As you'll remember, Echols' work in the 1982 killing of SIU student Deborah Sheppard led to the conviction of Timothy W. Krajcir for five Cape Girardeau cold cases.

Echols is retiring from the Carbondale department to pursue a new career in education-he'll be a full-time law enforcement instructor at Shawnee Community College in Anna, Ill. In addition, he will be helping the college in developing a forensic science curriculum.

The idea is for Echols to eventually serve as director of the forensics program when it's established, he said.

"We're still hemming out these ideas to see what the need is-what the desire is," Echols said.

Law enforcement has become an integral part of his life, Echols, who has taught criminal justice classes part time for years, said yesterday in a phone interview.

Echols said he's grateful to have a chance to still be involved in law enforcement, albeit from a different angle than as a working detective.