Cold Case Files: The Missing and the Dead
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Bill Kurtis
Kathi French
Jim Grebas
Edward Herschaft
Peter Hughes
Pamela Anderson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Examines "cold cases" -- homicides and other crimes that remain unsolved or are solved many years after the crime. On November 6, 1989, police discovered the remains of a woman whose skull had been smashed into 97 fragments. A forensic anthropologist pieced the bones together and a forensic artist sketched what the woman might have looked like. Meanwhile, less than 100 miles away, Jean Marie "Annie" Tehan was missing. Annie's best friend, Kathi French, believed Annie's boyfriend, Michael Paalan, was behind Annie's disappearance but could not prove it. Finally, in 1995, French contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Agents Jim Grebas and Pete Hughes came across the recontructed skull. It matched Annie's dental records. The agents then interviewed Paalan's ex-wife and in Paalan's old apartment found trace evidence of a large pool of blood. Paalan was arrested, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 30 years. On Christmas Eve in 1987, Tom Bolchen was found dead in a city park. There was little physical evidence, but there were three sets of footprints leading to the scene, and two sets going away. The case went cold until 1995 when the state assigned special agents to the case. Attention shifted to Daniel Buttner, the brother of the "star witness." The agents talked with Buttner who in time broke down, admitting to a role in the murder.
