Criminal investigators to speak at CSC
Several of the nation’s leading criminal investigators will be speaking during the Regional Law Enforcement Conference at Chadron State College on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and 2.
Dr. George Watson, senior member of the CSC Criminal Justice Department, said this year’s conference will be the biggest that the college has ever hosted. It is expected to draw law enforcement personnel from a wide area.
Among the speakers will be Skip Palenik, a senior forensic microscopist from Elgin, Ill. He has worked on dozens of high-profile investigations including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colo., the Unabomber, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the notorious 2000 presidential election ballots in Florida.
Also on the program will be Hal Deadman, a former FBI agent who pioneered the use of DNA as a tool in solving crimes, and Bob Spalding, who has been a forensic serology instructor at the FBI Academy and an instructor in crime scene processing with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team.
Other speakers will include two Chadron State graduates who have become well-known for their expertise in helping solve crimes. They are Gary Plank, an investigative sergeant for the Nebraska State Patrol, and Ron Rawalt, an FBI agent who lives near North Platte.
Rawalt has testified as an expert witness in 48 states and three foreign countries. He was among those investigating the attempts to assassinate Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.
Category: Campus News