Attempts to Correspond with Steven Hagenah (Part 2)

The following post consists of 3 emails sent by me to Steven Hagenah, a law enforcement instructor at Leech Lake Tribal College in Bemidji, Minnesota, and retired agent from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (who I introduced in the last post). I include Mr. Hagenah's response (which I finally received after my 3rd email), and my comments, (in red font). ***(Note on August 3, 2018 ... Steve Hagenah is now deceased, so some of the external links do not show the same info that they did when this post was first published, 4 years ago.)***

Me to steven.hagenah@lltc.edu

Jan 14

Dear Sir,

I originally sent this as a Facebook message, but it doesn't seem as though you are active on Facebook.

I am assuming that you are the Steve Hagenah who worked as forensic investigator for the MBCA.

I recently read an article about you in an old Duluth News Tribune article, saying that you conducted analysis of info in the Trina Langenbrunner case.

I have testimony in that case that I have reason to believe was withheld from your office. As I couldn't get my testimony into a courtroom, I have been relating the story, plus my research into various related issues, in 16 posts so far, the first of which is here: http://formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com/2014/09/introduction.html

If your office was actually provided with all of this information, please let me know.

Sorry to bother a retired person, but I got the impression through the Tribune article that you may not be the type to just "drop everything" after retirement.

Regards, Lloyd Wagner

P.S. I'll wait for a couple of weeks before continuing with the blog, as I feel that your information is very important. I prefer not to continue without it.

Thank you very much.

me

To

steven.hagenah@lltc.edu

Jan 27

Dear Sir,

I believe that certain forensic data in the Trina Langenbrunner case was deliberately withheld from your former office in the MBCA.

As you have been informed, Joseph Couture was convicted of the crime solely on his own confession in 2013, with no physical data or sworn testimony of any witness ever being presented to a jury.

I need to know if your former office did or did not receive any forensic data concerning a Thomas J. Hinze, about whom I related a considerable amount of information to the St. Louis Sheriff's Department investigators. My testimony was evidently ignored, since the Investigator from the Public Defender's Office, Mr. Ron Taggart, informed me that Thomas Hinze was never DNA-tested (though many others were). That is inexplicable, since Mr. Hinze met EVERY criteria the Sheriff was advertising for: he had opportunity, had no alibi, was witnessed wearing size 11-12 New Balance shoes just before the murder, left town a couple of days after the murder, drove a black Chrysler minivan the week before the murder, had a reputation for violence ...... Not to mention that he threatened my life for talking about him in the case.

I need the information about whether or not your former office received any data concerning Mr. Hinze in order to continue the blog I have been writing concerning my testimony and research regarding the case.

Trina Langenbrunner Case "Solved"?

 (Here was a link to this blog, that previewed the screen shot showing the total 2012 damage from incendiary fires in Carlton County, MN, less than $9,000, as reported in official Minnesota State Fire Statistics -- despite Sandra Couture supposedly having burned down a house plus two vehicles in Cloquet, on July 6 of 2012.)

This is the second email I've sent you regarding this simple yes-or-no question, and I also sent 2 messages to your Facebook account.

I've checked on Google, and I have no doubt that you are the Steven Hagenah who was in charge of the forensic investigation in the case, and that this is your present email address.

I'll wait for another couple of days, and if I still receive no answer, I will relate that information in the blog, that after 4 attempts, I have received no answer.

Thank you,

Lloyd Wagner

 me

To

steven.hagenah@lltc.edu

Feb 12 at 3:27 PM

Dear Mr. Hagenah,

I've written a rough draft of my next blog post, relating my experiences trying to get my testimony taken seriously in the Trina Langenbrunner case.

As my attempted correspondence with you will be the main subject in the next post to be published in a couple of days, I thought I would give you a quick chance to read it before I publish it, and to comment to me, if you wish. (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: The "rough draft" referred to here has actually already been published, in the last post.)

Thanks,

Lloyd Wagner

Below is the “answer” I finally got from Steven Hagenah, after 6 weeks. I will analyze it paragraph by paragraph, and comment, in red font:

Steven Hagenah

To

me

Feb 13 at 3:38 AM

Mr. Wagner, I did read your emails. I chose not to respond as I have no idea of who you are and why you are fixated/interested on this case. (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: I quote directly from my January 27 email (above). I thought my email was an adequately clear introduction about who I am, and why I am “fixated/interested” on the case. I’ll reproduce the applicable parts of that email once more, right below, in italics.)  

