Post #3

For my third post, I read about a murder investigation. My article comes from the Star Tribune website, linked at the bottom of this page.

A woman named Brenda Pikala was stabbed under a bridge that went across Minnehaha Creek 19 years ago. She had been going to a movie with her 9-year old son, but then he decided he didn't want to go. It was reported that she had approached a car bleeding heavily after the attack- but was pronounced dead once a doctor tried to help her. The case had been cold for so long because although the police had evidence (scrapings from under her fingernail), DNA testing had not been as effective or accurate as it is now. The lead suspect of the case, with the matching DNA, was found already in jail on a drunk-driving charge. Albert Moen was convicted Monday for second-degree murder. The article also touches on how difficult it is to solve cold-cases, with Sgt. Barb Moe saying "Oh, my God, it's such a good feeling [to solve a case]."

My thoughts on this article are mixed. I think that our law enforcement does try to solve as many cases as they can, but I also believe that more effort could be put into trying to solve cold cases. Pikala's family was devastated after her death, and her sister is quoted to have said, "I want people to just remember Brenda's smile." This shows that a situation like Pikala's family was thrown into has to be incredibly difficult. Things can change so fast- almost in an instant. The shock of hearing that someone was convicted for their family member's murder had to have been incredible- after all it was 19 years after it had happened. Every case is important, not just the easy-to-solve ones. There are so many other cases that haven't been solved, leaving innocent families with no answer. It makes me sad to think about them and the pain they must experience each day. It also makes me interested in other stories where cold cases were solved. What types of things other than DNA would be more helpful now as opposed to in the past? It's an intriguing thing to think about.

Stacey


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