21-year-old Thomas Argentieri of Horseheads died after a fight outside a house on North Main Street in Alfred back on December Ninth.

Police say at least 2 private investigators have contacted them about the case.

They say autopsy reports, which were released last month but not made public, are still under review.

Eighteen girls and women have gone missing or been found murdered along the so-called Highway of Tears — Highway 16 in northern B.C. — in the past 30 years.

Michalko, a retired RCMP officer who became a private investigator eight years ago, said yesterday the letter came from RCMP Staff-Sgt. Bruce Hulan.

“If the RCMP can do this on any open investigation, they at any time could say to me: ‘Stop what you’re doing there,’” Michalko said.

“This is Canada. When you’re doing something legal to help somebody, you don’t expect such opposition. They’re pretty territorial. I was probably like that when I was a cop, too.”

He has consulted a lawyer to determine whether to go on.

“I’m licensed under the provincial statutes to investigate crime,” he said. “I think it’s a stretch what [Hulan] is suggesting, but I don’t want to go to jail for one day.”

RCMP Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre said the Mounties felt they had to rein in their former cohort after a story ran in a northern B.C. newspaper.

“Mr. Michalko had made a statement . . . that an arrest was imminent or he was expecting some major development,” said Lemaitre, spokesman for the RCMP in B.C.

“What concerned the head of [the investigation] is they have been extremely careful to always keep the family members informed . . . to always talk to the families first.

“With that announcement [by Michalko], of course, our phones did ring. Unfortunately, that’s not factual.”

Michalko said although money from private citizens for his services ran out last year, he still gets leads on a weekly basis and his conscience won’t let him quit the case.

“The RCMP has not been all that happy with me from the beginning,” he said. “I have no desire to obstruct justice or screw up their investigation.”

Lemaitre said the Highway of Tears investigation, officially dubbed Project E-Pana, is “very active with specialized, experienced investigators [who] are seconded to this full-time and that’s all they do.”

Prince George lumber and mining supplier Tony Romeyn has created a website — highwayoftears.ca — to try to help solve the puzzling murders.

“I have respect for Mr. Michalko because he’s doing this out of his own pocket,” said Romeyn. “I think he’s doing great work, just stepping over the boundaries a little bit.

“The police keep things pretty close to their chest. It’s probably a good idea. I do feel they are working very diligently.”

Some of the more common red flags in cases of fraudulent workers comp claims include:

• Multiple claims – has the claimant filed more than one worker’s comp claim in the past or a number of claims within a short period of time?
• Longer absences than anticipated for minor injuries; an unwillingness to come back to work on partial duty or other jobs within the company.
• The claimant was experiencing financial difficulties and/or domestic problems prior to submission of claim.
• The alleged injury occurs prior to or just after a strike, layoff, plant closure, job termination, completion of temporary work or notice of employer relocation.
• Lawyer’s letter of representation or letter from medical clinic is first notice of claim.
• The claimant reports an alleged injury immediately following disciplinary action, notice of probation, demotion or being passed over for promotion.
• There are no witnesses to the accident, or witnesses to the accident conflict with the claimant’s version or with one another.
• The accident or type of injury is unusual for the claimant’s line of work.
• The claimant frequently changes physician or does so after being released to return to work.

While identifying these red flags can help companies sniff out a lot of potential fraudulent claims, reports from fellow employees—anonymous and otherwise—unveil just as many. In fact, many larger companies offer toll-free number for employees to report suspected fraudulent claims.

“Insurance fraud and the expenses associated with it total more than $8 billion per year. That’s not only paying fraudulent claims that go undetected but how much it costs to catch the abusers. A lot of times, that’s after weeks, months or even years of abuse. By knowing what to look for and detecting it early, companies can reduce that figure dramatically,” said Lyons.

L&W Investigations works with a variety of organizations– insurance companies, third-party administrators, self-insured companies, law firms and municipalities—on fraudulent workers compensation, disability, liability, auto and property claims. L&W’s offerings include: surveillance; statements; activity/disability checks; asset/background investigations; and medical audits/clinic inspections.

With 35 locations nationwide in 23 states, the L&W typically employs three to eight investigators at each office. While many traditional “mom and pop” investigative firms are typically a haven for retired law enforcement officers who treat the job more like a hobby, L&W employs seasoned investigators who specialize in investigating insurance fraud cases. All L&W investigators go through extensive training and have access to the most state-of-the-art surveillance equipment.

John Caldwell, 30, Indianapolis, told police he had just walked out of Gonzalez’s office when Hinds and an acquaintance, Jeremy Carver confronted him and chased him down Washington Street.

“(Hinds) said he was going to kill me,” said Caldwell, who was armed with a handgun.

