Retiring homicide detective took unique approach to job

One of the last things veteran homicide Detective Dave Hatch did before his retirement this week was to send holiday greetings to "known killers."

The 48-year-old Metro Police investigator mails cards each year to people he believes have committed murders but have not been arrested.

"I send Christmas cards to killers just so they know I'm thinking about them," Hatch said. "I know they're killers, but we don't have enough evidence to prosecute them. You've got to get under their skin. They have to know that you're never gonna forget them, that it's never gonna go away."

The greetings have caused some to confess, he said.

The 1987 murder of Paul Eugene Dudley, a former Green Bay Packers football player, was solved after contacting suspect Steven Murray -- and sending him greeting cards.

"We told him we would never forget," Hatch said. "He finally confessed after 2 1/2 years. He couldn't take it anymore."

Murray was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In nearly 18 years as a homicide detective, Hatch has seen it all. Today, 13 killers sit on death row as a result of cases he helped investigate. It's a number he says he's proud of.

Those who have worked with Hatch say his technique is unique. When Hatch arrives at a murder scene, he just stands there.

"You should look at everything around the body," he said. "Some people go out and immediately look at the body. But I put my hands in my pockets and just stand there, take in the scene."

If the body is covered, he said, "What does that tell you? That tells me the killer didn't want to look at the person because he knew him. That tells me it's a relative or a friend."

The severed head of Nathan "Buster" Wilson, a former member of the Coasters singing group, turned up in Modesto, Calif., wrapped in a SUN newspaper. Wilson was shot three times in the head, and his legs and arms were sawed off, his throat was slit, his fingerprints were removed with acid, and his body dumped in a canyon.

It took three years to get the killer, Patrick Cavanaugh, convicted. In that case, Hatch's 14-year partner, Al Leavitt, said "he never let up."

Hatch has worked under another veteran homicide detective, Sgt. Bill Keeton, for more than 10 years. When Hatch decided earlier this year to retire, it was Keeton who tried to talk him out of it. Keeton described him as the best in the business.

Like Keeton, others who have worked closely with Hatch consider him more than a colleague. They consider him a friend.

Detective Mike Brady was partnered with Hatch on the swing shift in the general assignment detective unit in the '70s. In those days, they were the first responding detectives on sexual assaults, homicides, shootings and robberies, Brady said.

"Back when Dave and I worked together, gambling cheats fell under our investigative expertise," Brady said. "We worked a lot of slot cheats, roulette wheel cheaters and card counters."

The partners, who were hired on the same day and went through the police academy together, were nicknamed "Batman and Robin" by their colleagues. But Brady said they never figured out which one was which. They were given the nicknames "because we worked well together," Brady said.

What Metro will lose when Hatch retires "is the education and training he's received over the years, the gut instincts and the street smarts to go along with it," Brady said. "You don't learn everything out of a book. It takes a lot of feeling for what you're doing."

Leavitt, who retired in 1994, said Hatch "has a mind like a steel trap. He doesn't miss anything. He can walk up to a crime scene, look at it and go back and dictate a report off the top of his head and never miss a thing."

Even though it was a tough decision and he's going to miss his friends, Hatch said he's ready to leave.

"I have mixed feelings," he said, "but I'm tired. I've tried to do the best job in the world. I've got no regrets about my career. I want to relax a bit."

Hatch joined Metro in 1969 after serving as a Marine Corps infantryman in Vietnam. He was wounded twice and awarded two Purple Hearts.

The homicide that sticks in Leavitt's mind was the Coasters case. After Hatch discussed the case on "60 Minutes," guys he served with in Vietnam contacted him.

"They saw me on TV and called me," he said. "Guys I hadn't heard from in years."

But it's the unsolved cases he's worked on that continue to haunt Hatch.

"The solved ones don't bother you," he said. "I forget about those."

The unsolved double murder of Lloyd and Gladys Gannon bothers Hatch to this day. The Minnesota couple were killed in February 1980 in their motor home in the parking lot of the Union Plaza hotel-casino. He called it "a vicious murder." And it was one of the first cases he handled as a homicide cop.

"We have no idea who did it," he said.

The murder of 17-year-old Cathryn Tighe, who disappeared Feb. 6, 1983, while walking home from high school, haunts him to the core nearly 14 years later. Her body was found a month later.

"It was one of those cases where it started and ended right at the scene," he said. "She was raped and murdered. Whoever did it put cardboard over her body like she was a piece of garbage and left her on the side of Boulder Highway. We've never come up with anything on it. She was just a kid walking home from school and never made it."

Investigating the homicides of children is tough, he said, like the baby Whittaker case, in which the father, Larry Whittaker, later pleaded guilty to beating his infant son to death. The back of the 5-week-old baby's head was crushed.

"Some of these little children, they'll stay with you forever," he said. "When you go to an autopsy of one of those kids, you just want to go out and kick the son of a bitch who did it."

Leavitt described Hatch as a "hard-headed" investigator who "never let up."

"I don't know that there's anybody better than he is," Leavitt said. "It's experience he's gained over the years. You never have to look around to see if he's behind you. He was always there. You never had to worry about him missing anything."

Capt. Greg Jolley, who worked as a lieutenant in homicide for three years, said: "I'd describe him as one of the hardest-working people and one of the most knowledgeable people in his field I've ever come across.

"What's unique to Dave is he brought a standard for thoroughness from somebody who has very keen insights into the criminal justice system. That's going to be missed."

Those traits will be much sought after in the private sector. Hatch has gotten offers from attorneys and casinos to do investigative work or handle security matters.

Hatch retires Friday, but not before mailing out his final greeting cards, just to let the killers know he's still thinking about them.

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