Norwich professor joins exclusive crime solving community

For Immediate Release
April 29, 2011

Contact: Daphne Larkin
802-485-2886 or 595-3613(m)
dlarkin@norwich.edu

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NEWS RELEASE

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – On Thursday, April 21, Professor Peter Stephenson was formally voted into the Vidocq Society, a group of retired law enforcement professionals dedicated to solving ‘cold cases’ of murder, as a Special Member.

Stephenson is the only cyber forensics specialist currently a member of this exclusive group.

The Vidocq Society meets monthly in Philadelphia to donate time and expertise to solving cases officially brought to them. They are named for Eugène François Vidocq, the 18th century French detective who founded the Sûreté. They apply their collective forensic, investigative and legal skills and experience to ‘cold case’ homicides and unsolved deaths.

Practicing a new application of cyber forensics to solve crimes, Stephenson has applied a method of crime assessment criminal profiling drawn from the work of Richard Walter and Robert Keppel to use a suspect’s computer as a means for understanding valuable information about the individual’s personal life and his or her involvement in the crime being investigated.

“My acceptance by the Society represents a high point in my career and personal life,” Stephenson said. “Over the years my profession has been good to me and this is my opportunity to give back. Besides, what more could a forensic scientist wish for than to be accepted by a group comprised of the premier practitioners of forensics and criminal investigation world-wide?”

The Vidocq Society has been assisting law enforcement with cases, helping to solve many, for the past 21 years.

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Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army. Norwich University is the oldest private military college in the United States of America and the birthplace of our nation's Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu