About Us
The Open Case is an online magazine devoted to crime and criminal justice. Part newsmagazine, part social networking site, the site provides thought-provoking news and commentary and hosts an interactive database that allows users to solve unsolved crimes. Ulrich Boser is the founding editor. Contributing editors include former New Times editor Rich Shea, Blown Away author Caitlin Kelly, ex-FBI agent Bob Fitzpatrick, and best-selling writer Casey Sherman.
Below are biographies of the contributors in alphabetical order. If you would like to reach one of them, please send an email to info @ the opencase.com with their name in the subject line.
Ulrich Boser is an award-winning writer, editor, and researcher whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Smithsonian. He worked as a contributing editor at US News and World Report and as the special projects editor at the Washington Post Express. In February 2009, HarperCollins published his book The Gardner Heist to glowing reviews. "Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world's biggest unsolved art theft," noted The Wall Street Journal. "Boser cracks the cold case of the art world's greatest unsolved mystery," said Vanity Fair. The book became a national best-seller.
Boser's writing on education, crime, and other social policy topics has received various awards and citations. His reporting has been profiled in the New York Times, and Washingtonian magazine recently called him "a writer to watch." He has served as a commentator for CNN, FOX News, National Public Radio, MSNBC, and The New York Times and given lectures and presentations at numerous institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, the Corcoran Museum of Art, and the California State Legislature.
Bob Fitzpatrick has extensive experience in law enforcement including various senior level positions at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Fitzpatrick's was involved in a number of notable cases such as the assassination of Martin Luther King, the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and psychological profiling of notorious criminals such as Ted Bundy, and Patty Hearst. Fitzpatrick spent two years as the FBI Liaison to foreign governments and agencies in counter-intelligence. A major part of his work was in terrorism, developing programs and teaching at the FBI Academy. His assignment in the Boston FBI office, involved breaking up organized crime in New England, and he covered crimes such as money laundering, extortion, homicide, and wiretapping.
Currently, Fitzpatrick is President and Managing Partner of IEI Resources, Inc., an investigative services firm in Boston. His clients include law firms, financial institutions, corporations and private individuals. During his career he has received numerous recognition awards for his outstanding work. He is an active member of FBI Agents Association, Society of Former Special Agents, and Who's Who in Security.
Caitlin Kelly, a Tarrytown, NY-based freelance writer, writes frequently for The New York Times. She has also written for The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Glamour, More, New York Businessweek and other publications in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Her book, called "groundbreaking and invaluable" by Booklist, is "Blown Away: American Women and Guns" (Pocket Books, 2004), the first national, neutral examination of how women and guns intersect in American life, past and present.
A former reporter for the New York Daily News, Toronto Globe and Mail and Montreal Gazette, she is the winner of a Canadian National Magazine Award (humor), and five journalism fellowships. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She serves on the board of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (2007-2012) and is a trustee of the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund. Born and raised in Canada, she has lived in the U.S. since 1988, and has also lived in England, France and Mexico.
Rich Shea is a freelance editor and writer based in Maryland. He was most recently executive editor of Teacher Magazine. He began his journalism career with The Princeton Packet in New Jersey, for which he served as editor of the weekly arts-and-entertainment section Time Off, writing and editing articles on musicians, artists, writers, and filmmakers. He's also a former editor for the alternative-weekly New Times chain, where, among his duties, he supervised the culture section.
Casey Sherman made international headlines with his re-investigation of the notorious Boston Strangler case in 1999. It was a personal crusade for the veteran journalist. Sherman is the nephew of 19-year old Mary Sullivan, believed to be the last victim of the Boston Strangler. Through Sherman's re-investigation, he was able to prove that self-confessed killer Albert DeSalvo did not murder his aunt on January 4, 1964. Sherman was able to prove this by uncovering DeSalvo's long-lost confession tape and comparing it to the autopsy report in Mary Sullivan's murder. There were stark inaccuracies in the DeSalvo confession. Sherman also elicited the aid of an all-star forensic team led by George Washington University professor James Starrs to exhume Sullivan's remains for DNA testing. Starrs' team was able to find trace evidence of the killer on Sullivan's body and that DNA evidence did not match Albert DeSalvo. Sherman chronicled the re-investigation in his 2003 acclaimed true-crime thriller, A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler.
Sherman has written several more books including The Finest Hours, Black Irish, Black Dragon, and Bad Blood (to be released in October 2009). He has been nominated for an Emmy Award and has appeared on dozens of network television programs including the Today Show, Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, 48 Hours Mysteries, CNN, The History Channel, Fox News, America's Most Wanted, and The View. Sherman's work has also been profiled by USA Today, The New York Times, Newsweek, & People Magazine.
Peter Moskos is assistant professor of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the City University of New York's Doctoral Program in Sociology. He is a former Baltimore City police officer. Moskos's first book, Cop in the Hood (Princeton University Press) was the winner of PROSE Award for Best Sociology 2008.