WHEN A CASE RAISES QUESTIONS, GO BACK TO THE RECORD.
INDEPENDENT CASE RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Every case has a record.
Sometimes that record is clear.
Sometimes it is fragmented across years of reporting, court documents, archival material, public records, books, interviews, photographs, official statements, and other sources.
And sometimes the more closely the record is examined, the more questions emerge.
That is where our work begins.
We conduct comprehensive, desk-based research and analysis of selected criminal and factual cases, examining available information and bringing the documented record together into a structured, detailed, and professionally prepared written report.
Our research is not limited by the age of a case.
A matter may have happened yesterday, several years ago, or generations ago.
It may be located in the United States or another country.
It may be widely known or virtually forgotten.
What matters is whether there is a meaningful body of information to research and legitimate questions that can be examined through documentary and factual analysis.
We go back to the record.
We examine the sources.
We reconstruct the timeline.
We identify what is established, what is disputed, and what remains unknown.
And we report what the research supports.
CURRENT. RECENT. HISTORICAL. INTERNATIONAL.
A CASE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE OLD TO DESERVE A CLOSER LOOK.
We consider selected cases across a broad range of time periods and locations.
Our research may involve:
- Current cases
- Recently reported cases
- Ongoing matters, where sufficient public information exists for meaningful research
- Unsolved cases
- Unresolved cases
- Cold cases
- Historical cases
- Decades-old cases
- Homicide cases
- Missing-person cases
- Suspicious or disputed deaths
- Criminal cases involving conflicting accounts
- Cases involving disputed conclusions
- Cases involving significant unanswered questions
- Cases from the United States
- Cases from other countries
- Cases that received extensive media coverage
- Cases that received little or no sustained public attention
The age or location of a case does not automatically determine whether it is appropriate for research.
A current case can contain unanswered questions.
A ten-year-old case can contain overlooked information.
A fifty-year-old case can contain a fragmented historical record.
An international case can contain sources spread across multiple languages, jurisdictions, and archives.
Each case is evaluated on its own merits.
HAVE PENNY AND HER TEAM TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
FIND THE RECORD. UNDERSTAND THE RECORD. DOCUMENT THE RECORD.
Our objective is not to create a predetermined narrative.
It is not to promise that an established conclusion is wrong.
It is not to manufacture a mystery where none exists.
The purpose is to conduct serious research into the available information and present that research in a clear, organized, and documented manner.
That means distinguishing between:
DOCUMENTED FACT
Information supported by an identifiable source or record.
REPORTED INFORMATION
Information presented by a news organization, publication, individual, or other source that may require further examination or comparison.
ALLEGATION
A claim that has been made but has not necessarily been established as fact.
DISPUTED INFORMATION
Information for which different sources provide conflicting accounts or interpretations.
INFERENCE
A conclusion that may reasonably be drawn from documented information but is not itself a documented fact.
UNKNOWN
A question for which the available record does not provide a reliable answer.
That distinction is central to responsible case research.
THE RECORD CAN CHANGE.
ESPECIALLY IN CURRENT CASES.
A current case is different from a historical case.
Information may still be emerging.
Reports may change.
Official statements may be updated.
Court proceedings may still be underway.
New documents may become available.
Facts that appear established at one point may later be challenged or clarified.
For current and recently reported cases, our research reflects the information and sources that are available and lawfully accessible during the period of research.
The resulting report does not claim to represent information that has not yet entered the available record.
Research documents the record as it exists at the time of the project.
If significant new information becomes available later, that information may warrant a separate review or additional research.
WHAT WE RESEARCH
A DEEPER LOOK AT THE AVAILABLE RECORD
Every case is different.
The scope of research is determined by the nature of the case, the available sources, the questions to be examined, and the objectives established for the project.
Depending on the case, research may include the following:
CASE HISTORY
A detailed reconstruction of the documented history of the case.
This may include the circumstances surrounding the original event, subsequent developments, legal proceedings, public reporting, investigative developments documented in available sources, and other significant events.
CHRONOLOGY & TIMELINE
A chronological reconstruction of relevant events.
Where possible, significant dates, times, locations, statements, developments, and documented events are organized into a coherent timeline.
Timelines can be particularly valuable when different sources provide conflicting or incomplete accounts.
COURT & LEGAL RECORDS
Research into publicly available court records and legal materials relevant to the case.
Depending on the jurisdiction and availability of records, this may include:
- Court opinions
- Filings
- Motions
- Decisions
- Transcripts where publicly available
- Appeals
- Sentencing records
- Publicly accessible legal proceedings
- Other relevant court documentation
NEWS & MEDIA ARCHIVES
Extensive historical and contemporary reporting can provide important context.