Jan 27

Dear Sir,

I believe that certain forensic data in the Trina Langenbrunner case was deliberately withheld from your former office in the MBCA.

As you have been informed, Joseph Couture was convicted of the crime solely on his own confession in 2013, with no physical data or sworn testimony of any witness ever being presented to a jury.

I need to know if your former office did or did not receive any forensic data concerning a Thomas J. Hinze, about whom I related a considerable amount of information to the St. Louis Sheriff's Department investigators. My testimony was evidently ignored, since the Investigator from the Public Defender's Office, Mr. Ron Taggart, informed me that Thomas Hinze was never DNA-tested (though many others were). That is inexplicable, since Mr. Hinze met EVERY criteria the Sheriff was advertising for: he had opportunity, had no alibi, was witnessed wearing size 11-12 New Balance shoes just before the murder, left town a couple of days after the murder, drove a black Chrysler minivan the week before the murder, had a reputation for violence ...... Not to mention that he threatened my life for talking about him in the case.  (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: I really don’t have any idea how to express myself any more clearly than the above email. I have a Master’s Degree in the English language, with a related field of Linguistics, have done no small amount of professional writing, and have 9 years’ experience in teaching college-level English as a Second Language.

For Christ’s sake, even my 2nd-year English students in Thailand can understand what I wrote here. It’s beyond belief that Mr. Hagenah cannot understand such plain English.)

In addition, I am no longer an active law enforcement person. (Comment from Lloyd Wagner 2-20-2015: Any citizen receiving information concerning a possible cover-up of testimony in a felony crime, especially a brutal murder, has the moral and legal duty to act on it, not only “active law enforcement people”. Besides, here is what Steven Hagenah said in the June 16, 2012 News Tribune article, and I quote from that article, again, in italics:

“Steve Hagenah, a retired senior special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Bemidji, worked for years on the case and was thrilled to hear abot an arrest Friday night.

        “I know some people who busted their chops on that case,” he said. “It just goes to show that you never give up.”

        He said that while many of the people who worked on the case early on are now retired, investigators wear a cold case “like an albatross around your neck,” he said.

        “You never stop thinking about it.” (Comment from Lloyd Wagner 2-20-2015: Are you or are you not thinking about it, Mr. Hagenah?)

You need to speak with the "real" police but it seems you have worn out your welcome in that regard. (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: Again, the email quoted above seems to say in pretty clear English that I HAVE REPEATEDLY spoken with the so-called “real” police, and that they inexplicably have refused to check into my information.

In addition, the so-called “real” police also informed Mr. Hinze of my confidential testimony, and completely failed to act on my complaints that Mr. Hinze had threatened my life in consequence of their telling him about my confidential testimony.

I’m not sure what the hell the phrase “wearing out my welcome” has to do with anything at ALL, in “real” police work, Mr. Hagenah.

I wonder where you learned about Law Enforcement, and how in the world you can claim any right to be teaching the subject in a Tribal College, when you talk about testimony in a murder case being “welcome”, or not “welcome”.

Check the Mr. Hinze’s DNA, already, is all that’s required. Not like or dislike, or welcome, or unwelcome, just check his DNA. That’s where the evidence lies, Mr. Hagenah.)

I do not check my Facebook stuff as it seems mostly a waste of time so that is not a method to get information to me.

(Comment from Lloyd Wagner 2-20-2015: That’s entirely up to you, of course, Mr. Hagenah. Then after I gave up trying to contact you through Facebook, it still took 3 emails (above), including a threat to contact your employer, Leech Lake Tribal College, before you finally sent me this smoke-screen I am commenting on now.)

I assure you, I get many emails from many people to consider themselves investigators or detectives and to be quite honest with you, I ignore most of them.

(Comment from Lloyd Wagner 2-20-2015: I related my direct testimony, including what I SAW, and what I HEARD, namely: a detailed description of the tire that had been on the car Mr. Hinze could very easily have taken the night of the murder, a description of the vehicle Mr. Hinze had been driving just before the murder, some simple facts of Mr. Hinze’s movements the week of the murder and shortly thereafter … and I asked a simple question, whether Mr. Hagenah’s office had received any forensic data from Mr. Hinze from the “real” police.

I still cannot get a straight answer from Mr. Hagenah.

