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2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Medical pot may be allowed on rural residential land after all ... Five injured in three-vehicle crash on I-5 ... Oregon Shakespeare Festival dedicates new rehearsal center ... Medical pot may be allowed on rural residential land after all ... Five injured in three-vehicle crash on I-5 ... Oregon Shakespeare Festival dedicates new rehearsal center ... Unsolved murders confound officials In little more than a year, the number of unsolved murders facing Jackson County sheriff's detectives has soared as a string of tough-to-crack cases stacked up. Comment By Anita Burke MailTribune.com By Anita Burke Posted Dec. 21, 2008 at 12:01 AM By Anita Burke Posted Dec. 21, 2008 at 12:01 AM Cold cases --> For years, the most prominent unsolved murders lurking in the files of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department were those of Vida Mae Hirschy and Sheron Kaye Cheney. Cheney, 50, of Caldwell, Ida... » Read more X Cold cases For years, the most prominent unsolved murders lurking in the files of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department were those of Vida Mae Hirschy and Sheron Kaye Cheney. Cheney, 50, of Caldwell, Idaho, was found dead of blunt force trauma, possibly from being pushed from a vehicle, on a rural road near Hyatt Lake in July 1997. Investigators suspected her boyfriend, Glenn Keagle. He hired an attorney and refused to cooperate with detectives. Hirschy walked out of her Griffin Creek Road home in her bathrobe in December 1984 to get some firewood. The next year, her body, weighted with a lead pipe, was found just beneath the surface of Applegate Lake when water dropped to an unusually low level. Investigators said they have built a circumstantial case against her husband and still hope for a break that will enable prosecutors to consider charges. Other agencies also have high-profile unsolved cases. Oregon State Police still hope for a break in the case of Blanche Campbell, whose body was found in the ruins of her burned Butte Falls home in May 2001. They are also hoping to find the man they suspect stabbed Ana Bertha Meraz in May 2005, leaving her to bleed to death on the side of Interstate 5 near Ashland. How to help Anyone with information about any of these open cases are asked to call the Jackson County Sheriff's Department tip line at 774-8333. » Social News In little more than a year, the number of unsolved murders facing Jackson County sheriff's detectives has soared as a string of tough-to-crack cases stacked up. Since December 2007, the sheriff's department has investigated three new murders — the deaths of Roger Johansen, Troy Carney and David Lewis — without finding suspects. The body of Kaelin Glazier also was discovered this year, reclassifying the long-open missing person case as a homicide. It's a sharp change from previous years, when the department made arrests in all of its new murder cases, often within days or even hours of a violent death. "If this keeps up, somebody's going to have multiple open homicide cases on their hands," said Lt. Rich Fogarty, who heads the department's eight-person investigation division. The division includes three detectives who work on major crimes, one who specializes in child sexual abuse cases, two deputy medical examiners, and a detective sergeant and Fogarty who handle cases and administrative duties. Sheriff's detectives and investigators from other police agencies that make up the county's Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit vigorously attack new homicide cases with lots of resources so they can collect evidence and interview witnesses and associates as quickly as possible, he said. "We spend a lot on the initial phase of the investigation," Fogarty said. "That's when we get the basics and why most suspects are identified within a day or so." Murderers are usually someone the victim knows — angry spouses, disgruntled drinking buddies or neighbors in conflict — and quick-but-thorough investigators can gather that story and make their case, he explained. In fact, FBI statistics for 2007 indicate that 22.2 percent of murder victims were killed by family members and 53.7 percent were slain by acquaintances, such as neighbors, friends or people they dated. Only 24.1 percent were murdered by strangers. FBI figures also show that the percentage of murder cases handed over to prosecutors or closed by other means such as the death of the suspect, denial of extradition or other extraordinary circumstances that prevent arrest and prosecution has dropped nationwide. What police call the "homicide clearance rate" has slipped from 91 percent in 1963 — the first year records were kept in the manner they are now — to 61 percent in 2007, The Associated Press reported this month. The number of homicides committed in the U.S. climbed from 4,566 in 1963 to 14,811 in 2007, the FBI reported. The clearance rate has dropped fairly steadily over the past four decades, slipping under 80 percent in the early 1970s and below 70 percent in the late 1980s. Richard Walton, author of "Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques," attributed the falling clearance rate to a "significant change in crime patterns." Many slayings nowadays are gang- and drug-related killings, often drive-by shootings that involve a burst of gunfire