Other LanguagesSEATTLE –Attorney General’s Office investigator Marvin Skeen has been promoted to Chief Criminal Investigator. Skeen’s first day in his new role was Dec. 1.
Skeen has served as an investigator and analyst in the Attorney General’s Office’s Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) Unit since 1994. A major participant in the national research project “Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation,” Skeen has lectured on homicide investigation and child abduction homicide investigations in Canada, South Africa and the U.S. and for the American Academy of Forensic Science.
“Because the HITS system and our AGO investigators are so valuable to the state’s law enforcement agencies, it was necessary to hire the very best person to lead them,” said Division Chief Scott Blonien. “We conducted a nationwide search only to discover that the very best candidate was right under our noses.”
As Chief Criminal Investigator, Skeen will oversee the office’s HITS unit and supervise its investigators. From 1969 until 1994, Skeen was a police officer with the Bellevue Police Department. Skeen earned his Bachelors of Science degree in political science and administration from Washington State University.
“Marv Skeen is a nationally recognized expert on homicide investigations and missing children homicides,” McKenna said. “His record in law enforcement and his expertise with this office made him the logical candidate to lead our criminal investigator team.”
The HITS unit tracks and investigates homicides and rapes. It is the only statewide central repository for information relating to violent crimes against persons. HITS has collected data from more than 6,400 murder investigations and more than 7,200 sexual assaults and uses this data to assist local law enforcement in the investigation of these crimes. Typically, in every calendar year, HITS will respond to almost 800 requests for assistance or information.
The investigators who work in HITS also provide expertise to the local and national jurisdictions on homicide and rape investigations. HITS is a national leader in developing and using computers in innovative ways to prevent and increase the solvability of crimes and has been the recipient of several grants to study "trends" or common characteristics in violent crime.
Skeen replaces former Chief Criminal Investigator Darryl Roosendaal who retired on November 1. Before becoming Chief Criminal Investigator, Roosendaal was an economic crimes investigator. His investigations assisted the Department of Revenue’s criminal enforcement effort, and helped recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid state excise tax. Roosendaal is now an asset forfeiture consultant working with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He assists the ATF in developing evidence to cease real and personal property in its criminal investigations.
“Darryl provided excellent leadership during his service with my office,” Attorney General McKenna said. “He continually raised the bar as chief investigator while handling high level legislative and executive ethics investigations. I wish him well at the Department of Justice.”
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