As far as “considering myself to be an “investigator” or a “detective”, well, Mr. Hagenah, when I see size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes, and belatedly find out that the police are looking for someone who wore New Balance shoes of that same size that I saw, and the same week that I saw them, besides (!) it shouldn’t take much of a damned “investigator” or “detective” to realize that it is my duty to tell the "real" police what I saw.

And when the SAME person had also been driving a Chrysler mini-van just a week before the murder, had an easy opportunity to steal my car the night of the murder, had had no alibi, had left town right after the murder, and had also told me he had burned clothes right after the murder, it shouldn’t  take a professional “detective” or “investigator” to think that perhaps the “real” police should have checked his DNA.

Isn’t that pretty basic, Mr. Hagenah, or wouldn’t you know?

I am not being intentional rude but I have little time for some of the fantastic tales people send me. (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: That should be “intentionally rude”, buddy, use the adverb form – and ya, you ARE being intentionally rude, by calling my story “fantastic”, without ever checking the forensic data, or ever answering my simple questions whether you did or did not receive the forensic data.

I guess what I would call “fantastic”, would be for someone to ask me or anyone else to believe that the “real” police have done their jobs, here. According to Ron Taggart from the Public Defender’s office, the Sheriff’s office did actually check the DNA of many people (I’d assume through the MBCA, though I don’t know for sure), though not including Tom Hinze.

 Am I supposed to think that ALL of the people they checked ALSO were seen wearing size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes, drove a Chrysler mini-van, were (or could have been) in the Brookston area the night of the murder, and may have been acting strangely (like burning clothes in a woodstove) or left town shortly after the murder? The same as Tom Hinze actually did? ALL of these people they DID DNA-test, met all of the above criteria? Otherwise they wouldn’t have had to check them?

Now that IS “fantastic”, Mr. Hagenah. Only a fool would believe that. Yet evidently they DNA-tested all those OTHER people, while refusing to DNA-test the guy who I have repeatedly and still repeatedly swear met every one of those criteria.)   

Some of your "evidence" or information is obviously in error and thus, not valid for consideration.

(Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: I used the words “data”, “testimony”, and “information”, and I did NOT use the word “evidence”. You’re putting words into my mouth.

My testimony is NOT “obviously in error”, it is my testimony. The only way that my testimony would be incorrect would be if I had MADE UP that testimony, and was lying. And the only way to check into that and to prove that I was lying, would be to check into the DATA, which is exactly what I asked YOU, Mr. Hagenah.

DID your office receive any information on any forensic DATA on Tom Hinze? If you had, and if that DATA had proven that I was lying, then you’d have something to say. Otherwise, I’ll repeat, you’re obviously throwing up a smoke-screen to try to cover for WHY they did not check into my information, and why my testimony AND the forensic data has been very deftly kept out of a courtroom.   

I am not the person to list all the details for you.

(Comment from Lloyd Wagner 2-20-2015: I didn’t ask you to list any details, Mr. Hagenah, I asked you if your office had received the data, regarding the description of the tire on the car, streaks on the headliner that were reported as looking as if someone may have wiped blood off his fingers, ashes from the woodstove in which Mr. Hinze said he burned clothes, and especially Mr. Hinze’s DNA sample. Did it or did it not match that of the DNA found at the crime scene? Yes or No would be sufficient, and details would not be required.)

I do appreciate that you take an interest in justice and seeking truth but it does not take much misinformation to lead one down a blind alley.

(No, I don’t think you really appreciate that I take an interest in justice and seeking truth – or you would have answered my questions.

As far as “misinformation”, you are not accusing me of making a mistake, you are calling me a liar, as all of the information I mentioned to you relates to things I am ready to testify to, under oath. I don’t appreciate being called a liar without any attempt made to PROVE me a liar, and I will say that the “leading down a blind alley” is what you and the “real” police have been trying to do to both Trina Langenbrunner’s family, and to the public.)

I am certain those who follow your blogs await the next installment.

(Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: Yeah, I think they do, thanks, Steve. Less and less people are believing the mainstream media and lying police than used to, which causes more and more people to get their news elsewhere.)

Sincerely, (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: “Sincerely”??)

