Missouri AG announces new unit to investigate unsolved homicides across the state
Unsolved homicides across Missouri will now be investigated by a new team of prosecutors, state Attorney General Eric Schmitt said Thursday.
Speaking in St. Louis, Schmitt announced the creation of a new unit in his office that will work with local prosecutors to take a new look at killings that have remained unsolved “for years, often decades.”
“Those victims cannot and will not be forgotten,” he said in a news release, “which is why I launched the Cold Case Unit — to obtain justice on behalf of those victims.”
The unit is led by Tom Dittmeier and Dean Hoag, who together have about 90 years of experience in prosecuting violent crimes, according to Schmitt’s office. Both have worked as federal prosecutors in eastern Missouri.
Dittmeier said several cold cases were under review as of Thursday, but cautioned that they take time to investigate. He credited Schmitt with creating the unit and called the initiative long overdue.
“I don’t have any question that we’re going to make cases,” Dittmeier said.
Schmitt also announced that Kenneth Avery, of Franklin County in eastern Missouri, has been charged with second-degree murder in the 1986 killing of Kristen Edwards — the cold case unit’s first investigation to lead to charges.
The attorney general’s office worked with local authorities on the case.
“Every case that remains unsolved is more than a statistic,” Schmitt said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the attorney general’s office had not contacted the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office about the unit or asked it to partner on the initiative, spokesman Michael Mansur said.
“This is the first we’ve heard of this,” he said in an email.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 1:04 PM.
