Major Case Squad marks 20 years

A bloody, murderous history exists in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties. Victims have been brutally attacked and killed by strangers, acquaintances and even family members.

A string of grisly, unsolved homicides in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including those of Mary and Brenda Parsh, Margie Call and Mildred Wallace, struck terror in residents, especially women.

Their deaths and those of others prompted four local law enforcement agencies in 1983 to form the Cape Girardeau County Major Case Squad -- a cross-agency team of investigators that has solved nearly every case it has undertaken.

Twenty years later, the squad has the same basic approach: Once a crime is discovered, react fast and in force. The result is more eyes to examine a crime scene, more minds to probe the motives and methods of a killer and more feet to pound the necessary pavement.

It's a concept that works. The squad has solved 27 of its 29 closed cases. Most recently, the squad investigated the 2002 murders of Ralph L. Lape of Jackson and Billy Jones Jr. of Cape Girardeau. Suspects are now being prosecuted in both cases.

"I attribute that success to the high caliber of officers and the training they've received," said squad commander Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department. "Only the elite, highly experienced officers are involved."

Using deductive reasoning and scientific tests, they take a crime scene apart piece by piece until the methods and motives are exposed and a killer's identity is known. Crime scenes are photographed and videotaped so every member of the squad has a chance to observe.

"Most homicides are smoke," James said. "You gotta clear it away, and then there's your killer."

History onlineTwo years ago, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle compiled a written history of the squad and posted it on a Web site.

He titled each case as if they were Perry Mason mysteries -- from "The Case of the Smoldering Corpse" to "The Case of the Secret Sexual Preference."

"When it comes to creative things, sometimes I may go overboard," he said. "But some titles never made it past my self-editing because they were too flippant, even for me."

The stories engage readers with descriptions of grisly stab wounds, bullet holes and the positions of dead bodies. They also contain private conversations and a few surprising confessions.

"One of the reasons I did it was because law enforcement officers often don't get enough pats on the back," he said. "I wanted to give them their credit due for solving these crimes that occurred in our county over the last two decades."

Swingle realizes what he compiled may not have mass readership appeal, but he hopes more residents take an interest in the squad. Photocopies of the history are available at Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University, the Riverside Regional Library and the Cape Girardeau and Jackson public libraries.

The original agencies that formed the squad were the police departments in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. In 1986, the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department joined the squad. In 1988, the Department of Public Safety at Southeast Missouri State University was added.

Today, there are more than 25 active members in the squad.

"We were lucky enough to get in with Cape County and the others," said Bollinger County Sheriff Terry Wiseman. "They've got some good, well-qualified and well-trained people, and that really makes a big difference when it comes down to investigations."

Other regions of the state have formed similar squads. The local one was modeled in part on the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.

Back to the beginningSeveral squad members say the most memorable case was the first -- the November 1983 murder of Wisconsin truck driver Kenneth Wood.

"That one was really a needle in a haystack," said Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan. "You have to sit back and say, 'Wow! How did we do that?'"

Wood was found shot to death in a wooded area next to Interstate 55, south of the Perry County line. Investigators did not immediately see any answers.

They determined the shell casings were an uncommon brand sold at only two stores in Missouri at the time. After reviewing store records, investigators interviewed a St. Louis man who bought such bullets only days before. That suspect, Roy Lee Bibb, and two accomplices were later convicted of Wood's murder.

John Brown, squad's commander from 1983 to 1991, said solving that first case solidified people's faith in the squad.

"It turned out to be a wonderful case and a good test for the squad," said John Brown. "It proved to everyone the importance of the squad."

The 20-year anniversary came full circle last week for Brown, who works as an officer with the Department of Public Safety at Southeast Missouri State University, when he received an e-mail from Wood's granddaughter. She was searching for answers about her grandfather's death.

"I talked to another former squad commander, Carson Kelly, about it," Brown said. "And he said you just never know who a case will touch. This girl was 5 years old at the time and it's still affecting her life."

Wood's death was even sadder perhaps because it happened on Thanksgiving, said Lt. Tracy Lemonds of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"That this husband and father was found dead in the woods at the interstate on a day of giving thanks," he said. "It just pulled everyone together. It's amazing how everything fell into place quickly."

That speed also impressed Diane Miller of Cape Girardeau, when the squad tackled the murder of her brother, Ralph Lape.

"It was amazing to me how fast everything went," she said. "We will always be thankful to them for such quick action. And they worked so well with us as the family. Without the squad, I don't believe we'd be anywhere near we are in the case today."

By requestThe squad works by request only, and that request must be made by a local law enforcement agency within eight hours of a crime being discovered.

If a local agency tries to solve a crime alone, the squad won't play cleanup when things go wrong. This keeps agencies from unfairly blaming the squad after leads have grown cold and the case remains unsolved.

Like others, Lemonds attributes the squad's success to hard work and cooperation and said squabbles between agencies haven't been a problem.

"There are no territorial or turf issues involved," he said. "We're lucky in this area that our law enforcement agencies work so well together and don't let politics get in the way."

Jackson police Lt. Rodney Barnes joined the squad in 1998. He and about 30 other detectives worked on squad's last closed case, the May 2000 murder of Carol J. Lindley of Jackson.

"How smooth and effective it all worked really impressed me," he said. "The Major Case Squad is a necessity in our community. They put together the best of the best out there to get a result."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160