Police arrived and took a statement from Caldwell and others as Hinds and Carver allegedly fled the scene.

Gonzalez said Caldwell, her client, was licensed to carry a handgun and was talking to her about an intimidation charge he faces in Adams County when the confrontation happened outside.

Patrol officer Chris Kesler filed a report on Caldwell’s intimidation complaint. Hinds later gave a statement to police detectives. No immediate arrests were made.

Hinds, 41, was charged in February with bribery after he was accused of facilitating payments to three Muncie men in exchange for their willingness to change their testimony in a criminal case. That case is pending in Delaware Circuit Court 3.

Carver, 30, was arrested in September after authorities reportedly found more than 20 pounds of marijuana in his car. Charges have yet to be filed in that case, according to court records.

The Trojan, written and marketed by London-based couple Michael and Ruth Haephrati, was reportedly used to spy on a variety of organisations including the HOT cable television group and a PR agency whose clients include Israel’s second biggest mobile operator, Partner Communications.

Asaf Zlotovsky, a manager at the Modi’in Ezrahi detective firm, was jailed for 19 months. Two other employees, Haim Zissman and Ron Barhoum, were sent to prison for 18 and nine months respectively. The firm’s former chief exec, Yitzhak Rett, the victim of an apparent accident when he fell down a stairwell during a break in police questioning back in 2005, escaped a jail sentence under a plea bargaining agreement. Rett was fined 250,000 Israeli Shekels (£36,500) and ordered to serve ten months’ probation over his involvement in the scam.

Three other defendants were heavily fined and their licences as private investigators were revoked by a Tel Aviv court, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Michael Haephrati, who honed his computer skills during three years’ military service in the Israeli army, and his wife Ruth were fined and sentenced to jail by an Israeli court for their involvement in the case back in 2006. Michael was jailed for two years and his wife for four years after pleading guilty to the scam, and following their extradition from the UK in January 2006.

Modi’in Ezrahi is the largest of three private investigation firms implicated in the case. The case against Modi’in Ezrahi is the first to reach its conclusion. It’s unclear whether or not further prosecutions against the two other detective agencies, Krochmal Special Investigations and Pelosoff-Balali, are likely to follow.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that social engineering tactics specific to individual victims were used to infect PCs. Infected CDs were sent through the post to prospective marks, he added.

Cluley notes that the case illustrates the importance of firms hiring private investigators to seek assurances that they will refrain from behaving unethically or illegally.

“Most detective agencies would probably balk at the thought of breaking into a company’s offices to spy on them, but maybe some feel it is more acceptable to do the spying through malware? A strong message needs to be sent that using spyware to gain competitive advantage over competitors is not only unacceptable, it’s against the law,” Cluley told El Reg.

The identity of the spyware used in the case is unknown, but earlier reports suggest the Trojan was originally used to spy on Israeli thriller writer Amnon Jackont, the husband of Michael Haephrati’s ex-partner, radio show hostess Varda Raziel-Jackont. Jackont’s discovery of a Trojan on his PC led to a police investigation that eventually led back to the Haephratis and a much larger plot.

“Tires get slashed, computers get hacked, houses get broken into,” Saunders said. “And of course, people’s phones get wiretapped.”

He said Pellicano’s detective agency was “nothing more than a criminal organization operated by a well-connected, well-paid thug.” Pellicano’s nonrefundable retainer fee started at $25,000, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorneys were scheduled to begin making their closing arguments on Wednesday.

Pellicano, 64, and four co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges. Pellicano, who is acting as his own attorney, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that raked in more than $2 million by spying on Hollywood’s rich and famous then supplying the dirt to their rivals.

Saunders said the government had proven its case by presenting documents, testimony from clients and alleged victims, and perhaps most importantly recordings made by the private investigator.

“When you get recordings of defendants engaging in criminal activity, there’s not a whole lot they can do to get away from it,” Saunders said.

Some of the recordings involved discussions between Pellicano and clients. Others included conversations between the private eye and two of his co-defendants, former Los Angeles police Sgt. Mark Arneson and ex-telephone company worker Rayford Earl Turner.

Only one suspected wiretapped call was played during the trial.

Saunders explained that computers weren’t seized during the first of several searches of Pellicano’s office because the warrant did not target the alleged wiretapping.

When authorities returned later with another warrant, “Mr. Pellicano had cleaned house,” Saunders said.

Saunders called Arneson a “dirty cop” who sold his badge for the $2,500 a month Pellicano is accused of paying him to run names through law enforcement databases.

Saunders showed jurors copies of checks to Pellicano from clients or law firms. He then compared the dates of the payments to a police audit showing when names were run through databases by Arneson. In some cases, names were processed on the same day a payment was given to Pellicano.

