The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Lois Schmidt was getting ready for work in June 2004 when she and her 7-year-old son were shot and killed. The gunman wounded her brother before setting fire to the Level Green home.
A year and a half later, Mary "Shellie" Carson was attacked while riding her bicycle home from a convenience store and beaten to death at the traffic circle in Kings Grant.
Those killings were among scores of cases in Virginia Beach that remain unsolved, without significant leads or suspects. Families and friends of the victims want a cold-case task force created to solve more than 60 Beach murders since January 1970.
The city has agreed to take a deeper look at cold cases. The City Council wants to receive recommendations within 60 days.
"We are the living victims, and we need help," said Schmidt's mother, Nancy Bloise. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think this case wouldn't be solved."
Created in 2000, the city's cold-case homicide unit has one detective permanently assigned to it, and two groups of three experts who periodically volunteer to review cases.
It has cleared two cases and is working on the unsolved killings of Carson and an unarmed Virginia Wesleyan College security guard, Walter Zakrzewski. He was killed on campus in October 2006 by a knife-wielding attacker while making nightly rounds, according to city documents.
"The key thing," Mayor Will Sessoms said last week, "is that no one can understand what the feelings are of people who have to go through this.
"When I sit back and think if it was my child, I would be doing exactly what they are doing."
The Carsons have appealed to a legislator, which resulted in their receiving monthly reports on the investigation. Recently, they collected more than 500 signatures from Kings Grant residents, imploring the city to create a task force.
Meanwhile, detectives have gone door to door, interviewed more than 250 people and traveled as far as Georgia and Florida trying to determine who killed Shellie Carson.
"My daughter is reduced to ashes, while this monster remains free," Charlotte Carson said.
Her plea touched one City Council member personally.
"From personal experience, my uncle is one of the victims," said Glenn Davis.
In 1981, William Davis was apparently abducted from Junior Market where he worked near the entrance to Lake Placid on London Bridge Road, taken to a field on Salem Road and shot.
"Every family deserves to have closure," said Davis, voicing his support of the task force.
"People who commit these heinous murders typically do it again. It is the obligation of our city to get those monsters off the streets."
Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com
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OT expenses
With all the budget cuts, furloughs and whatnot don't expect too much. The city will end up taking from another area, only to short that resource. Bottom line is the public believes what they see on TV. PDs can only investigate a case until leads dry up. After that, its cold. Horrible truth, but still the truth. Then a new case appears that takes their attention and has leads, thus requiring additional attention. Its not that the departments don't care, its a matter of being able to solve what a reality. Cold cases need full time officerS and not every department can afford that luxuary in these economic times.
task force for unsolved cases
Personally, I feel Va. Beach/Norfolk would rather sweep all cold cases under the rug so that they don't interfere with tourism dollars. Please prove me wrong.
I am so happy I moved my children far away from some a violent place.
If there is a task force, please solve the case of my murdered friend, Angelique Goyena, and her mother as well as all the other victims who should have been allowed a safe place to live.
The bull fed to us by television crime shows and politicians...
...leads people to believe that homicides are solved at a high rate. They're not. Even with tremendous advances in technology only 61 percent of all homicide cases were solved in America in 2007. Compare that to a 91 percent solve rate in 1963 (according to the FBI). People must understand that law enforcement not only can't protect youm (the Supreme Court has upheld that they have no obligation or liability to protect individuals), if you are a victim of crime they may never bring the criminals to justice. That's what makes the anti-self defense groups arguments specious. They can rattle on with distorted numbers and statistics but they need to consider one fact: Tell it to the families of these victims. You know what they say--if you can just save one life....
Assign the Cops
Lone would think that a police force that size could devote more than one full-time investigator to such a huge number of unsolved homicides. To do otherwise is a slap in the face to the victim's families. The list is huge and many are women. Does the Beach really care? From this half-hearted use of manpower, the answer is no.
My deepest sympathy
Good luck to this family. My family has been waiting for 22 years for the murder of our family member to be solved by the Va Beach police dept.
Shellie Carson's case
I have a statement given to me by an ex-girl friend. She states her boyfriend murdered Shellie Carson. She states he confesed to her this murder. She has nothing to gain from this statement. From what I understand she has already reported this to Detective Tucker who blew her off. If this was my family member you would not have blown me off! This scum is a sexual offender, you need to check him out again. He killed Shellie!!!! He's violent, he lives right there easy enough to escape from the scene after the murder. From the force of the blows she took to her head from the report I read. It would take a grown man to hit that hard, to cause that type of damage that penatrated her brain. Don't let tunnel vision blind you. Please check this again.