Police Solve Cold Case Murder Using Infogroup Data

South Dakota police have used information from data and marketing solutions provider Infogroup to identify the killer in a 51-year old 'cold case' murder.

A single consumer record in Infogroup's Polk City Directories was used by detective Wayne Keefe to cross-reference case information in the 1968 killing of 60-year-old pharmacist, Gwen Miller. At the time, police were able to pull DNA evidence from the scene, but were unable to find a match. Then, in 1972, the Black Hills flood washed away any chance of finding new forensic evidence which might have helped identify the killer.

Using the directories, Keefe uncovered information about Eugene Field, a man with a history of domestic violence, who lived a half-mile from Miller's house, and had also rented a room next door to the victim's house. Keefe managed to track down Field's brother who agreed to a DNA test, and while Field's brother was a partial DNA match, eliminating him and his father as murder suspects, the police were ultimately able to positively identify Eugene Field as the killer, even though he died of cancer in 2009.

Mike Snyder, General Manager of Polk City Directories, comments: 'Its incredible South Dakota police were able to use the directories to solve a cold case murder' - but adds, 'We've helped communities with valuable information since 1870'.

Web sites: www.infogroup.com and www.polkcitydirectories.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.