Research may involve comparing coverage from different publications and different periods to identify:
- Changes in reported facts
- Conflicting accounts
- Corrections
- New information
- Statements attributed to relevant individuals
- Details that appeared in early reporting but disappeared from later accounts
- Information that was repeatedly reported without clear sourcing
The objective is not simply to collect articles.
It is to examine what those sources actually establish.
HISTORICAL & ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Older cases often require research beyond modern search engines.
Depending on the case, research may involve historical newspapers, books, periodicals, archival collections, government publications, digitized historical records, and other available resources.
Some cases require extensive work simply to reconstruct what was publicly known at the time.
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
Lawfully obtained documents may be examined for relevance, chronology, inconsistencies, context, and connections to other information within the case record.
Documents are considered within the broader body of available information rather than in isolation.
SOURCE COMPARISON
Different sources may describe the same event in different ways.
One source may provide a detail that another omits.
Two accounts may appear to contradict one another.
A later publication may repeat an earlier claim without identifying the original source.
Research may compare these accounts and trace important information back through the available source record.
FACT CHECKING & VERIFICATION
Where reasonably possible, significant factual claims are compared against available supporting sources.
The purpose is to determine whether information is:
- Supported
- Contradicted
- Unconfirmed
- Misstated
- Repeated from another source
- Taken out of context
- Or genuinely unresolved
No source is automatically treated as infallible.
INVESTIGATIVE HISTORY
Where sufficient documentation exists, research may examine how the case was publicly or officially described as having been investigated.
This may include documented investigative developments, reported theories, publicly reported evidence, arrests, prosecutions, court proceedings, and other historical developments.
The research is limited to information that can be lawfully obtained and examined.
CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
When sources disagree, the disagreement itself can be significant.
Research may identify:
- Conflicting dates
- Different versions of events
- Contradictory statements
- Changing descriptions
- Inconsistent timelines
- Differences between contemporaneous and later accounts
The existence of a contradiction does not automatically establish that one account is true and another is false.
The report identifies and analyzes the discrepancy based upon the available record.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
SOMETIMES THE MOST IMPORTANT FINDING IS THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS.
A thorough research project does not need to produce a dramatic revelation to be valuable.
A case may contain questions that cannot be answered from the available information.
Those questions deserve to be clearly identified rather than quietly ignored.
Research may identify:
- Missing information
- Unexplained timeline gaps
- Conflicting accounts
- Inconsistencies between sources
- Claims lacking identifiable support
- Questions that remain unresolved
- Areas where the available record is incomplete
An unanswered question is not automatically evidence of wrongdoing.
It is simply a question that the existing record does not adequately answer.
ANALYSIS WITHOUT A PREDETERMINED CONCLUSION
FOLLOW THE INFORMATION WHEREVER IT LEADS.
Every case arrives with a story.
Sometimes that story has been repeated for years.
Sometimes there are strongly held beliefs about what happened.
Sometimes there are competing theories.
Our research does not begin by deciding which theory must be correct.
Instead, theories are compared against the available record.
A theory may be:
SUPPORTED
by significant documented information.
PARTIALLY SUPPORTED
by some information but contradicted or limited by other evidence.
UNSUPPORTED
because the available record does not substantiate it.
CONTRADICTED
by reliable information within the available record.
UNRESOLVED
because insufficient information exists to reach a responsible conclusion.
This approach allows the research to remain grounded in documentation rather than speculation.
THE COMPREHENSIVE CASE REPORT
THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THE RESEARCH
Accepted projects result in a detailed written report prepared according to the agreed scope of research.
The report is designed to organize the available information into a coherent, documented examination of the case.
Depending upon the nature of the project, the report may include:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A concise overview of the case, research objectives, significant findings, and principal conclusions.
CASE BACKGROUND
A detailed description of the case and its documented history.
CHRONOLOGY
A structured timeline of relevant events.
KEY INDIVIDUALS
Identification and contextual discussion of individuals who are materially relevant to the documented case record.
SOURCE REVIEW
Identification and analysis of significant sources used during the research.
DOCUMENTARY FINDINGS
Information identified through examination of available documents and records.
COURT RECORD FINDINGS
Relevant information identified through publicly available legal materials.
MEDIA & ARCHIVAL FINDINGS
Significant information identified through historical and contemporary publications.
ACCOUNT COMPARISON
Comparison of conflicting, differing, or evolving accounts.
FACT ANALYSIS
Assessment of what the available information establishes and what remains uncertain.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Identification of significant unresolved issues within the available record.
THEORY ANALYSIS
Evaluation of competing explanations against the documented information.
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS
Presentation of information that may materially affect the understanding of the case.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
Identification of records, sources, information, or circumstances that could not be verified or obtained.
CONCLUSIONS
A reasoned summary of what the research supports—and what it does not establish.
INTERNATIONAL CASE RESEARCH
THE RECORD DOES NOT STOP AT A BORDER.