Steve Hagenah (retired Agent) (Comment from Lloyd Wagner, 2-20-2015: Yeah, retired, all right, undoubtedly collecting a nice pension from Minnesota taxpayers, and double-dipping from the tribal college, besides. A guy who seemingly can't even read English, and doesn't seem to know (or care) anything about the reliability of DNA evidence in a murder case, either. Now we ARE talking about some "fantastic" crap going on.)

Well, that’s the end of this post. Once again I am left with a bad taste in my mouth.

But thanks for reading, and please stay tuned.

Attempts to Correspond With Steven Hagenah (part 1)

(This post is mostly about my attempts to correspond with Steven Hagenah, retired forensic investigator from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but there is also a short section about 2/3 of the way down (look for the red font) relating my attempt to get Joseph Couture's prison address from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. None of these boys are giving out ANY info on this case!) Thanks for reading.

 Below (indented) are two cut-and-pastes of articles that were published in the Duluth News Tribune on October 31, 2005, and on June 16, 2012.

The first article is “It’s All About the Evidence”, and the second is an announcement, “Arrest made in 2000 killing of Cloquet woman”.

Both articles contain quotes from a Mr. Steve Hagenah who at the time of the first article, was the “senior special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Bemidji” (Minnesota), and according to the second article, “worked years on the case”.

Both articles contain this 2005 quote from Mr. Hagenah: “We spent thousands of man-hours over there working that. It has the air of solvability to it, but we’re missing some key elements: witnesses or biological evidence that would be useful to us.”

As mentioned a few weeks back in a previous blog post, I (Lloyd Wagner) didn’t always read the Duluth newspapers – and especially not in 2005, when I was first in Laos, where I barely had an Internet connection at all.

So, I first read the articles mentioning Mr. Hagenah just a month and a half ago, or so, on December 30, 2014, from the 63 pages of published articles on the Langenbrunner case that I belatedly received from the data-bank at the Duluth Public Library.

Naturally, I rather excitedly came to the conclusion that Steve is the person with whom I want to speak! Who else would know better whether all (or even any) of the information I had repeatedly supplied to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office had actually been submitted for forensic testing, or had been -- as I suspected and still suspect -- “deep-sixed” and deliberately WITHHELD from the forensic investigators – which would CERTAINLY explain what Mr. Hagenah had complained about in 2005, that they were “missing some key elements: witnesses or biological evidence that would be useful to us.”

Or, alternatively, if Mr. Hagenah’s office HAD already received the info I’d provided, such as (1) the description of the tire that was on the Nissan, (2) the description of the shoes I had seen, and (most importantly, I’d think) (3) DNA samples from Thomas J. Hinze, from the Nissan car, and from the woodstove in which Mr. Hinze had burned clothes the week of the murder … and IF none of this info fit the actual forensic info from the case, I expected that Mr. Hagenah could very easily just inform me:

“Yes, Mr. Wagner, (1) we DID receive your description of the tire that was on your car, and it was a totally different make/size of tire from the tracks that we had, and (2) Yes, Mr. Wagner, we DID receive the description of the shoes that you saw shortly before the murder, and we’re sorry, but tracks from New Balance shoes size 11 or 12 actually DO tell the shoe color, and yes, as Sally Burns told you, those shoes were white, not black as the size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes that you saw, and (3) Yes, Mr. Wagner, we DID receive DNA information from Thomas J. Hinze, and we’re sorry, but it did NOT match the DNA info from the Langenbrunner case. And Yes, Mr. Wagner, we DID check out the Nissan car Mr. Hinze admitted driving the week of the murder, but no, there was no DNA from Trina Langenbrunner in the car, and Yes, Mr. Wagner, we did check out the ashes in the woodstove that Mr. Hinze burned clothes in before leaving town shortly after the murder, but no, Mr. Wagner, there was nothing in the ashes, either.”

Getting this information from the actual forensic investigator in the case would be like getting it straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth!

Not that I’d necessarily believe it, either, of course, even if Mr. Hagenah would tell me so, since that would contradict what Mr. Ron Taggart from the Public Defender’s Office has already told me – that his office had NOT received any such info about Tom Hinze.

I also assumed that a forensic investigator such as Mr. Hagenah, who had spent thousands of hours on the case, would want to read of my further research into such things as the weird “arson fire” that the St. Louis County investigators found out about through “breaking a jailhouse code” and had solved (!) before any of the local media had even heard about the house burning, let alone reported anything about it. The arson fire that left 2 dogs “missing and presumed dead” (leaving no skeletons behind), and that burned a house and 2 vehicles to a total loss (while causing less than $8,600 worth of damage). That weird “arson fire”.

