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Marinos and MPD: Face To Face Meeting Save Email Print
Reporter: Evrod Cassimy
Email Address: ECassimy@nbc15.com

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Posted: Monday, May 20 -- 10:08 p.m.

"It was very positive and we'd like to move forward from there," says Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.

After much talk about their dissatisfaction with the current investigation in the murder of their son Joel Marino, parents Debbie and Lou Marino met with Madison Police Tuesday.

"It was a very positive meeting. We had a number of different things that we talked about and I think it was more of an opportunity for us to understand each other from each other's perspective."

The meeting, called by Police Chief Noble Wray and Assistant Chief Randy Gaber, was held behind closed door at the police department. Nearly 2 hours later, Wray emerged with the following statement.

"I'm glad we did it and again I hope that you know we can move forward from this point."

Details of the meeting were not released by the police department.

"After a while the family goes well what does that all mean? We're not getting answers."

This statement came from Lou Marino on Monday, frustrated with the still unsolved murder. After the meeting however, he and his wife Debbie left through a back entrance at the police department and didn't return phone calls to comment on their feelings after the meeting.

"The reason why we had this meeting was for me to understand where they are coming from," says Wray. "I thought that this meeting was very positive and understanding that and it is my belief that we are going to move forward from this point forward."

Posted: Monday, May 19 -- 5:15 p.m.

It's been nearly four months since the murder of Joel Marino. And now his family is taking matters into their own hands.

Lou Marino is on a mission. Earlier this year his son was taken away from him. And he will not rest until justice is served.

"This is Joel my beloved son," said Lou Marino as he stood in a hallway in his home pointing at a picture.

On January 28th Joel Marino was stabbed in his house near downtown Madison. He died a short time later.

"This was at Brian's wedding this was Brian's wife Heidi," Marino said pointing at other pictures. "They were all there. This was one of the more memorable and happy moments of our lives."

After Joel's murder the Marino family worked closely with police to help gather information. As time went by they had questions, and the answers just led to more questions.

Added Marino, "But, after a while the family goes, 'what does this all mean?' We are not getting answers."

So they sought their own. Lou began to make contacts and develop his own leads. He started with the man who claims to have seen the murderer not only on the day of the murder, but also again on March 21 when he called police.

The Marino's then met with members of the attorney general's office to express their concerns with the investigation.

"It's not going to be simple. We knew going into this there's no quick fix in a case such as our sons," said Marino as he left that meeting on May 8.

Lou and his wife Debbie got their son's cells phone records to see who he called the day of his death. They requested 911 calls. Last Thursday, they did an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that will air later this week.

The Marino's mission continues Tuesday at 3:30 as they will meet with Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.

Concluded Marino, "We need to get as much help, not just from within the system, but also from outside the system. I as the father of the murder victim want to see everyone get involved."

NBC-15 spoke with Captain Jim Wheeler from the South District who is the lead investigator in the case. He will not be at the meeting Tuesday between the Marino's and Noble Wray.

We also talked about the investigation and the allegations that the police department is not doing enough.

He said the MPD has great detectives and the recent attacks on them in the media have been unfair. Plus it takes them away from the real issue, which is solving the murder.

Captain Wheeler said he is proud of the investigation and sleeps well at night knowing they are doing all they can to solve this murder.

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Posted by: sandy Location: wisconsin on May 30, 2008 at 06:49 AM
My sympathy goes out to the Marino family. From everything that has been reported it seems the police have been right on top of this case. And I don't mean to minimize their anguish, but this is not the only murder...I just wonder if it were someone who was of a minority if the media coverage would be as such. It is a tragedy for this family..But can someone comment on why this seems to be in the news everday ??

