Reliability of Confidential Informants

Recently I have had a bit of an interesting experience in dealing with an individual who made an allegation (actually a series of allegations) against a former friend. The friend had made an insurance claim concerning her vehicle which had been stolen from her house several weeks earlier.

The informant phoned the insurer to state she had information that the claim was not legitimate and that the claimant had her own vehicle stolen in order to get money to pay off drug debts.

The informant was amenable to being formally interviewed, but as the interview went on I started having doubts as to her reliability, and motivation.

Some more light reading on way...

Some time ago, Dear Reader, you may recall my review of Investigative Interviewing by Eric Shepherd.

What I didn't mention is that prior to purchasing that particular book, I had been searching for another that I had read a favourable review about but could neither remember the name of the author nor the title.

I also couldn't locate the review again until quite recently, by complete chance, but now I have ordered both that particular book and its predecessor.

The name of the book is "Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery - The FTER Method" by Brandon A. Perron and you can read a very detailed review by Dean Beers at Pursuit Magazine.

Dealing with the Barking Mad

It's not my habit to comment on current or pending investigations, Dear Reader, but in this case I thought I would make an exception.

Actually, it's not that I am commenting so much on the investigation but the subject.

She's fucking nuts!

PIs in Fiction: Varg Veum

If you are a fan of Nordic crime dramas, Dear Reader, you might be familiar with the character Varg Veum, created by Norwegian author Gunnar Staalesen. If not, perhaps you might consider the novels (five have been translated into English) or, perhaps somewhat more accessible, checking out the adaptions into feature-length films that have been made (starring Trond Espen Seim as Veum). There are twelve.

I'll freely admit I have only seen a number of the films and have not read any of the novels, but would most certainly do should any cross my path in future.

Varg (Norwegian for 'wolf') is a grizzled, if not somewhat shabby, private investigator who lives in Bergen and has a talent for getting himself in serious trouble. Usually with a number of bodies piling up. More often than not, Veum fends off complicated questions from his mentor/adversary, Police Inspector Hamre (who appears to be a Norwegian version of Columbo) while interfering in the ensuing police investigations.