He added that family members, friends and business partners of Pellicano’s targets also had their names run illegally.

The end result, prosecutors said, was a ruthless campaign by Pellicano to discredit his clients’ adversaries and ruin their credibility when it was addressed in child custody, divorce and other legal battles.

Thanks to the wiretapping, Pellicano’s “side knew everything the other side did,” Saunders told jurors.

U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer expects closing arguments to take about two days, with the jury likely to get the case later this week.

Comedian Chris Rock and one-time power agent Michael Ovitz testified during the trial about using the services of Pellicano. Both said they knew nothing about his tactics.

Comedian Garry Shandling, an alleged victim, also took the witness stand.

Pellicano was accused of wiretapping the phone of Sylvester Stallone, but the “Rocky” star did not testify.

Radio New Zealand reporter Geoff Robinson asked Gavin Clark, of private investigators Thompson Clark, to confirm reports that he had asked his prospective mole “whether he had security codes, computer codes to get into their [the Coalition’s] systems”.

Clark replied “absolutely” and confirmed that fact later when questioned by Computerworld.

Robinson envisaged using those codes to enter private forums on the SHVC site as though he or his staff were members, or alternatively to ask the mole to enter the computer systems on their behalf, he told Computerworld.

“But we never got any codes,” so the question of how to use them was academic, Clark says.

Informed that the former strategy might fall foul of Section 252 of the Crimes Act, which prohibits accessing a computer system “without authorization”, Clark said “good point” and thanked Computerworld for the information.

If he had asked the mole to access the confidential parts of the system, he would have been on more secure ground, since the section includes an exemption (Subsection 2) which says the prohibition: “does not apply if a person who is authorised to access a computer system accesses that computer system for a purpose other than the one for which that person was given access.”

The mole, as a member, would have been allowed to access private areas of the system but the investigators would not qualify. However, in the event, “that situation did not arise”, Clark says.

Breaches of s252 carry a penalty of jail for up to two years.

Steve McHugh, a spokesman for the Registrar of Private Investigators and Security Guards, a branch of the Ministry of Justice, says applicants for registration as private investigators “need to have a couple of years experience in the industry” and be generally of good character. There is no professional association that helps enforce standards of knowledge and competence, he says.

“It boils down to the competence of the individual and there’s no way of legislating for that,” he says.

The training spearheaded by Raj Talele, a private detective by profession involves grooming of women both physically and mentally to work as bodyguards.

Talale said that he embarked on the training program as he failed to meet the demand for a women bodyguard by a lady client.

“I can only appoint a lady bodyguard for a lady (celebrity) provided the bodyguard is well trained. I went to various security agencies in search for a lady bodyguard but couldn’t find any trained lady bodyguard. Hence, I came with the idea to train ladies myself which will benefit the girls,” Talele said.

The training incorporates various types of martial arts such as the basic styles of aikido, judo karate and use of different weapons. Besides, imparting them with all the necessary techniques of fighting against enemies, the trainees are also given driving lessons and taught English speaking classes.

The training program, which initially started with two girls, has now twenty professional and potential lady bodyguards on its rolls.

“There are no barriers between a male and a female, and so also both are advancing in this particular field. Ladies from the entertainment industries and lady politicians’ need lady bodyguards as a lady can understand a lady’s needs more than anybody else. Therefore, a lady bodyguard is the need of the hour,” said Sarita, a lady trainee.

The required age to join the training squad is between the age of 13 and 30 provided the aspirants are physically fit and healthy. There are no restrictions as far as their marital status is concerned.

The organization is receiving application not only from Mumbai but also form other parts of Maharashtra from eager aspirants.

The organization also provides job opportunities to the trainees after two and a half months training in their respective fields.

Now, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, two retired police detectives from New York City, say the apparent drowning deaths of 40 male college students like Noble were actually homicides, according to WBNS-TV Channel 10 in Columbus. Calls placed by The Messenger to Gannon and Duarte’s private investigation firm went unanswered Tuesday night.

The cases have several things in common, the detectives said in a Tuesday segment of the “Today” show. The victims were all college-age males, athletic and popular with high grades. All disappeared after nights of drinking and were found in nearby bodies of water. Most of the cases occurred in the Midwest, and some were connected by a graffiti image found near the supposed crime scene of a smiley face.

Athens Police Lt. David Williams, who was the lead investigator on the case in 1998, told WBNS-TV Tuesday that he had just heard about the detectives’ theory. Police are searching the area for graffiti and going through old photographs, Williams told the TV station. He said that Athens police would be interested in speaking with investigators to compare notes, and would reopen the case if new evidence surfaced. Williams could not be reached for comment by The Messenger Tuesday night.