so indiscriminate that killer and victim don't know each other, he told The Associated Press. The AP story noted gang-related killings often go unsolved because witnesses are too scared to help police. That's not what's happening in Jackson County, but easily proven ties between victim and murderer are lacking in the three recent killings, investigators said. David E. Lewis, 46, was found dead Sept. 4 in the burned remains of a cabin he had rented for decades on Dead Indian Memorial Road. An autopsy confirmed that he was killed before the fire was set with accelerants, Fogarty said. Investigators suspect someone who knew Lewis had ventured up the long driveway to his secluded mountaintop cabin, then had come inside and killed him. Detectives aren't disclosing how Lewis died. They also note that the total destruction of the cabin has eliminated much evidence. Lewis was a longtime area resident, known for protecting the land and helping neighbors, his family said. "We've talked to a lot of people," Fogarty said, listing friends, family, neighbors, people Lewis did work for, teens partying at a nearby quarry and bow hunters stopped in the area the night before Lewis' death. "There's no business deal or personal relationship gone bad that we can see," Fogarty said. "There's no clear motive." Investigators haven't turned up a motive or suspect in the death of Troy Dean Carney, 44, who was also found dead Sept. 4. Carney's body was found in a sleeping bag off a path that leads away from the Bear Creek Greenway between the Central Point freeway interchange and Table Rock Road. He had been shot at close range a few days earlier, most likely on Sept. 1, by someone he was comfortable around, Fogarty said. Unlike Lewis, who had deep, sprawling roots in the community, Carney was something of a loner, although he was remembered as friendly, investigators said. Carney had lived in the Rogue Valley a decade ago and had recently returned. In the interim he had worked as a "lumper," loading and unloading trucks and riding along with drivers. This summer, he had made his way from Idaho to Portland to Medford, where he stayed with a friend for a while. He didn't want to cause tension in the friend's home, so he set up camp near the Pilot truck stop in hopes of finding work again. Fogarty described Carney's transient lifestyle as high risk, but said he wasn't part of "the regular Greenway population." Many of the homeless people who live along the trail know one another and look out for each other, Fogarty said. Carney didn't appear to have clashed with others camped in the area and hadn't been robbed, investigators said. They have talked with people who were camped nearby, combed the area for evidence with metal detectors and divers in Bear Creek, and even pursued contacts in Carney's cell phone. "We're still tracking things we wouldn't normally check just because we can," Fogarty said of searching through Carney's cell phone records. Phone records from the Jackson County Jail provide the strongest clue in the death of Roger Johansen, who was stabbed and beaten before his shop and home were set on fire Dec. 11, 2007, Fogarty said. "We're pretty certain it was drug-related," Fogarty said. "We have information that he was in an argument about a drug debt." In fact, investigators have a recorded conversation from the jail phone system in which threats to kill Johansen and burn his house down can be heard. Johansen allegedly had sold meth brought to the Rogue Valley by cartels based in Mexico and refused to pay for what he claimed was poor quality drugs. "We're pretty certain we know the group of people involved," Fogarty said. "It's an organization that does heavy-duty drug dealing." However, investigators aren't sure if the group is still active here and are confident that the primary suspect, whom they haven't named, was swept off to California until the heat from the murder died down, Fogarty said. "It's frustrating that we think we know who was involved, but we need substantial evidence to take to the grand jury," he said. Since the body of Kaelin Glazier, a 15-year-old who disappeared in the Ruch area in November 1996, was discovered in April, investigators have sent the details of that case to Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston. Billy Frank Simmons, who was reportedly the last person to see Glazier alive, has been named a suspect, but investigators said that building a case on circumstantial evidence must proceed with great care. "You only get one shot at these people," Fogarty said of the murder suspects, named and unnamed, that the department seeks. "It's a big step to indictment." His team won't give up, though. "It never goes away," he said of any unsolved murder case. "We lose sleep on these things." Investigators share files, hoping new eyes will turn up previously unseen details in old reports. They track tips that trickle in and hope public attention to the cases will generate new leads. "Anytime we can get interest in the cases, that's good," Fogarty said. "Circumstances change. People (who resisted talking with detectives initially) might be ready to talk now." He said clearing an old murder case has almost become a contest among his detectives. "We're always ready to bring justice to these people," he said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected]. 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