I also assumed that a forensic investigator such as Mr. Hagenah, who had spent many years and thousands of hours on the case, would want to ensure that actual forensic evidence he had investigated did indeed match the actual forensic evidence used to convict Mr. Couture of murder.

What I immediately did then, was to do a search for a “Steve Hagenah” in “Bemidji Minnesota”, at first on Facebook. When I did find this name matched to this location, I also checked for approximate age – Mr. Hagenah was reported to be 54 years old in 2005, so I figured that would make him around 63 or 64 years old now.

Well, yes, there IS a Steve Hagenah from Bemidji on Facebook, and yes, he does look to be about the right age, and yes, he does have friends in law enforcement, including in the MBCA, so I immediately sent him a message sending him the link to my blog about the case and asking him if his office had or hadn’t received any of my information.

Mr. Hagenah’s Facebook page says there has not been any recent activity, however, so I wasn’t too surprised to get no answer. Maybe he is one of the few Facebook members who never ever check their messages. I sent a follow-up message a few days later, and again I received no answer.

My next step then, was to search on Google for Steven Hagenah of Bemidji, Minnesota. Again, I easily found that name matching that location. I also found definitely that the Steven Hagenah from Bemidji, Minnesota is retired from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and is now employed as an instructor in Law Enforcement at the Leech Lake Tribal College, and also in a Law Enforcement training program in Grand Forks, North Dakota. ***(note on 8-3-2018 -- Steve Hagenah is now deceased, the info in these links has changed, but were correct at the date first published)***

Mr. Hagenah’s email address is listed at Leech Lake Tribal College, too, and everything certainly seems current. I would guess, at least, that the Leech Lake Tribal College website keeps their contact information up-to-date.

So, I have sent Mr. Hagenah 3 emails, so far, that I assume have reached him, dated [Jan 14, Jan 27, and Jan 28]……… I would assume that any employee of a college must be required to check his email at least once in awhile – I know that I have to, here at the University in Thailand. However, as is par for the course in this case, evidently Mr. Hagenah chooses not to comment on the case, not to tell me I’ve got the wrong Mr. Hagenah, not to tell me yes, no, or any damned thing at all about whether the MBCA forensic investigators ever received my testimony on the case.

I even thought of emailing someone else there at the Tribal College to ask for confirmation of Mr. Hagenah’s current status of employment, but decided that would be unnecessary – and silly, besides. Surely if he wasn’t employed there anymore, they’d take his name down. So I’ve dropped the idea of contacting the college regarding any of this – for now, at least.

I have sent Mr. Hagenah one last email dated [Feb 12]…… to which I am attaching this text as a doc. file, for him to comment on, if he wishes. If I don’t get any answer from him by the beginning of next week, I will proceed to post this whole thing as a blog post which will be dated as it’s posted. Then I will decide how to proceed from there. 

Comments in red font from Lloyd Wagner on 2-18-15: I did finally receive an answer from Mr. Hagenah, which I would characterize as a "smoke screen". He refused to answer my questions, pretended to not understand why I'm interested in the case, and said I'm going "down a blind alley" because of "misinformation" which he will not detail. I will post the entire emails and further comments in my next post, coming soon, I hope.

I've also finally received an answer from the Department of Corrections as to the whereabouts of Joseph Couture, whom I considered writing to in prison regarding his obviously false confession to murder. Here, very briefly, is the very brief answer I received on that question, dated February 17.

"Couture is serving his sentence in another state. The location is not disclosed per DOC policy."

Below that non-answer was my original email requesting Couture's address, with his prisoner number (which is already right on the Internet under the DOC locator, and already posted as a screen shot on this blog post). However, I cannot seem to copy and paste my original message -- it just comes up blank when I try to "paste". Anyway, beneath my original request was the following official notice:

"This email is intended to be read only by the intended recipient. This email may be legally privileged or protected from disclosure by law. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination of this email or any attachments is strictly prohibited, and you should refrain from reading this email or examining any attachments. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email and any attachments."

So, please all, forget that you read this (wink wink), and don't even imagine that there's a coverup here. I guess the Minnesota DOC has taken lessons from Pinochet's Chile now, and is "disappearing" its prisoners to undisclosed locations.They said earlier it was by "Couture's own request" to serve his sentence out of state, so I suppose that must be true, if they said so, eh? I'm sure Couture wouldn't want anybody asking him whether his "defense team" had informed him that ANOTHER person had been seen wearing size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes less than a week before the murder.