Noble, of Worthington, went missing after a party on West Washington Street. Police spoke to other students who saw Noble at the party, but found no one who saw him leave, according to a May 7, 1998, Messenger article. Then-OU Police Chief Ted Jones said that witnesses said Noble, who lived on South Green and was unfamiliar with the city’s west side, had been drinking enough to be disoriented.

Family and friends searched with police and canine search teams along the Hocking River and the city’s west side for two weeks after Noble’s disappearance. Cadaver dogs showed interest in the area underneath the Richland Avenue bridge, and a dive team dredged the river and found nothing. His body was eventually spotted by two students walking along the river near White’s Mill, an area that had been searched twice by search teams, according to the May 7 article.

Noble was clothed from the waist down and had injuries to his body that were consistent with injuries a body would receive from being underwater in rapids, Capt. Tom Pyle previously told The Messenger. Police continued to search upstream to find out where his body entered the river, but said recent heavy rains might make clues sparse. Nothing was mentioned about smiley face graffiti in The Messenger’s reports on Noble’s death, but it is unlikely the common symbol would have received any attention from police at the time.

The private detectives told members of the press they can prove that some of the young men did not go into the water the night they went missing, meaning they were held for a period of time. One of the cases identified by the detectives has been reclassified as a homicide, and Minneapolis police now agree Chris Jenkins was abducted before being drowned in the Mississippi River, according to WKYC-TV in Cleveland.

The detectives also looked into whether a missing Ohio State University medical student who disappeared from a campus bar in April 2006 may have been a victim of the so-called “smiley face killers.” Columbus Police said they did not believe Brian Shaffer’s case was connected with the other cases, according to WBNS-TV.

Gannon and Duarte, who’ve spent the past 11 years linking the 40 deaths, reportedly believe they are not the work of one killer, but of a network of killers. They’ve called on the FBI to step in.

The FBI released a statement Tuesday in response to questions about the detectives’ theory. The FBI reviewed the detectives’ information and interviewed one of their informants, and stated that they have no evidence the deaths were connected and no evidence the drownings were the work of serial killers.

“The vast majority of these instances appear to be alcohol-related drownings,” wrote Supervisory Special Agent Richard J. Kolko.

Athens Police were not available for comment Tuesday evening. Ohio University Police have plans to speak with the detectives, an employee said. County Prosecutor C. David Warren said Tuesday he was aware of the investigation only from the television news.

The banquet will commence at 7 p.m. with a Champagne Reception followed by a four course Banquet Dinner – all the usual trimmings and quality wines.

A Guest Speaker (to be announced) followed by the Investigator of the Year Awards and Presentation Ceremony.

A top class band will then work away until 1 a.m. for dancing, with a short intermission for our usual charity draw results.

THE BANQUET TICKET PRICE:

The WAPI 2008 Annual Banquet Ticket (fully inclusive) £75 per person

Anticipated double room with breakfast at venue hotel: £125 +/- (to be confirmed)

Sales Status: As at April 15, 2008: 53 Places Reserved - Available Places left: 57

Sponsors: For the Banquet – You may sponsor one or more or all! of the following:

Banquet: Tickets – Menu Program - Champagne Reception – Reception/Dinner Musician – Dinner Wines – Sorbet Course – After Dinner Liqueurs – After Dinner Mints – Dance Band – All Sponsors will be acknowledged on the WAPI website, announced on the eGroups and listed in the Banquet Program/Menu

Donors: For the Charity Raffle – All and any Prizes will be most acceptable for this worthy cause, each may carry your Business Card and each Donor will be listed and announced.

To book and confirm banquet places, please call 0800 247 1810 (Overseas Guests call +44 28 9442 8284) for payment by credit card.

For room reservations at the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham, use booking code: G-WPAI

(Note: This is correct it is WPAI and not WAPI)

Some rooms also will be available on the Friday 24/10/08 & Sunday 26/10/08 at the same rate as the Saturday

HYATT REGENCY BIRMINGHAM, UK

WAPI Annual Banquet 2008 Allocation

24/10/2008 – 27/10/200

Booking Ref:   G-WPAI

Rate: £121 Bed & Breakfast Single Occupancy
£133 Bed & Breakfast Double Occupancy

To reserve: Call from UK 012 1643 1234 - Call from Overseas: +44 12 1643 1234
Ask for Extension: 4000 - Reservations and quote Group Booking WPAI

Last but not least! If you wish to nominate a WAPI Member for one of the Awards, please email the details to the General Secretary Jorge Salgado-Reyes at jorge@salgadoinvestigations.com.