# Oldest solved cold case? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859 "2018-10-12T15:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/21 "2018-10-13T17:33:20Z")
OP, do you mean a case where the cold case was not just solved but the criminal was brought to justice? ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/22 "2018-10-13T19:06:02Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Nitpick: A body was missing from the Romanov grave! — It might have been Anastasia’s: Nitpicking the nitpick: Two actually, Alexei’s body was also missing. But the second grave was [found](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/25/russia.lukeharding) in 2007, so all the Romanovs are accounted for now. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/23 "2018-10-13T19:09:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I found it interesting that the mtDNA chosen for comparison with the alleged Anastasia was taken from Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Elizabeth Dei Gratia. hijack: Isn’t that missing a “Regina”, or a II which implies the Regina? “Elizabeth, Queen by the Grace of God” or “Elizabeth II, (Queen) by the Grace of God”, not just “Elizabeth, by the Grace of God”. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/24 "2018-10-13T19:13:20Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > One good candidate for very old solved case — though solution is still not generally accepted — involves the authorship of a certain 1609 book of poetry. [_ **The dedication of the book makes it clear that the poet was deceased in 1609.** _](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/SonnetsDedication.jpg) The poet’s identity, though known to dozens, was an official secret and the knowledge was allowed to dwindle away. The author was finally re-indentified in 1920, over three centuries later! Would you like to explain? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/25 "2018-10-13T21:08:39Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > > [@septimus](#): > > > > One good candidate for very old solved case — though solution is still not generally accepted — involves the authorship of a certain 1609 book of poetry. [_ **The dedication of the book makes it clear that the poet was deceased in 1609.** _](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/SonnetsDedication.jpg) The poet’s identity, though known to dozens, was an official secret and the knowledge was allowed to dwindle away. The author was finally re-indentified in 1920, over three centuries later! > > Would you like to explain? Did you click the link? Neither the dedicator nor the dedicatee is the alleged poet — this makes sense only if the author were being usurped without credit … or was dead. The one reference to the poet in the dedication uses a word — “ever-living” — which is, contrary to its literal meaning, usually applied to _dead_ persons, perhaps to extol them as “immortal.” The same year, some copies of [a printed playscript of _The Historie of Troylus and Cressida_ had a rather peculiar inscription: “A never writer to an ever reader.”](https://books.google.co.th/books?id=wpsNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8) (Note the adjective “ever” applied to the author as in the other example.) The conventional explanation for this peculiar inscription? “It is an inside joke whose meaning cannot be guessed now.” The inscription would make some sense if the alleged writer “never” actually wrote anything, especially if the _true_ author had a surname that anagrams with “ever.” By the way, _Troilus and Cressida_ was not a new play when the quarto was printed in 1609. Although quartos of several plays had appeared in years up to 1604, no new plays by this author were published for the next nineteen years. “It was as if the author had died.” These are just two of _ **hundreds** _ of facts that strongly point to an alternate authorship hypothesis. Many intelligent people accept such an hypothesis, including at least four past or present Supreme Court Justices. I think the topic could lead to a fascinating discussion on a message board with open-minded participants. Alas, _that_ message board is not _this_ message board. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/26 "2018-10-13T22:27:51Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Would you like to explain? If you google, it seems to be second page to Shakespeare’s Sonnets. The cover of the book said “Shakespeare’s Sonnets” and the current consensus seems to be that they were written by a one Shakespeare. Google reveals no revelatory event in 1920. There is a mystery about who Shakey was writing his poems to, but all possibilities are merely conjecture. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/27 "2018-10-13T22:34:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Did you click the link? Neither the dedicator nor the dedicatee is the alleged poet — this makes sense only if the author were being usurped without credit … or was dead. The one reference to the poet in the dedication uses a word — “ever-living” — which is, contrary to its literal meaning, usually applied to _dead_ persons, perhaps to extol them as “immortal.” > > The same year, some copies of [a printed playscript of _The Historie of Troylus and Cressida_ had a rather peculiar inscription: “A never writer to an ever reader.”](https://books.google.co.th/books?id=wpsNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8) (Note the adjective “ever” applied to the author as in the other example.) The conventional explanation for this peculiar inscription? “It is an inside joke whose meaning cannot be guessed now.” The inscription would make some sense if the alleged writer “never” actually wrote anything, especially if the _true_ author had a surname that anagrams with “ever.” > > By the way, _Troilus and Cressida_ was not a new play when the quarto was printed in 1609. Although quartos of several plays had appeared in years up to 1604, no new plays by this author were published for the next nineteen years. “It was as if the author had died.” > > These are just two of _ **hundreds** _ of facts that strongly point to an alternate authorship hypothesis. Many intelligent people accept such an hypothesis, including at least four past or present Supreme Court Justices. I think the topic could lead to a fascinating discussion on a message board with open-minded participants. Alas, _that_ message board is not _this_ message board. Your explanation needs explaining. Maybe you could start with what the crime was. Plagiarism? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/28 "2018-10-13T22:41:49Z")
I did click the link. It was in no way self-explanatory. I gather from your reply that this has something to do with the “who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays?” kerfuffle. I personally would rather hear more about cold-case murders. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/29 "2018-10-14T00:59:28Z")
Sorry if my example was a hijack. I find solutions to very old mysteries to be interesting even when no crime was involved. I was a bit excited by the discovery of the skeleton of King Richard III. The fact he died a violent death was incidental to my excitement. In another recent thread I was intrigued by discussion of the historicity of Jesus, David and even Moses. Whether it was the Sanhedrin or the Roman authority that was primarily responsible for Jesus’ execution is incidental. The discovery of the Indo-European language family is more than 2 (or 3\*) centuries old, but it was only recently that the 6000 year-old proto-language could be placed with great certitude. This discovery is an important and exciting highlight of the anthropological sciences. Et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/30 "2018-10-15T11:57:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > OP, do you mean a case where the cold case was not just solved but the criminal was brought to justice? Just solved, with a high degree of certainty. ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/31 "2018-10-15T23:11:32Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > As I recall they’re pretty sure the “Ice man” found frozen in the alps met with foul play, though they certainly have no suspects and I’m not even sure murder was a crime back then Probably not a crime back then but it was certainly a “cold case.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/32 "2018-10-16T13:27:12Z")
Saw a [story](https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/15/temecula-man-imprisoned-since-1999-after-murder-conviction-is-innocent-riverside-county-prosecutor-says) about a guy who’s been exonerated due to DNA for killing his girlfriend. After being in prison for 20 years. Turns out some of the woman’s family did it. DNA and all that. Okay, not exactly a cold case. But even sadder- 20 years to solve is nowhere close to any sort of record. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859/33 "2018-10-16T17:44:50Z")
Not the longest, but a notable case. During the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper[a hoaxer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearside_Jack)sent messages to the police claiming to be from the killer. The police wasted a lot of time following up the false leads provided. The hoaxer was eventually caught 25 years later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-solved-cold-case/822859.md?page=1)