The Life

Fathers and Sons

When a Chicago PI (and father of two boys) is hired to return a young son to his custodial father, the case feels personal and visceral. I’ve written two Pursuit articles in recent years. Someone pointed out to me that both stories were thank-you notes wrapped inside investigation stories. This was news to me, so

Ben Lopez

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The Investigator Who Tracked the Creator of Bitcoin

On the Sound of Pursuit Podcast, we hear about a fascinating missing persons case: Tyler Maroney’s investigation of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous Bitcoin inventor. Someone created Bitcoin. We know what they wrote in the famous white paper. We know their pseudonym: “Satoshi Nakamoto.” We know what they built and what motivated them. We know roughly

Kim Green

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I Wrote About His Wrongful Conviction. He Got Only 13 Years of Freedom Before Cancer Took His Life.

For years, I followed the case of Fred Steese, who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. When he died in August, it felt like the universe had dealt him yet another injustice. by Megan Rose, ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one

Megan Rose, ProPublica

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The Camcorder

Sometimes the piece of evidence that changes the game for your client is something that should be there, but isn’t. The phone call came from defense counsel. A man named Ethan Cole had been arrested, following a police stop that escalated into a physical struggle with officers in the city of Riverton. Mr. Cole’s version

Steve Morrow

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Massachusetts Set to Extend Statute of Limitations for Rape Cases With DNA Evidence

Following reporting by WBUR and ProPublica, Gov. Maura Healey has pledged to sign a bill into law ensuring that Massachusetts will no longer have one of the strictest rape prosecution deadlines in the country. by Willoughby Mariano, ProPublica & WBUR This story was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with WBUR. Sign up

Willoughby Mariano, ProPublica, & WBUR

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Op-Ed: No Scooby Doo Endings

Most complex investigations don’t close with the satisfying resolutions of crime fiction. I find it liberating to embrace the uncertainty. There is a pressurized space I sometimes occupy as a private detective when clients demand unassailable answers to difficult questions. Where is the money my business partner stole from me? Who is behind the astroturf

Tyler Maroney

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A Secret Survey From Inside a Women’s Prison Tells Stories of Domestic Abuse Untold in Court

One incarcerated woman set out to understand how many others at Oklahoma’s Mabel Bassett Correctional Center had cases like hers. Their stories helped shape a new state law intended to reduce their sentences — but will it work? by Pamela Colloff, ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. Sign up for Dispatches to get

Pamela Colloff, ProPublica

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Louisiana Supreme Court Frees Death Row Prisoner, Calling Evidence Against Him “Scientifically Indefensible”

The decision affirms a lower court’s ruling nullifying Jimmie “Chris” Duncan’s 1998 first-degree murder conviction. Duncan was convicted based in part on forensic evidence that is now widely regarded as junk science. by Richard A. Webster, ProPublica & Verite News This story was originally published by ProPublica. It was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network

Richard A. Webster, ProPublica & Verite News

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Unsung Heroes: Honoring Jonna Mendez, the CIA’s Master of Deception

She proved that when it comes to spycraft, invisibility and creativity matter more than boldness and bluster. This Women’s History Month, let’s pull back the curtain on a woman whose career was built on illusion, whose brilliance and tradecraft were hidden in plain sight, and whose work helped shape the course of history from the

Jennifer Mackovjak