Solving crimes is easy when all we have to do is name the suspect!

So the Hollywood Police have declared the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh to be a closed case. They've solved it, after 27 years. So they say.

The problem is that the guy they've now publicly named as "the guy" is dead. This guy will now forever be known as the guy who kidnapped and decapitated poor little Adam Walsh. But he will never have the chance to defend those charges in court. Nor will he have the chance to make the state prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Given the tortured history of the investigation, I'm not so sure the state would be able to prove it, so gee, lucky thing for them that they don't have to.

If the police really believe they have the evidence now to establish that this guy is the killer, I'm all for them closing the case. I'm even ok with them explaining to Adam's dad, America's Most Wanted's John Walsh, why they are closing the case. But it just feels wrong to me to publicly declare this guy is the killer when there is no opportunity for him to respond to those charges.

Maybe I'm particularly sensitive to unfair treatment of suspects in this case because I so dislike John Walsh. He has not been a friend to the criminal justice system in his years of activism. I could rant quite a bit on his Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (read about it here), but that's a rant for a different day.