Posted by: joseph Location: madison on May 28, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Ralph, you are obviously completely ignorant. You think almost every murder in Madison is unsolved? maybe almost ever murder that gets dragged through the media is unsolved, because that is what sells papers and boosts ratings. did you hear that james bohanan, who murdered a man on the west side in late 2007 was just apprehended? You want to talk about unsolved murders..."real" cities, like chicago have murder solve rates of 36%? and I guarantee you Chicago wouldn't have their chief meet with the parents of murder victims... the marino's are lucky they are in madison where people listen to them at all. I should say, Lou and Deb Marino are lucky, the rest of the family, which the media doesn't talk about, is supportive of the police and prefers to honor Joel's memory by keeping a lower profile.

Posted by: Greg P on May 22, 2008 at 03:23 PM
Ralph, your guarantee has nothing to do with MPD's image or admitting they're wrong. Your guarantee is that a private citizen with no resources and no access to resources can do a better job than the police. Not true, buddy.

Posted by: Ralph Location: Madison on May 21, 2008 at 07:08 PM
GREG P! You know as well as I do they are not doing their job! Almost every murder in Madison is unsolved!NO one can hunt for something they are hungry for better than the ones that are hungry! Its his father!He has at least had the marbles to stand up to this lazy department! so yes I will stick to my GUARANTEE GREG! until the MPD can prove to the city and admit they are wrong not just on the Morino case but all other issues that are plaguing this community! Its all about image Greg and at this point MPD's image is terrible! They do not have the right people in the right places and need to get rid of their hiring practices!

Posted by: Anoymous on May 21, 2008 at 06:49 PM
To all who are SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS CASE...cry me a river you selfish whiny cry babies! A man has been murdered and his parents are doing what ever they can to keep this case alive and not have it turn COLD. Many cases that went cold for years are solved at a much later date than three months! Stop your whining and shut up, if you don't like it don't read about it, and certainaly don't waste your precious time reading about it...self-centered people are the reason that this world is so aweful!

Posted by: Anonymous on May 21, 2008 at 04:13 PM
This is amazing.. Do all families of murder vicims have an opportunity to meet with the Police Chief??? The killer was somone who knew him well. There's more to the story, but we aren't privy to it. What about all the other crime victims and their families????? honestly, I can say I'm tired of reading about only Marino and Zimmerman. It sickens me that people are only with these 2 crimes an no other ones. I guess if they round up all the possible suspects they would find them. This is how cases are usually handled in Madison.

Posted by: Greg P on May 21, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Ralph, you "guarantee" us that Marino will do a better investigation than the MPD? Oh yes, because he has personally collected all the evidence, followed up on all tips/leads, interviewed 800 people etc etc etc. Next time I'm the victim of a crime I'm just calling Mr Marino, I had no idea he had so many resources and so much crime-fighting knowledge and experience. He's my man!

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 21, 2008 at 02:34 PM
Hey Proud how would you explain it?? High Profile case in all because thats what they are making it, wake up and smell the coffee

Posted by: Roseann Evans Location: Chicago on May 21, 2008 at 01:35 PM
The Police cheaf can sleep at nite Well as long as he can sleep well! to bad those three people who were murder cant get any rest or sleep! Thay really need to over haul that 911 system, and why the two offices couldn't work together

Posted by: Proud American Location: USA on May 21, 2008 at 01:16 PM
You call getting answers to who murdered their son "FAME"? You're nuts! Until you walk in the shoes of a parent of a murdered child...keep your mouth shut, Please!

Posted by: Anonymous on May 21, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Then stop reading about it and posting about it and participating in it. Joel was a great man and you will hear about it until his killer is found.

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I agree with Anonymous, i still think his parents are tryin to gain a little fame here instead of the real facts, As far as the DONATIONS go do you really think thats gonna get things hopping?? Thats just a drop in the bucket, Its been 3 months i personally dont think they are gonna catch anyone anymore the case is COLD

Posted by: Anonymous on May 21, 2008 at 06:42 AM
Ah I am so tired of hearing of this case!

