug. 28 in which he said the sunglasses Watkins was selling were counterfeits of “M” Frame sunglasses that normally sell for $165.

Private Eyes Meet in Michigan

The Michigan and Ontario Councils of Private Investigators are holding their first joint conference this week with events scheduled on both sides of the border.

During the 2-day conference, Ontario Council President Debbra MacDonald of C3 Investigations is giving participants a look at a case that required her to work undercover for months in order to get the information she needed.

"I went undercover for 4 months to find out that the alleged victim was lying," MacDonald told WWJ Newsradio 950's Pat Sweeting.

"So, it was a very interesting file on a very interesting case. We have ADWC [Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted] coming out and they defend a lot of wrongly-convicted," she said.

India Uses PIs to Stop Terrorism

When you go out dancing this Navratri, the woman swirling next to you in a backless choli could well be a private eye looking for suspicious elements wanting to unleash terror.

With Navratri this year being held in the backdrop of serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and terror attacks elsewhere, many garba venues will be monitored closely, with policemen, private security personnel and desi James Bonds mingling with dancers dressed in all the finery to keep vigil.

“Undercover agents, both male and female, will be dressed in traditional kediya-dhoti and ghaghra-choli,” says M M Khan of Blackcat Secret Services. In Gujarat, private eyes have been hired over years, but mainly by worried parents to trail teenage children, NRIs to keep an eye on would-be brides and spouses suspecting their partners of infidelity.

However, the shadow of terror over the festivities this year has changed their brief, with most detectives being asked to keep their eyes open for a potential bomber rather than a cheating wife or a teenager out to have fun.

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.