Cases outside the United States may present unique research challenges.
Records may be located in different countries.
Historical reporting may exist in different languages.
Names may appear in multiple spellings or transliterations.
Legal systems and terminology may differ.
Archives may have different accessibility requirements.
Where appropriate and reasonably possible, international case research may involve examination of available foreign-language or translated sources, international news archives, historical publications, publicly accessible records, and other lawful research materials.
Where professional translation or specialized resources are necessary, those services may constitute an additional expense and will be addressed as part of the project.
HISTORICAL CASE RESEARCH
DECADES CAN CHANGE THE RECORD.
The older a case becomes, the more fragmented its documentary history may be.
Names may have changed.
Records may have been archived.
Newspapers may have disappeared from circulation.
Original witnesses may no longer be available.
Accounts may have been repeated so many times that the original source is difficult to identify.
Historical research requires patience.
It requires going beyond the most easily accessible modern summaries and examining the sources available from the period itself whenever possible.
The closer we can get to the original record, the stronger the foundation for the analysis.
CURRENT CASE RESEARCH
NEW INFORMATION CAN CHANGE THE PICTURE.
Current cases present a different challenge.
Information may be incomplete.
Reporting may be developing rapidly.
Official investigations may still be underway.
Court proceedings may not yet be complete.
Public information may contain allegations that have not been tested.
For that reason, research involving current cases requires particular care in distinguishing established facts from developing reports.
The report will identify the state of the available record during the research period and will not represent unverified allegations as established facts.
A SELECTIVE RESEARCH PRACTICE
NOT EVERY CASE IS ACCEPTED.
Comprehensive case research requires substantial time, attention, and resources.
For that reason, we accept a limited number of research projects.
Each submission is evaluated individually.
A case may be declined when:
- Insufficient information is available
- The relevant records cannot reasonably be accessed
- The proposed research questions cannot be meaningfully addressed
- The matter falls outside the scope of the research practice
- The available information is too limited to support a responsible analysis
- Other circumstances make the project unsuitable
A submission is a request for consideration—not a guarantee of acceptance.
THE RESEARCH ENGAGEMENT
A SERIOUS PROJECT REQUIRES A SERIOUS COMMITMENT.
Once a case has been evaluated and accepted for consideration, the proposed research scope is discussed with the client.
The engagement will identify, as applicable:
- Research objectives
- Scope of work
- Anticipated deliverables
- Research limitations
- Initial retainer
- Payment terms
- Additional expense procedures
- Client responsibilities
- Applicable deadlines or research periods
- Other terms relevant to the project
INITIAL RETAINER
Accepted projects require an initial retainer to be paid in advance before substantive research begins.
The initial retainer secures the research engagement and covers the work specifically identified in the written agreement.
Research does not begin until the engagement has been formally accepted, the agreement has been completed, and the required initial retainer has been received.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH EXPENSES
Some cases require resources beyond the initial research scope.
Depending on the case, additional expenses may include:
- Archive access
- Historical record retrieval
- Document reproduction
- Court-document retrieval
- Specialized databases
- International records
- Foreign-language research resources
- Professional translation
- Specialized research services
- Other case-specific expenses
Additional expenses are separate from the initial retainer.
Whenever reasonably possible, significant additional expenses will be discussed with the client before they are incurred.
The handling and authorization of additional expenses will be established in the written engagement agreement.
YOUR CASE. YOUR QUESTIONS. YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT.
The person submitting a case often knows details that cannot be found through a simple online search.
You may have spent years researching the matter yourself.
You may have discovered conflicting information.
You may have found an old article that raises a new question.
You may have noticed that the accepted timeline does not appear to match the available documentation.
Or you may simply believe that the existing account deserves a more thorough examination.
Tell us what you have found.
The initial submission allows us to understand the case and determine whether a deeper research project may be appropriate.
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR CASE SUBMISSION
The more information you provide, the more effectively the case can be evaluated.
CASE INFORMATION
Please provide, where known:
- Case name
- Country
- State, province, or region
- City or locality
- Approximate date
- Names of relevant individuals
- Basic description of the events
- Known investigative or legal history
- Current status of the case
YOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Tell us:
- What questions remain unanswered?
- What do you believe may have been overlooked?
- Are there conflicting accounts?
- Are there disputed facts?
- Are there gaps in the known timeline?
- Are there sources that you believe deserve closer examination?
- What specifically would you like the research to address?
AVAILABLE SOURCES
You may provide references to:
- Newspaper articles
- Books
- Court documents
- Public records
- Historical archives
- Published interviews
- Photographs
- Documentary material
- Websites
- Other relevant sources
Please provide only material you are legally authorized to provide.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU SUBMIT?
01 — CASE SUBMISSION
You provide the available information and explain why you believe the case deserves further research.
