FBI profilers join hunt for killer

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, October 12, 2006

VERLOT – Snohomish County homicide detectives have some of the answers.

They know where, when and how Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden were shot to death July 11 as they hiked along the Pinnacle Lake Trail.

But they don’t know why the mother and daughter were killed.

Answering that question hopefully will lead to whoever pulled the trigger, Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said Thursday.

“It’s the most difficult question. We don’t know why. Detectives are on the ‘why’ part of this case,” Bart said. “I think that’s the biggest part for the family, too.”

Sheriff’s detectives have asked criminal profilers from the FBI to help them look for who killed Cooper, 56, and Stodden, 27. Both women died from a gunshot wound to the head.

No one has been arrested and investigators have no new leads, Bart said.

A sheriff’s detective presented the facts of the case to a conference of FBI criminal profilers at a recent seminar.

The group expressed interest in helping, Bart said.

“We’re not arrogant back here. If we think someone has better expertise at something, we’ll ask for help. We want to solve this case,” Bart said.

David Stodden earlier this month said he continues to have confidence in the sheriff’s detectives investigating the killings of his wife and his daughter. He’s been frustrated, however, by the lack of information.

“I guess it is not for me, it is the larger public that has the need to know about this,” he said.

Bart on Thursday said that along with working with the FBI, detectives have spoken with police departments around the country and one agency outside the U.S. They are trying to determine if similar homicides have happened elsewhere, he said.

The sheriff’s office has used profilers in the past, Bart said. That once was the exclusive province of the FBI. Now professional profilers are available elsewhere, he said.

A criminal profiler generally creates the behavioral characteristics of an unknown suspect based on evidence collected by police and interviews with detectives.

The profiler also can give recommendations on how to proceed with the investigation, said police expert Bob Keppel, who is best known for his work as the lead homicide detective on the Ted Bundy serial killings and later a consultant on the Green River murder investigation.

There are a number of reasons police departments consult profilers, Keppel said. Investigators may have a number of leads or possible suspects and they want to prioritize who they should look at first.

“Or they just might not have anything,” said Keppel, who provides criminal profiles to police departments.

It is likely Snohomish County detectives know the type of person they are looking for, Keppel said.

“There are some great investigators up there. Even a great investigator needs an outside opinion once in a while,” Keppel said. “It’s a good move. It may help.”

Bart, a former homicide detective, said he consulted profilers on about four cases he investigated.

A profile was key to identifying serial arsonist Paul Kenneth Keller of Lynnwood in 1993. The firesetter’s father recognized him and called the task force to report his suspicions.

While a profile can be helpful for investigators, it isn’t always accurate and doesn’t eliminate the need for solid evidence, Bart said.

“We need to bring evidence to court,” he said.

Detectives are aggressively investigating this case. “These guys work for the families and they’re good at what they do,” Bart said.

They’ve worked to reconstruct the women’s lives as best they can. They’ve tried to piece together who they were, who they knew and what their routines were, Bart said.

“With a homicide investigation, we have to put the victim’s life back together,” the sheriff said.

Investigators have been back up to the crime scene on multiple occasions, more times than the media knows about, he said. They also have been sifting through more than 300 tips that came pouring in. Some have been useful.

“We need more tips,” Bart said. “It’s been awhile. We want people to think hard about if they saw or heard anything. We want the call.”

Reporter Scott North contributed to this story.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@ heraldnet.com.