Another Assist For Cold Justice Team - The Murder of Nori Jones

A murder that has haunted Pocatello, Idaho for 13 years is nearing a conclusion.  In September of 2004, 25 year old Nori Jones was found stabbed to death in her home.  Her body was discovered by worried colleagues the following day when she failed to show up for work and they went to her home to check on her.

Nori Jones

At the time of the murder, police found no real evidence to assist them in finding the perpetrator of this crime.  Only a partial finger print was found.  Fingernail scrapings and rings found on and off Jone's body were also kept in evidence for future comparison against potential suspects.  Ten long years went by before the arrest of 39 year old Brad Scott Compher, aka Ralph Roy Compher. Compher legally changed his name in 2008 to Brad.

Police believe Jones was killed during a botched robbery and may have been sexually assaulted.  Early suspects in the investigation included registered sex offenders Robert Roy Spillet Jr. and Lonnie Lee Haggard.  They were excluded as suspects.  Another early suspect was Torey Adamcik - Adamcik is incarcerated for the 200 6 murder of a Pocatello High School classmate (and friend) Cassie Jo Stoddard.  That case has been profiled on TV being compared to the "Scream" movie because the killers wore similar masks when they killed Stoddard.  That was another incredibly sad murder case, particularly since her two classmates were the killers and they planned the whole thing.R

Brad Compher

A fellow inmate came forward and claimed Adamcik admitted to killing Jones, and at the time of her murder Adamcik reportedly lived within 50 yards of Jone's house.  That seems like a reasonable person of interest, however he was eventually eliminated as a suspect as well.  The Cold Justice team spent 10 days in Pocatello and assisted police as witnesses were re interviewed.  Kelly Siegler and Yolanda McClary were said to be "invaluable" to the investigation into this murder.

Due to a grant by the Cold Justice production company, the DNA evidence was sent to a lab and the results were rushed back to the police department.  Compher became a person of interest when the partial fingerprint came back to him, although the police did not have enough evidence to link him to Jone's murder he remained under surveillance.  When he carelessly tossed a cigarette butt to the ground, that sealed his fate.  The police were watching him and they collected the still warm cigarette and sent it to the lab for comparison to the  DNA evidence and they got an absolute match.

Compher was arrested almost 10 years to the day after the murder of Jones.  He has plead not guilty and has been held without bail since the 2014 arrest.  His trial has been delayed several times and is tentatively scheduled for January of 2018.  Several law enforcement agencies have been credited with working to bring this case to conclusion - including the Pocatello PD, Idaho State Police, State Crime Lab, Bannock County Sheriff's Office, Chubbock PD, and the Cold Justice team.

There are an unprecedented number of murder cases going to trial in this county which has been a factor in delays in the Compher murder trial.  If he does go to trial in 2018, it will have been 14 years after the murder.  Whoever said the wheels of justice turn slowly was spot on!  Happy to hear Yolanda McClary is back on the show - or appearing in some episodes because these two are a great pairing.  Add Johnnie Bonds and you've got a great trio.  Fun to watch and they actually help solve these cold cases.  That's pretty incredible television.  Keep watching - we want a 6th season!  Thank you to Oxygen for picking up this great true crime series. 

Suicide Theory Puts Det. Sean Suiter's Benefits at Risk

Baltimore Police Commissioner Davis' continues to contend they cannot yet rule out suicide in the shooting death of veteran Detective Sean Suiter.  I've always believed this to be the most ridiculous of theories, mostly because the commish has contradicted himself at every turn - describing a brief but violent struggle with the unknown suspicious man before Suiter being shot in the head with his own holstered service revolver.

Signs of a violent struggle and a radio transmission call for help from Suiter certainly point away at the suicide theory.  Witnesses who don't want to be named as well as Suiter's partner that day have given vague descriptions of this suspicious man in the vacant lot - unless he struggled with Suiter trying to prevent him from killing himself, this is a bogus theory.  That would make suspicious man a witness and not a suspect.  I think in order to show a little compassion to Sean Suiter's grieving family, they need to rule this suicide theory out and quickly.  

If an officer is killed in the line of duty, certain benefits kick in that could help the family survive after losing their father & husband and his income.  The family could be eligible for $1,000.00 per week in workers compensation benefits as well as lump sum payouts from state & federal governments, a special pension arrangement and more.  The value could be several hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This would also be a show of support to the family and I feel they are dishonoring this detective by even considering suicide under these circumstances.  They may need to rule it out, but quit putting it out there in the media!  What I don't see the commish considering is that the indicted officers, or in particular Officer Jenkins being mentioned as persons of interest.  After all, Jenkins would have likely benefited from Suiter's death - hopefully he had a taped deposition on the drug planting case against Jenkins that can be used in court, but Suiter was due to testify before a Federal Grand Jury the day after he was killed and Jenkins involvement in the heroin planting incident surely was on the list of questions he was due to answer to.

The Suiter family deserves better from the police department.  He was an 18 year veteran, and as far as I know he was a good officer.  He was not part of the dirty cop squad, robbing and pillaging their own community.  He deserves to be portrayed as such - not a suicidal man who set up an elaborate scenario to make it appear he was murdered while really committing suicide.  Ridiculous.

If the FBI and/or another outside agency takes over this investigation I feel there is a much better chance for the truth to come out and the shooter will be identified - and who was behind the shooting will be known.  I'm praying for the resolution of this case so Det. Suiter's family can collect the benefits they are entitled to.  Losing their father and husband is bad enough, but losing out on death benefits because of a ridiculous theory of suicide is just a slap in the face of this man.  Come on Commissioner Davis, do you have a heart?