Meet the Presenters

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the bodies of multiple women were discovered in a remote wooded field in a small town between Houston and Galveston, Texas. The case became known as the Calder Road killings, or the Killing Fields. The murders continue to be the subject of ongoing media attention and, more recently, were the focus of the Netflix docuseries, Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields.

This presentation will provide an overview of a complex serial killer investigation, with emphasis on investigative tools, approaches, forensic advancements, and the importance of collaboration with other agencies to solve cold case homicides.

PRESENTED BY:

SUPERVISORY SENIOR RESIDENT AGENT RICHARD RENNISON, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (RET.)

Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Richard Rennison has 30 years of law enforcement experience. He began his career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2003. He worked on myriad assignments and has investigated complex and violent cases. From 2012 through 2018, he was assigned to the Texas City Resident Agency, Houston Division, where he focused on drug cases, violent crimes, crimes against children, and cold cases. In 2018, as SSRA, he served in a supervisory capacity overseeing 6 counties and a population of 1.7 million people, and all FBI programs, both criminal and National Security. SSRA Rennison, now retired, is owner / head brewer at the Naked Iguana Brewery in Galveston, Texas.

AGENT RICHARD RENNISON, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (RET.)

This presentation will cover the investigation and prosecution of Wilson Chouest, a serial rapist who, after raping and murdering two unidentified “Jane Doe” victims in July 1980, disposed of their bodies in Kern County and Ventura County, California.  The speakers will detail the tools and approaches utilized in piecing together and solving these cases.  It will cover the initial investigations, resurrecting the cases in the early 2000s, identifying the suspect, overcoming the case rejections of two District Attorneys’ Offices, successfully prosecuting the suspect, and finally to identifying one of the victims with the help of genetic genealogy.

PRESENTED BY:

DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN BARRICK, VENTURA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

John Barrick was raised in the Oxnard/Port Hueneme area, where he grew up poor. After graduating from Oxnard High School in 1987, John attended California State University, Northridge, paying his own way through college and graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Film Production in December 1991. After working for 10 years, John discovered a passion for law and attended Southwestern School of Law from 2001-2004, where he once again paid his own way through the grueling three-year program.

John began working in the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office in January 2005. Due to his life experience and his dedication to victims, John decided that he would live by one simple rule; victims come first. Simply put, this meant that John would do whatever was necessary within the law to ensure that all victims of crime received justice and dignity. For John, this meant that each case was more important than his ego, more important than his pride, and more important than his professional career. His record is proof-positive of his tireless dedication to this rule and the cause of all crime victims.

Throughout his 17-plus years in the office, John has worked on a myriad of cases in several different units. John spent 6.5 years in the Major Crimes-Hard Core Gang Unit while simultaneously prosecuting all of the hate crimes in the county. He has been in the Major Crimes-Homicide Unit for the past 7 years. To date, John has tried 69 cases. Due to his dedication to victims’ rights, John has received several awards and recognitions, including:

• 2013 Knights of Columbus Oxnard Council 750 Prosecutor of the Year
• 2014 Anti-Defamation League Sherwood Prize for Combatting Hate
• 2014 Oxnard Police Department Violent Crime Unit Honorary Member Award for Dedication and Service in Combatting Violent Gang Crime
• 2014 Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Prosecutor of the Year
• 2018 Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Prosecutor of the Year

DETECTIVE SERGEANT STEVE RHODS, VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, RETIRED.   

Steve Rhods has been a California Law Enforcement Officer for 40 years.  He graduated from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Academy in 1980 and worked for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office for 33 years.  Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Vocational Education, and an Associate of Science in Criminal Justice.

Steve worked in all aspects of law enforcement, including custody, patrol, special enforcement, swat, and investigations. He completed two tours in homicide, the last from 2006 until his retirement as a Detective Sergeant for one of four homicide teams.  At that time Steve supervised the Cold Case Task force which was made up of investigators from other agencies dedicated to the investigation of all Cold Cases in the County of Ventura.

Steve retired from the Sheriff’s Office in 2012, and was immediately asked to come work for the District Attorney’s Office. Steve was assigned to the Sheriff’s Cold Case Task Force and returned to his old desk and continued working with the team closing Cold Cases in Ventura County until June 2023, at which time he retired completely.

As a Cold Case Investigator, Steve’s team had been able to close by arrest eight homicides, including the murders of Lyman and Charline Smith who were two of 13 murder victims of the Golden State Killer.

