Child Homicide Investigations

This comprehensive two-day training program brings together law enforcement, forensic, and prosecutorial professionals to examine the critical aspects of investigating and prosecuting homicide cases involving children. The course emphasizes the collaborative relationships between forensic pathologists, homicide investigators, and prosecutors, demonstrating how coordinated efforts lead to stronger cases and more successful convictions.

Course Overview

Participants will explore autopsy protocols, essential forensic principles, and the importance of accurately establishing cause and manner of death in child homicide cases. The training covers investigative techniques specific to child homicides, including effective interviewing and interrogation strategies, suspect pool development, and the prosecutor's pivotal role in securing appropriate convictions.

What You Will Learn

Upon completing this course, attendees will be able to:

• Identify and understand the distinct roles and responsibilities of forensic pathologists, law enforcement investigators, and prosecutors during child homicide investigations
• Collaborate more effectively with multi-disciplinary teams to enhance case strength
• Execute child homicide investigations utilizing best practices and proven methodologies
• Recognize how forensic evidence functions within investigations and leverage modern technology to advance your homicide work
• Prepare child homicide cases for trial presentations to juries and judges, and distinguish how grand jury presentations differ

Who Should Attend

This training is designed for crime analysis team members, forensic service units, coroners and medical examiners, court system personnel, law enforcement professionals, social workers, and tribal partners and representatives.

Training Details

Dates: September 27-28, 2027

Hours: 16 hours (8:30 am - 4:30 pm each day)

Location: Regional Public Safety Training Center, 1550 50th Street Southeast, Rochester, MN 55904

Cost: $450.00

Registration Deadline: August 23, 2027

What's Included: Training fees cover 16 hours of instruction, program materials, and instructional costs. Participants are responsible for arranging and paying for meals, travel, and lodging.

Instructors

Colleen Curtin Gable - Assistant District Attorney with extensive experience in homicide prosecution. Ms. Curtin Gable has served as a prosecutor since 1992, spending seven years with the New York County District Attorney's Office before joining the Erie County District Attorney's Office in Buffalo, where she prosecuted sexual assault, child abuse, and felony cases. She was appointed Homicide Bureau Chief in 2015, becoming the first woman to hold that position in Erie County. Her career achievements include receiving the Robert M. Morgenthau Award and serving as Senior Trial Counsel and Chief of Training before her retirement in August 2025. She continues to teach Trial Technique at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

James Holmes - Special Agent (Ret.), Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation. Since becoming a certified law enforcement officer in 1995, Mr. Holmes has served in multiple capacities including roles with the Dane County Sheriff's Department and Fitchburg Police Department. At the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, he was assigned to the White Collar Crimes Bureau and the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit before joining the Major Crimes Unit in 2000. His extensive background includes investigations into adult and child homicides, equivocal deaths, officer-involved deaths, murder-for-hire cases, missing and abducted children, child sexual exploitation, and cold case homicides.

Katherine Maloney, MD - Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Erie County Medical Examiner's Office, Buffalo, New York. Dr. Maloney is a forensic pathologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo Medical School. She completed her medical training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and her anatomic and clinical pathology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center. She received specialized forensic pathology training at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York and completed additional training in forensic neuropathology and cardiac pathology. She holds board certifications in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, and forensic pathology.

Lodging Options

Several hotels are available in the Rochester, Minnesota area near the training facility, including the Best Western Rochester Hotel Mayo Clinic Area, Holiday Inn Express Rochester South Mayo Area, Home2Suites by Hilton Rochester Mayo Clinic Area, La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Rochester Mayo Clinic, and Residence Inn by Marriott Rochester Mayo Clinic Area South.

Additional Training Opportunity

Following this course, participants may be interested in attending Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Homicides, scheduled for September 29-30, 2027, also in Rochester, Minnesota, for $450.00.

Course Feedback

Previous participants have praised the training, noting it provides an excellent overview for professionals outside medical examiner and coroner offices. Attendees highlighted the instructors' extensive knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm, as well as the informative and thorough lecture content that clearly reflected the instructors' professional experience in their respective fields.