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Madison on May 21, 2008 at 12:36 AM
D, Blow $? It is private donors that are giving to the fund. Did you not know that? People in the community cared enough about Joel to give to help find this killer. A business gave $30K, the rest is all individual donors. As for the family being a hindrance!??!!? The police were called when the person who gave the original description saw the suspect again, yet the police didn't come when called.

Posted by: Ralph Location: Milwaukee on May 20, 2008 at 05:01 PM
What the Morinos are doing is trying to solve the homicide of their son! I can guarantee you that Mr. Morino will do a better investigation than that of the Madison Police department! "D" you have it all wrong! The Wild West? What are you talking about? I can promise you if this was your son or daughter, mother or father or husband or wife you would be thrashing through the briars yourself! When a agency such as the MPD has proven it cant handle the job it is up to us to get answers! The FBI and the Wisconsin Department of Justice should be the ones heading this case not the MPD. I think Mr Morino has every right to do what he is doing and it is not us to judge the man because we are not in his situation. As far as ruining MPD's investigation, Please, it was ruined the minute they showed up on scene!

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 20, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Yes S i agree they do deserve answers but lets be realistic here its been what 3 months? They have to let the law do their job as long as it takes, All his family can do is blow $ and spin their wheels then cant actually arrest someone. This isnt the Wild West anymore. I agree its a sad circumstance but they are just drawing more attention to them and away from the investigation

Posted by: my thought Location: madison on May 20, 2008 at 02:01 PM
"D" how ignorant! How would you feel if it were your son? Would you be sitting on your laurels if you felt the police investigation was going too slow or not keeping you informed? I praise the family for their efforts in trying to catch a murderer.

Posted by: Wolfscratch: Glenn Adams Location: Dawsonville, GA on May 20, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Greta, It is amazing at the parallels in this case, and the Gary Michael Hilton: Serial Killer; case. Meredith Hope Emerson’s fate was decided by pre 09/11/01 strategies, as well as the policy of keeping the public in the dark, just plain incompetence,and Egos, IMO. AMW, has helped capture over 1,000 of America’s most violent fugitives, by utilizing two very powerful resources, that are ironically free of charge: “The public, and the media.” The following link will justify my feelings: http://www.ganet.org/gbi/homicides/frady.html Levi, was murdered over 10 years ago. From my journey backtracking Hilton, since 01/06/08, I knew that he had been doing his evil deeds for decades. Hilton says, 47 years, or since he was 14. Greta, I discovered alot about you in this article, that explains your demeanor, and your continous fight for Justice: And Van Susteren remembered a story that ran in Isthmus 18 years ago about her appearance before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She was there to defend the honor of her deceased father, a Wisconsin judge who got into trouble for paying his taxes late. “Most lawyers begin by saying, ‘May it please the court,’” Van Susteren told me. “I began by saying, ‘My father was not a thief.’” The Isthmus story by Cliff Miller, retrieved from a bound volume, has the quote. If you want to know, Greta won the case. Greta, you are definitely a winner, I knew that you would be going to the Supreme Court, one day. I didn’t realize that you had already been… Wolfscratch: Glenn Adams

Posted by: Anonymous on May 20, 2008 at 12:04 PM
I say go Marino family! We should all be inspired by the courage of this family!

Posted by: M Location: Madison on May 20, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Madison is a small town. There's only 2 degrees of separation between everybody. I think it's time that the police started releasing more details to the public. If they did, someone might come forward who heard something or knows something when they give additional details. If the police could do it on their own, "America's Most Wanted" wouldn't be such a success. Just think of how many cases were finally cracked when the police gave out additional info and someone said, "hey - i know someone who fits that description." who are we looking for right now? some white guy who wears a "W" cap. pfff. that's 50% of the population of madison!

Posted by: S Location: Sun Prairie on May 20, 2008 at 10:21 AM
How is that looking for FAME? They just want some answers, they DESERVE some answers.

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 19, 2008 at 08:23 PM
Seems like someone is tryin to get some FAME off of this, even though its terrible this happened they have to let the law handle it, the family is going to be more of a hinderance than a help here