State Police 'Crime Cards' Feature Four Berkshire Unsolved Cases
The decks were published by the Massachusetts State Police, in partnership with the state Department of Correction and district attorney's offices. Each card in the deck features a photo of and information about a victim of homicide or a missing person.
The four Berkshire County cases appear in the diamond suite, with Anthony Colucci of Pittsfield, murdered at the age of 20 in 2005, and Lynn Burdick, who disappeared from a general store in the town of Florida in 1982 at age 18, as the ace and king, respectively.
Also in the deck are two Pittsfield residents murdered in 2016: Joseph Willie "Bizzy" Brown, shot to death in his Columbus Avenue driveway and James "Diddy" Dominguez, found with a gunshot wound to the head in the parking lot of the former Lach's Lounge on Fenn Street.
The playing cards are the work of the Unresolved Cases Unit, which hopes to elicit new information that will help close old cases. The victims were selected by the State Police detective units at each district attorney's office.
The Department of Correction, which funded the playing card decks, is distributing them to state prison inmates in the hope they may have and share information about the crimes. The images are also being being disseminated over social media.
Col. Christopher Mason, superintendent of the State Police, said the cards bring "a new focus on older, unresolved cases ... in hopes that the passage of time will unearth or unlock new evidence."
Speaking in YouTube video that features a slideshow of all 52 cards (below), Mason said Unresolved Cases Unit wanted to put the cases back before the eyes and ears of the public.
The oldest case in the deck is that of Angelo "Andy" Publisi, who went missing in Lawrence on Aug. 21, 1976, at the age of 10. Some are more well-known than others, such as the murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish of Warren, whose body was found in 2003 after she went missing three years earlier.
According to State Police, similar cards were distributed to jails in Polk County, Fla., and generated more than 60 tips and the resolution of four cases. They have been used in other states and countries.
Mason said the hope is that the faces and situations of the victims will spark memories, and that the passage of time will reduce the fears of coming forward or weigh more heavily on people's consciences.
"For each and everyone, there's someone who lives with a hole in their heart or their home that was once filled by one of these victims," he says in the video. "For each of these victims, regardless of their life story, there is a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend, someone who mourns for them and yearns for justice. ...
"We believe justice delayed does not need to be justice denied."
To submit information regarding these unresolved cases, call toll free 1-855-MA-SOLVE, email mspunresolved@pol.state.ma.us, or send a letter to the Unresolved Cases Unit at 470 Worcester Road, Framingham MA 01702.
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