02 — INITIAL EVALUATION
The submission is reviewed to determine whether meaningful documentary research appears possible.
03 — PROJECT DISCUSSION
If the case appears appropriate, we discuss the research objectives and potential scope.
04 — WRITTEN ENGAGEMENT
If the project proceeds, the scope of work, deliverables, payment terms, limitations, and additional-expense procedures are established in writing.
05 — INITIAL RETAINER
The required initial retainer is paid in advance.
06 — RESEARCH BEGINS
Once the engagement is formally established and the initial retainer has been received, substantive research begins.
07 — ANALYSIS
Sources are examined, information is organized, timelines are constructed, accounts are compared, and the research questions are analyzed.
08 — FINAL REPORT
The completed research is presented in the agreed written report.
CONFIDENTIALITY & RESPONSIBLE INFORMATION HANDLING
Case research can involve sensitive information.
Please do not submit:
- Passwords
- Financial-account information
- Government identification documents
- Privileged communications
- Material you are not legally authorized to disclose
- Illegally obtained documents
- Unnecessary sensitive personal information
Information provided during an initial submission will be handled according to the applicable website policies.
Any confidentiality obligations, document-handling requirements, or other protections applicable to an accepted research engagement will be addressed in the written agreement.
WHAT THIS SERVICE IS
This is a desk-based case research and analysis service.
The work centers on:
Research.
Documentation.
Archives.
Records.
Source comparison.
Chronology.
Fact analysis.
Historical research.
Documentary research.
Written reporting.
The work does not depend upon physical field activity.
The research is conducted through information that is publicly available, lawfully obtained, or otherwise properly provided for the research project.
WHAT THIS SERVICE DOES NOT PROMISE
Research cannot guarantee an answer.
It cannot guarantee that new evidence will be discovered.
It cannot guarantee that a case will be reopened.
It cannot guarantee an arrest, prosecution, conviction, exoneration, or change in an official conclusion.
It cannot guarantee that a particular theory will be proven.
What it can provide is a careful, organized, documented examination of the information that can be researched and analyzed.
That distinction matters.
THE STANDARD IS THE RECORD.
A compelling story is not necessarily a documented fact.
A repeated claim is not necessarily verified.
A theory is not necessarily evidence.
A contradiction is not necessarily proof of wrongdoing.
And an unanswered question is not necessarily an answer waiting to be discovered.
Our job is to maintain those distinctions.
THE GOAL IS CLARITY.
When the research is complete, the client should have a better understanding of:
What is known.
What is documented.
What is disputed.
What is supported.
What remains uncertain.
What questions remain unanswered.
And, most importantly:
What the available record actually supports.
REQUEST A CASE EVALUATION
HAVE A CASE THAT DESERVES A DEEPER LOOK?
Whether the case happened recently or decades ago, whether it occurred nearby or on the other side of the world, and whether it has received widespread attention or very little, you may submit it for consideration.
Tell us what happened.
Tell us what you have found.
Tell us what does not make sense.
Tell us what questions remain.
Tell us why you believe the record deserves another examination.
SUBMIT YOUR CASE FOR CONSIDERATION
All submissions are evaluated individually.
Submitting a case does not guarantee acceptance or the commencement of research.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This website describes a service focused on desk-based research, documentary research, historical research, source analysis, factual analysis, and preparation of written reports.
The scope of any research project will be established in a written agreement before substantive work begins.
An initial submission does not create an engagement or guarantee that research will be undertaken.
Accepted projects require an initial retainer to be paid in advance before substantive research begins.
Additional research expenses may arise depending upon the requirements of an individual project. The treatment and authorization of such expenses will be addressed in the written engagement agreement.
Research findings are dependent upon the availability, accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the information and sources that can be obtained and reviewed.
No particular discovery, finding, conclusion, outcome, or result is guaranteed.
This service does not provide legal advice or legal representation.
No representation is made that research will result in a case being reopened, a conviction being changed, an arrest being made, a prosecution being initiated, an individual being exonerated, or any other governmental or legal action.
Please do not submit information that you are prohibited from disclosing or that was obtained unlawfully.
Where a matter requires the involvement of a licensed professional or other specialist, the appropriate professional should be consulted separately.
All accepted projects are subject to the terms of a written engagement agreement.
THE RECORD IS THERE.
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER ANYONE HAS LOOKED CLOSELY ENOUGH.
Cases change with time.
Stories change.
Memories change.
Headlines change.
But the record remains.
Sometimes it takes a fresh examination to understand what that record actually says.
Sometimes the research confirms the accepted account.
Sometimes it raises new questions.
Sometimes it challenges assumptions that have been repeated for years.
And sometimes it simply brings clarity to a case that has remained difficult to understand.
We do not begin with the answer.
We begin with the record.