DELAWARE STATE POLICE HOMICIDE UNIT
Lieutenant John R. Evans
The Delaware State Police (DSP) Homicide Unit was established in 1989. The DSP Homicide Unit is comprised of seven sworn members of the Delaware State Police and one civilian administrative assistant. The DSP Homicide Unit is under the command of Lieutenant John R. Evans.
The primary responsibilities of the DSP Homicide Unit include the investigation of homicides, suspicious deaths (including suspicious suicides,) and missing persons (in which the person is suspected to be deceased). The DSP Homicide Unit also investigates officer involved uses of deadly force, attempted murders (until it is determined that the victim will survive his/her attack), and selected assaults. In addition to new investigations, the DSP Homicide Unit is responsible for investigating "cold case" homicides. Cold case homicides include any homicide in which the original investigating officer is no longer assigned to the Homicide Unit.
The past two years have been consistently busy for the Homicide Unit. A total of 35 new cases were handled in 2006, while 32 new cases were conducted in 2007.
The overall clearance rate for homicides investigated in 2006 is 85%. Arrests have been made in six of the thirteen homicides with three cases pending with no arrest. Two cases were justifiable homicides, one was exceptionally cleared (no prosecution by AG's Office) and in the one remaining case, the suspect fled the jurisdiction and arrest warrants are on file. In addition, one cold case homicide from a previous year was cleared during the calendar year of 2006.
The overall clearance rate in 2007 is 88%, with arrests having been made in ten of the fourteen homicides. The statistics in this report include only cases in which DSP Homicide was the investigating unit. The statistics do not include assisting the criminal troops in numerous death investigations and missing person investigations throughout the year.
In addition to the 67 new cases handled by the Homicide Unit over the past two years, thirteen murder cases from previous years were adjudicated in the Court system. This process resulted in three defendants receiving a total of four life terms, one defendant receiving a death sentence and seven defendants receiving a combined 124 years in prison for their actions in committing murder in Delaware.
Over the past two years, the Homicide Unit hosted the 11th and 12th Annual Homicide Conferences in Dover. This annual event continues to gain recognition and respect in the medico-legal community. A total of 300 criminal investigators from the northeast region attended the two conferences, which included several nationally recognized speakers. This year, Colonel Miller from the Pennsylvania State Police gave a presentation on the Amish School Shooting and a member from the Virginia Tech Police Department presented on the shooting spree, which occurred on their campus.
Historically, the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit has an overall clearance rate of 93%, which is well above the national average of 61%. This clearance rate is a direct reflection of the dedication and hard work of the past and present members of the Homicide Unit.
As we move into the New Year, the Delaware State Police
Homicide Unit remains committed to serving the residents and
visitors of our State with the highest quality of service possible.
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit is looking forward to
meeting the new challenges in crime fighting through continued
and specialized training as well as utilization of the latest
advanced technology in forensics.
