photo by Brent McDonald (See video on NewsChannel 9)
District Attorney Neal Pinkston said at a morning press conference on Tuesday that he is setting up a process to review 120 cold case murders in Hamilton County dating back some 40 years.
He said former city major crimes detective Mike Mathis will be working out of his office on the cases. He is familiar with most or all of the cases, it was stated.
DA Pinkston said Sgt. Bill Phillips will be working on cold case murders exclusively in the city police department, and he expects that additional resources will eventually be added there.
The district attorney said, "We are showing the relatives of those who have lost loved ones that we care and we haven't forgotten them."
Several relatives of those killed in unsolved cases were at the news conference at the Courts Building.
DA Pinkston said Tim Carroll, former partner of detective Mathis will also be involved. He is with the medical examiner's office.
Other agencies have agreed to cooperate, including the TBI and local police departments, including Red Bank, East Ridge and Collegedale.
DA Pinkston said there are new techniques available to crime fighters today, and he said some evidence will be retested. He said that includes DNA and finger prints.
He said detectives in the past working on cold cases have had a full load of current cases and have frequently been "called away" from the older cases. He said the new effort will be focused entirely on the old cases.
Mike Mathis is interviewed by Jerry Askin
photo by Brent McDonald (See video on NewsChannel 9)