Laura L. Cooper - Author
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"I think the first duty of society is justice."
--Alexander Hamilton

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CSI on Trial: False Confessions & Fake Evidence

10/10/2012

5 Comments

 
Picture
My husband and I have ordered seed from the Stock Seed Farms in Murdock, Nebraska, many times over the years. We even drove there once to pick up seed and admire fields of prairie grasses such as Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem. Like most Nebraskans, we were shocked to hear that owners Wayne and Sharmon Stock had been murdered in their home in 2006.  There were more surprises during the investigation of those murders that shook law enforcement and citizens in Nebraska.

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) has produced a one-hour documentary on the case investigation and the evidence initially used to hold two innocent men in jail. It shows the involvement of ex-CSI chief David Kofoed, who has since been sentenced to prison. Kofoed maintains his innocence.

I have to agree with Judge Rehmeier's statement in the Lincoln Journal Star: "Nothing should undermine the confidence in the system." The evidence tampering for which Kofoed was found guilty threatened the lives of innocent men and jeopardized the hunt for the real killers. It also made it harder for other law enforcement investigators to prove their credibility.

The good news is that the innocent men are now free, the guilty are in prison, and Kofoed is no longer working CSI. If you are interested in crime, justice, or murder mysteries, watch NET's CSI on Trial online or on your television.

  • CSI on Trial (schedule and links), Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, 2012
  • Extended video excerpts and documents from the investigation (Available mid-November 2012)
  • "Ex-CSI chief Kofoed sentenced to prison," Lincoln Journal Star, June 01, 2010
  • "Was Nebrask Couple's Murder Revenge or Random?" ABC 20/20, September 3, 2010

5 Comments
Marcia C.
10/10/2012 09:18:35 am

I'm glad they got the real murderers with all the mess ups!

Reply
Lois L.
10/13/2012 07:06:45 am

NET did a nice job - it was an interesting documentary.

Reply
Laura L. Cooper
10/13/2012 09:27:45 am

I agree. They do good work. Had to be difficult to investigate since all of the lawsuits are probably keeping many people and agencies from talking about it.

Reply
Julie Gerber
11/5/2012 01:10:12 pm

The thing that stuck out for me was what they said about once the investigators think they have it figured out, they more or less have tunnel vision. They miss seeing other possibilites because they think they already have what they need.

Reply
Laura L. Cooper
11/6/2012 12:08:22 am

Exactly. It is natural for people to look for things that support their own beliefs. When those people are police or judges or jurors, it may cloud their efforts to see the truth in a case. The Innocence Project has found some form of tunnel vision in most of their DNA exonerations.

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    Author

    Laura Cooper lives in Nebraska and writes crime fiction and a wide range of short stories from her family farm.

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