Institutional memory

A real life example of the importance of institutional memory in a newsroom from Larry Altman at the Torrance Daily Breeze. He dug into the past of a murder victim and found something the cops had missed. From the story:

A broker found slain inside a Westchester house was the brother of a woman who killed a San Pedro couple she victimized in a real estate fraud case that bilked them of $2 million.

Ricardo M. Contreras, 45, a real estate agent and notary public, was not criminally charged in that case that sent his sister to prison for two life terms, but was accused in a wrongful death lawsuit of notarizing many of the fraudulent documents that she used in the scheme.

Rosalba Contreras' con emptied the bank accounts of Valentine and Elvira Partida, an elderly couple whom she attacked with a hammer and razor before setting their 30th Street house ablaze.

A police detective investigating Ricardo Contreras' death said Monday he was unaware of the 1998 slayings committed by Contreras' sister until questioned by a reporter. There was no immediate evidence tying the cases together.

(via LA Observed)