The lead headline in last Monday’s Gleaner was ‘Cold case freeze – Thousands of unsolved murders are decades old’. A cold case is one that hasn’t been solved and in which police investigation is no longer active. Cold cases can be reopened when new information surfaces in the form of material evidence, new information from witnesses, forensic psychology findings, or scientific analyses such as DNA samples.
The article reports that nearly a third of the 40,000 homicides committed since 1970 have gone cold. Speaking to a Gleaner reporter, a retired police officer said: “… Don’t let what the police say fool you. You think anybody investigating Tess Thomas’ (consumer advocate shot in 1999) death? You think anybody investigating Vincent Tulloch’s (a news editor killed in 1994) murder? Jamaica is a criminal’s dream,” he went on to say, adding, “The possibility of being caught, tried and sentenced to death is zilch.
This is unfortunate. After a murder, the family unit undergoes permanent changes that are difficult for surviving members to accept. As family members struggle with their own pain and grief, being of emotional support and comfort to other members of the family network can be problematic. The event is usually unexpected, the loved ones are usually unprepared and powerless to prevent it, and worse, sometimes it is experienced during childhood.
No other experience prepares a family member with how to deal with homicide. Coping with so many unknowns may put previously at-risk family members at more risk and take in new casualties. It can invite suicide, homicide, alcohol and substance abuse. This is a time when family members must watch out for each other.
Based on the results of more than 300 genograms done in the US in 1989, it is estimated that there is an average seven to 10 surviving family members for each murder victim, not including the many friends, neighbours and co-workers who were often traumatised as well.
many affected
My own estimate from an informal survey of the Jamaican experience – years ago – was that the number was closer to 15. So since 1970, there are about 600,000 of what can be described as co-victims, that is loved ones left behind who report feeling victimised as a result of a murder.
This carries with it a number of implications. Murder is
serious, immediate and obvious. There is long-term and subtle challenges on the stability, development, communication patterns and role performance of surviving members. Sometimes it ruptures the remaining family unit.
Natalee Holloway was part of a stable, happy family unit when she disappeared in Aruba while on vacation. Less than two years later, her
parents had divorced. In the immediate aftermath, just as survivors are usually overwhelmed with emotional and practical matters, concentration and comprehension may be impaired. Coping strategies sometimes vary resulting in friction and anger. If the
victim was a breadwinner, someone else has to fill that role. Sometimes, no one is qualified to do so.
Tricky Situations
Maybe the victim was a
family peacekeeper, offering
protection where domestic
violence is present. Children whose parents are murdered feel pressured to ‘grow up’ and assume adult roles. Parents who lost a child may have other children but must mourn the loss of their parental role with the child who died. This is tricky, as the parent must simultaneously surrender and maintain the same role.
The result of all this is severe emotional and psychological trauma, where the co-victim’s sense of security is shattered and he/she feels helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. Efforts at helping the co-victim to deal with the trauma often results in retraumatising the individual.
Perhaps the most effective step in dealing with the resulting trauma is closure. This is when the perpetrator is brought to justice. The feeling of fear and vulnerability is significantly reduced when the person or persons involved are caught and punished. One gets the comforting feeling that one is protected by agents of the State.
The healing process becomes much easier after a conviction. If for no other reason, cold cases must be revisited. It is for this reason that significant reductions are offered to
convicted persons in the US if they agree to reveal where even parts of the skeletal remains of victims can be found. Without even this, loved ones often carry the open wounds to their graves.
Science has provided us with the tools to solve many cold cases. In other countries, cold-case units have been opened with tremendous results. One 1957 murder was solved 50 years later. The John Christie murders is a notable case, when Timothy Evans was wrongly executed for the alleged murder of his wife and child. Many other bodies were later found in the house where he lived with Christie, who was then executed for the crimes. The case helped a campaign against capital
punishment in Britain.
An important part of the grieving process for survivors is making sense of what happened to their loved one. When a
murderer can’t be found or a missing person doesn’t appear after weeks or months, the added psychological stress on families increases. Psychologists call this phenomenon ‘complicated grief’ because of the traumatic nature of the death or disappearance and the obstruction to its
resolution.
The magnitude of the number of co-victims suggests that homicidal bereavement represents a major public health issue. Each year’s statistics can be added exponentially to the preceding years’ numbers of undertreated victims. Because of the risk of retraumatisation, this healing work is best done with the help of experienced trauma specialists.
Apart from those who are carefully insulated in the upper echelons of society, there is not a single Jamaican who does not know of an unsolved crime. Worse, many of us know the perpetrator. Closure would go a far way to restoring faith in those responsible for our safety and security.
n Glenn Tucker is an educator and a sociologist.