Aiken investigators turn to FBI

National Academy Associates for fresh ideas on Carpenter slaying

Web posted Saturday, November 11, 2000

 Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums.

By Greg Rickabaugh
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN - Frustrated with the lack of leads in the unsolved slaying of Jessica Carpenter, Aiken investigators have reviewed their work on the case with a handful of police experts who attended the FBI National Academy, according to Public Safety Chief Pete Frommer.

During an annual meeting of the South Carolina chapter of FBI National Academy Associates in Columbia last week, the lead detectives on the Carpenter case discussed their investigation with a panel. Chief Frommer is a member of the association because he graduated from the FBI National Academy.

Police experts were asked to reviewed the unsolved slaying of Jessica Carpenter. FILE

So the police chief asked the group to give his agency suggestions for how to proceed in the Carpenter case.

``My investigators came up there, and we laid the case out for them,'' Chief Frommer said. ``We gave them all the information we have: what happened, what we have done in the investigation. And (we) asked them, `Are we overlooking something? Have we missed something?' These are smart folks who have been to the academy and have been in law enforcement for years and years.''

The result was a fresh perspective on the 3-month-old case, Chief Frommer said.

``They gave us some new angles, some insight, some thoughts, some experiences they have,'' he said. ``So we are following up some of that information now. We're not just keeping this case among ourself trying to solve it. Anything we can do that might help us, we are doing it.''

On Aug. 4, Judy Carpenter returned to her Crosland Park home and found her 17-year-old daughter dead. An autopsy showed the cause of death as internal bleeding and lack of oxygen.

Since her death, the investigation has been a roller coaster ride, with the most recent twist involving a possible link with serial-killing suspect Reinaldo Rivera. Officers in Richmond County believed the near-fatal attack on Chrisilee Barton on Oct. 10 seemed similar to Jessica's death.

But then laboratory results showed DNA results taken from Mr. Rivera did not match DNA evidence collected at the crime scene of Jessica's slaying. Aiken detectives haven't ruled Mr. Rivera out as a suspect, but they are more tight-lipped about that angle of the case.

``We are not casting anything aside, saying, `Well, that didn't happen.' It's still one, big active case, and every piece of information we get we keep adding to it and adding to it. We're not ready to discard anything yet,'' Chief Frommer said.

Police have had no luck finding a man pictured on a store video surveillance camera near the victim's home a few hours before the killing. They released the surveillance camera image of the man and a sketch to local media.

The man is not a suspect, but police want to talk to him about his activities that day.

Despite the lack of an arrest, Chief Frommer maintains that his agency will find the killer.

``Our people are confident that we are going to solve this case,'' he said. ``We still feel it is a solvable case.''

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (803) 279-6895.

Submit Your Opinion Name: Email: Enter your comments here