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What are the ethics of potentially identifying deceased people as baddies? Unless there is DNA evidence which remains(which I doubt), or they find incontroverti

What are the ethics of potentially identifying deceased people as baddies? Unless there is DNA evidence which remains(which I doubt), or they find incontrovertible evidence in his home or something like that(I also doubt), this is just a guess that will drastically affect his probably otherwise-normal family whether the allegations are true or not.

lazide 5y ago
Near as I can tell, as long as they don’t have an estate to sue you it’s a-ok (based on current media cycles anyway). Only mostly sarcastic.
nescioquid 5y ago
This was the question on my mind as well. The alleged "perp" died in 2018, but I didn't see any mention of the duration of the group's investigation. Did this group identify him as a person of interest before his death? If so, that raises yet more more questions (e.g. no statutory limitation on murder). > Hans Smits told Fox News he spent 10 years hiding a whistleblower who said he escaped a criminal "posse" headed by Poste. The man, who The Case Breakers only referred to as Wil, told Smits the posse roamed California's High Sierra region and that he was "groomed into a killing machine." > Smits said he gave Wil financial, logistical and emotional support over the years and moved him around for nearly 10 years in an effort to keep him safe. > "I'm the one that took him to the FBI office and put him on a train and sent him out of state," Smits said. The story does not seem to explicitly state Smits is a member of the Case Breakers, but if Smits knows Wil, and Case Breakers only identify the whistleblower as Wil, it seems to imply Smits is a member of Code Breakers. If that is all true, they were working Poste as a person of interest while he was still alive.
no_butterscotch 5y ago
This was my first thought as well. Other ethics include the press now reaching out to the surviving family of this man? "So and so, who call themselves investigators, say your father is the Zodiac Killer! Thoughts?" Are there rules around this crap?

lazide 5y ago

Near as I can tell, as long as they don’t have an estate to sue you it’s a-ok (based on current media cycles anyway). Only mostly sarcastic.

nescioquid 5y ago

This was the question on my mind as well. The alleged "perp" died in 2018, but I didn't see any mention of the duration of the group's investigation. Did this group identify him as a person of interest before his death? If so, that raises yet more more questions (e.g. no statutory limitation on murder). > Hans Smits told Fox News he spent 10 years hiding a whistleblower who said he escaped a criminal "posse" headed by Poste. The man, who The Case Breakers only referred to as Wil, told Smits the posse roamed California's High Sierra region and that he was "groomed into a killing machine." > Smits said he gave Wil financial, logistical and emotional support over the years and moved him around for nearly 10 years in an effort to keep him safe. > "I'm the one that took him to the FBI office and put him on a train and sent him out of state," Smits said. The story does not seem to explicitly state Smits is a member of the Case Breakers, but if Smits knows Wil, and Case Breakers only identify the whistleblower as Wil, it seems to imply Smits is a member of Code Breakers. If that is all true, they were working Poste as a person of interest while he was still alive.

no_butterscotch 5y ago

This was my first thought as well. Other ethics include the press now reaching out to the surviving family of this man? "So and so, who call themselves investigators, say your father is the Zodiac Killer! Thoughts?" Are there rules around this crap?