Steve’s experience working the Golden State Killer case introduced him to the world of Genetic Genealogy. He then introduced the tool to the Ventura County Cold Case unit, and it lead to the successful closures of three homicides dating back to the 1980s.

Grant Amato was a 29-year-old former nurse who became infamous for the brutal murder of his family members in Chuluota, Florida. Amato had a seemingly normal life, growing up in a tight-knit family with two older brothers, Jason and Cody. He had a passion for technology and video games, which led him to pursue a degree in nursing informatics. However, his life began to spiral out of control when he developed an obsession with a Bulgarian webcam model named Silviya. Amato spent thousands of dollars on her and even convinced his family to lend him money to continue his online relationship. This led to a rift between him and his family, as they were concerned about his well-being and the amount of money he was spending. Despite their efforts to intervene, Amato continued to communicate with Silviya and lost his job due to his excessive use of the internet. This only worsened his already strained relationship with his family, leading to a tragic and senseless act of violence.

On January 24, 2019, Amato's mother, father, and brother were found dead in their home, all shot execution-style. The gruesome murder shocked the small community of Chuluota and left investigators puzzled as to who could have committed such a heinous crime. A closer look at Amato's online activity revealed a disturbing pattern. He had been in communication with Silviya and had even made plans to meet her in person in Bulgaria. It was also discovered that Amato had been stealing his brother's identity to continue funding his obsession with the webcam model. This discovery, along with other evidence, led to Amato's eventual arrest for the murders of his family. The trial that followed was filled with shocking revelations about Amato's online life and his deteriorating mental state. In the end, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The tragic and disturbing case of the Grant Amato murders serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of online obsessions and the devastating consequences that can result from them.

PRESENTED BY:

DETECTIVE DANNY ANDERSON, SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Detective Anderson was born in Clearwater, Florida and has lived in Florida his entire life. He graduated from the Lake City Community College Law Enforcement Training program in 1987. His father and three brothers have been career law enforcement officers in the State of Florida.

His first job was with the Clearwater Police Department where he worked in the patrol division as well as an anti-crime unit. In 1997 he moved to Seminole County and began his career with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked in the patrol division as a field training deputy, the Narcotics Unit as a Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force Officer, the School Safety Division as a School Safety Deputy, and the Major Crimes Unit as Major Crimes Detective and Cold Case Detective.

Detective Anderson has received numerous awards during his career including commendations from several Florida Sheriffs, Narcotics Agent of the year from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, and the Administrator’s Award from the Drug Enforcement Administration. His next assignment will be in 2027 when he retires!

SERGEANT JARRITT NEGRI, SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Sergeant Negri was born in Puerto Rico while his father was stationed in the Army. His family moved to Sanford, Florida when he was 3 years old, and his father started as a Deputy Sheriff with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. He lived in Sanford until the age of eight and then moved to Volusia County, where he continues to reside. Sergeant Negri and his immediate family, including his father, uncle, aunt, and cousin have served with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for over 115 years combined.

He has been with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for 23 years and is currently a Sergeant with the Major Crimes Unit. He was Co-Chair for the Seminole County Human Trafficking Task Force, and in 2015 received an award from Governor Rick Scott for Human Trafficking Investigator of the Year. For 10 years he was the program administrator for the Seminole County Police Athletic League Boxing Club.

Sergeant Negri received his associate degree in business administration from Seminole State College and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College of Missouri. He is currently enrolled at Florida State University pursuing his master’s degree in criminal justice.

DETECTIVE GERALDINE BLAY, SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Geraldine Blay is a detective for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensics Unit in Sanford, Florida. Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Geraldine holds a master’s degree in digital forensics from the University of Central Florida, as well as multiple digital forensic certifications. She has been a member of the Secret Service Cyber Fraud Task Force and the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. She also served as a member of the National Computer Forensics Institute Technical Advisory Council and their Digital Forensics Curriculum Working Group. She has collaborated with many local, state, and federal agencies and testified as an expert in court. The United States Secret Service has recognized Geraldine as one of the top state and local digital forensic examiners in the nation for 2019 and 2020. Additionally, she is the handler of K9 Siri, an electronic detection K9.

Detective Danny Anderson,
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office

Sergeant Jarritt Negri,
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office

Detective Geraldine Blay,
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office