And then forbidding people to tell anybody else that it's their policy to not tell anybody where the prisoners are, either. Un-effing real. 

Well, the old News Tribune articles are posted below, if you'd like to read about a totally different Steven Hagenah than the one you will meet in the next post. In the articles below, (posted for educational purposes) it makes it sound as though Mr. Hagenah was/is as stubborn as a badger in his unrelenting quest for "evidence". Not so. Not so.

Thanks for reading. Please stay tuned.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE EVIDENCE - THE MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION USES SCIENCE TO EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM UNLIKELY PLACES

--------------------------------------------------

Duluth News-Tribune (MN)-October 31, 2005

Readability: 10-12 grade level (Lexile: 1170L)

Author: Mark Stodghill/News Tribune Staff Writer

Steve Hagenah has worked two of the most high-profile missing person and murder cases that turned cold in Northland history -- the June 14, 2003, disappearance of 5-year-old Leanna Warner from Chisholm and the Sept. 3, 2000, murder of Trina Langenbrunner of Cloquet.

        Hagenah is the senior special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Bemidji.

         If a body is found in rural northern Minnesota, it's likely that Hagenah and his team of forensic scientists will be called to assist the local police agency in the investigation.

        The 32-year BCA veteran is not a member of his agency's Cold Case unit based in St. Paul, but he knows how it operates and he personally knows how to work a case to exhaustion.

        Hagenah, 54, pointed to 23 notebooks stacked across filing cabinets in his office. Every one of them is devoted to the Leanna Warner case.

        ``I've gone through the entire Warner file three times from cover to cover, looking for something I overlooked or maybe didn't do,'' he said.

        Hagenah said seeking a useful piece of information sometimes can be like trying to pick a snowflake out of a blizzard.

        ``The most critical time in the life of a piece of evidence is that nanosecond before a police officer reaches down and picks it up,'' Hagenah said. ``If he does it right, it's useful. If he doesn't do it right, it's just an interesting piece of stuff that you found because it doesn't have any value as evidence.''

        The crime lab in Bemidji has four sections:

        Biology/DNA: This section allows forensic scientists to identify blood, semen, saliva and other body fluids. DNA testing allows the resident scientist to determine possible sources of the fluids.

        Evidence from cold cases sometimes yields tiny amounts of DNA that can be traced to a suspect. Before the late 1980s, DNA evidence was not commonly accepted in U.S. courts.

        Drug chemistry: Scientists in this section analyze and identify suspected controlled substances.

        Latent fingerprints: This section compares unknown latent prints -- those invisible to the naked eye -- with suspect prints. The information is entered into a fingerprint identification network that can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies.

        Ever-evolving techniques for revealing hidden fingerprints offer hope of uncovering new evidence in cold cases.

       Firearms and tool marks: Examines whether a questioned bullet or cartridge case was fired from a suspect firearm. The section also maintains a database to use firearms evidence to link crime scenes.

         A recovered firearm can be test-fired, the cartridge and projectile recovered and compared on the computerized worldwide Integrated Ballistics Identification System.

        Nat Pearlson, a forensic scientist specializing in firearms and tool-mark examinations and comparison, explained the value of the system.

        ``If somebody in Cass Lake brings in cartridges from a drive-by shooting and, say, Duluth has a drive-by and police find a gun, I can test-fire the gun and enter the image (of the cartridges) in the system and it can be seen if the cases are related. It's a pretty good investigative tool to link up cases that you didn't know were related to each other.''

        But as Hagenah points out, you don't always have to be a scientist to solve a crime.

        ``I had one guy convinced that we had a spy satellite hovering over him at the time of the crime and we were waiting for NASA to enhance the photo so we could ID him,'' Hagenah said. ``I told him it would really be better if he told me what he did and he told me. He said, `Wow. You guys are amazing.' ''

        Murder cases are never closed. Investigators are always trying to breathe life into a cold murder case, Hagenah said.

        Langenbrunner's stabbed body was discovered off a rural road in southern St. Louis County. The 33-year-old was the mother of three.

