Unsolved Triangle Murders

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are nationally known as the Triangle Area. The name references the Research Triangle Park that sits in the middle of these three cities. I’ve lived in the Triangle since I was 8 years old. My wife was born in Raleigh. We’ve seen a whole lot of 2 lane roads turn into 6 lane interchanges over the past 20 years. The growth has been explosive because of the nice neighborhoods, jobs and a relatively low crime rate with the exception of areas in Durham. Raleigh alone is now bigger than Minneapolis, St. Louis and Charlotte. If you add in all the surrounding suburbs the Triangle could be the national model for urban sprawl.

In the past few years the area has gotten some pretty negative national attention because of crime. There was, of course, the Duke rape scandal. Crystal Magnum and Mike Nifong be damned. But that case was sensational grandstanding by a politically motivated prosecutor. The more disturbing cases are the unsolved homicides that have occurred in the past two years. As of yesterday morning the list of unsolved murder victims includes the former Student Body President of UNC, Eve Carson. What a beautiful girl she was.

Of course we don’t have any details in the way this case is being handled by law enforcement. We just need to hope it’s managed better than other area homicides involving women have been. Such as the case of Michelle Young, a pregnant 29 year-old mother murdered in front of her 2 year-old daughter who was found crying beside the body in November of 2006. The Wake County Sheriffs Department focused a lot of attention on her husband Jason, who was “out of town on business” and called his sister several times to go get a fax from his house. She went and found her sisters body. Apparently the Sheriff hasn’t been able to bring a case against Jason Young. He’s roaming free, likely guilty of killing his wife.

And if that wasn’t disturbing enough there is the case of another pregnant mother Jenna Neilson, 22, who was delivering USA today newspapers when she was attacked and stabbed to death on June 14, 2007. her body was found behind a local convenience store. USA Today ran a national ad for information in the case. There was a composite of a person of interest circulated by the Raleigh Police Department. Most people thought the composite looked like a woman but it was labeled “Hispanic Male”. That’s it. That’s all they’ve got as far as the public knows.

Sure there have been other murders in the area as well as killers who’ve been caught. But having followed the details of local homicide cases closely I can tell you most were solved through dumb luck. They caught confessed serial killer Samual James Cooper after he robbed a bank, ran from the cops and hid inside a Domino’s Pizza. This apprehension was 5 previously unsolved homicides past due. The deaths of beautiful and pregnant women seem to be the most difficult for Triangle area law enforcement. They have no leads, can’t pin cases, solidify evidence or make arrests. In these cases the bad guys are winning.

I’m aware this is reality and not an episode of CSI but progress needs to be made. People are getting scared. The perception is quickly emerging that you can be gunned down, beaten or stabbed to death in a suburban neighborhood and there’s a high probability that the killer’s going to get away with it because the police can’t build a case. I’m not advocating a drag net that sweeps up innocent people to parade them in front of the media. I am asking for better police work. The investigating agencies should call in the Feds if they need help and combine the resources of multiple agencies. It’s time an arrest is made in one of these cases surrounding these murdered wives, mothers and daughters.

The hardest thing for me to digest when writing this article is, based on this track record, the parents of Eve Carson have no reason to believe there will be a killer arrested in the death of their daughter. Some random thug may have beaten the Chapel Hill law enforcement community. At this point every agency and officer involved in these homicides has their reputation on the line.