        ``Based on circumstances, I think it's highly likely it was a stranger or somebody who interacted with Trina just in that moment,'' Hagenah said. ``That makes it difficult. We spent thousands of man-hours over there working that. It has the air of solvability to it, but we're missing some key elements: witnesses or biological evidence that would be useful to us.''

        A $100,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Langenbrunner's killer. A $25,000 reward has been offered for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Leanna Warner's disappearance.

        Rewards seldom solve cases, Hagenah said. If the reward is appealing enough, some people will make up information. Some will call police with a list of suspects and if one of their suspects is convicted they will call and ask for the reward.

        ``Every once in a while a reward will pry loose some helpful information, but it's pretty rare,'' he said. ``The reality is that most folks step up to the plate if they have information way before a reward is offered.''

        Hagenah is not a fan of television shows like CSI. He thinks most of the shows that depict forensic science cases are ``schlocky.'' He said there's a nugget of truth to what they do.

        ``They don't follow many of the rules that we have to follow,'' he said. ``The state doesn't give us Humvees to go out to crime scenes.

        ``What I find fascinating is crime-scene investigators will have these extremely candid conversations in front of witnesses and the two investigators will look at each other and make some significant hypotheses about the crime. It makes for good TV. It just makes for horrible crime-scene work.''

MARK STODGHILL reports on legal affairs and public safety. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 723-5333 or by e-mail at mstodghill@duluthnews.com.

     

        PHOTOS: Clint Austin/News Tribune and mug of Steve Hagenah, Trina

        Langenbrunner, Leanna Warner

         1. Forensic scientist Nat Pearlson, a crime scene coordinator, demonstrates the use of a comparison microscope to compare spent shell casings from a firearm at the Bemidji office of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

           2. A microscope used to compare spent shell casings to a specific firearm reveals on this split screen that they are a match, with identical markings.

        Edition: FINALSection: FRONTPage: 01A

Dateline: BEMIDJIRecord Number: 0510310058Copyright (c) 2005 Duluth News-Tribune

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Arrest made in 2000 killing of Cloquet woman - A convicted sex offender from Cloquet has been arrested for a murder 12 years ago considered one of the most high-profile cold cases in the Northland, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office said late Friday night.

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Duluth News Tribune (MN)-June 16, 2012

Readability: 9-12 grade level (Lexile: 1130L)

Author: Mike Creger, Duluth News Tribune

         A convicted sex offender from Cloquet has been arrested for a murder 12 years ago considered one of the most high-profile cold cases in the Northland, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office said late Friday night.

        Joseph John Couture was arrested in the Sept. 3, 2000, stabbing death of Trina Langenbrunner of Cloquet. Her body was discovered off a rural road in southern St. Louis County. The 33-year-old was the mother of three.

        Couture, 41, is a Level 3 sex offender and is being held in St. Louis County Jail on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, authorities said.

        Couture was arrested in 1993 on felony burglary charges and faced various misdemeanor charges before a conviction for second-degree sexual conduct in 2006. He had been charged with 11 counts of first-degree sexual conduct with a person younger than 13 before pleading to the final charge.

        The sheriff’s office provided no other information on Friday afternoon’s arrest.

        Steve Hagenah, a retired senior special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Bemidji, worked for years on the case and was thrilled to hear about an arrest Friday night.

        “I know some people who busted their chops on that case,” he said. “It just goes to show that you never give up.”

        He said that while many of the people who worked on the case early on are now retired, investigators wear a cold case “like an albatross around your neck,” he said.

        “You never stop thinking about it.”

        In a 2005 interview, Hagenah talked about how difficult cold cases can be to close.

        “Based on circumstances, I think it’s highly likely it was a stranger or somebody who interacted with Trina just in that moment,” Hagenah said at the time. “That makes it difficult. We spent thousands of man-hours over there working that. It has the air of solvability to it, but we’re missing some key elements: witnesses or biological evidence that would be useful to us.”

        There was a $100,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Langenbrunner’s killer.

        Langenbrunner’s family asked for privacy Friday night after receiving news of the arrest.

        Authorities said Langenbrunner was hitchhiking to Grand Rapids to see her estranged husband the night of her death. Sex or robbery was believed to be the killer’s initial motivation.

         Trina Langenbrunner

          Joseph John Couture

        Section: News

Record Number: 7bbd26babd74dc0599ef8f659ad55c2623fbdceCopyright (c) 2012 Duluth News Tribune

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