Executive Board of Directors

President

Major J.R. Burton Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Tampa, Florida

Major Burton has been employed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office for 31 years. He is currently assigned as the Commander of the District I office, which is responsible for law enforcement activities in northern Hillsborough County. Major Burton has spent the last 23 years of his career investigating violent crimes which included robbery, sex crimes and homicide.

Major Burton holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Saint Leo University and is a graduate of the Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute’s Senior Leadership Program and the FBI’s National Academy Session 235.

Major Burton is a past Chairperson of the National Advisory Board of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP). Major Burton is also the Past Vice-President for the International Homicide Investigator’s Association (IHIA). In 2004 he served as a subject matter expert on a Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s committee that developed a state mandated curriculum for the “Investigation and Supervision of Officer-Involved Shootings.” In 1998 – 1999 he participated in a technical working group for eyewitness evidence sponsored by the National Institute for Justice, Washington D.C. As a result, he is a co-author to the publication Eyewitness Evidence/A Guide for Law Enforcement. You may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

Vice President

Lt. Mike Corrado

Mike Corrado is presently a Lieutenant with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and is assigned to the Major Crimes Unit. Mike has eight years experience with Major Crimes Unit and supervises one of two squads. Mike has twenty-four years in Law Enforcement, which covers corrections, patrol, and many years supervising a narcotics squad. Mike has also served as the Swat Team Leader and is currently the Team's Administrator. He has attended countless training seminars, in-services, and is presently pursuing a bachelor degree in Criminal Justice. He has served on the New Jersey Attorney Generals Training programs and is a Past President for the New Jersey Narcotic Officers Association. You may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

Secretary

Wayne Koka FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime

Wayne Koka began his law enforcement career in August 1968, as a member of the Metropolitan Police Department, in Washington , D.C. (MPDC). During his 23 year tenure with the MPDC, he rose through the ranks in a multitude of assignments serving in each of the department's four bureaus: Patrol Operations; Administrative Services; Technical Services; and Investigative Services. He has extensive experience in nearly all phases of police operations, including conducting and supervising major case investigations, directing critical incident responses, and in the development and application of multifaceted law enforcement managerial protocols. He retired from the MPDC in February 1992, possessing the rank of captain, and was last assigned as the Commander of the Public Integrity Branch, of the Internal Affairs Division. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree (cum laude) in the Administration of Justice, from The American University , in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Koka entered the Federal Bureau of Investigation in March 1992. Initially he was assigned as a Training Instructor in the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division where he coordinated the National Hate Crime Data Collection Program and trained numerous law enforcement officers in the investigation of hate crime. In March 1995, he was a Supervisor in the Special Inquiry and General Background Investigations Unit.

Since March 1997 to the present, he serves as a Major Case Specialist in the Behavioral Analysis Unit III, in the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. In his current assignment, he engages in criminal investigative analysis, training, research, and performing operational investigative activities relative to major cases involving child abductions, mysterious disappearances of children, child homicides, and serial murders of children. He has considerable experience working on multi-jurisdictional task forces conducting active child abduction and/or murder investigations. Additionally, he serves as the Program Manager for the Child Abduction Analysis Team (CAAT) Program. The CAAT Program provides case analysis and other specialized assistance to help law enforcement solve "cold case" serious crimes of violence committed against children.

Chief Financial Officer

Detective Sgt. John King Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Image

John King is currently the Sergeant in the Traffic Homicide Section of the Major Crimes Bureau of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. John previously served 18 years in the Homicide Section as a Detective and Supervisor. He has a total of 36 years in Law Enforcement having also served with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the Temple Terrace Police Department. John holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Police Administration from Hillsborough Community College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Florida. John has been a member of the IHIA since 1989 and has served as Treasurer since 2004. John has been married for 34 years and has 2 daughters. You may contact John through our CONTACT US page.

Vice President of Education and Training

Robert G. Lowery, Jr.

Prior to accepting his current position as the Executive Director of the Missing Children’s Division for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Bob Lowery served over 30 years in public service, over 27 of those years as a law enforcement officer. Bob served as the Assistant Chief of Police for the City of Florissant Police Department, an internationally accredited agency located in the northern suburbs of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. During his career, Major Lowery served in a variety of capacities including the Uniform Patrol Division, Tactical Operations/Hostage Rescue Team, Detective Division, Professional Standards, and Internal Inspections Division. The majority of his career was spent as a detective in the Crimes Against Persons Unit, where he directly supervised and investigated homicides, serious assaults, robberies and sex crimes. Mr. Lowery also served as the Commander of the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad, one of the oldest and the largest multi-jurisdictional homicide task forces in the United States. The squad is comprised of over 500 detectives and supervisors representing 105 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. As Commander, he was directly responsible for these personnel and oversaw homicide investigations in the entire fourteen county St. Louis Metropolitan Region, which extends on both sides of the Mississippi River in both Missouri and Illinois. He has personally commanded some of the area's most high profile investigations, including cases of murder-for-hire, sexually motivated homicides (including one that involved a decapitation of a 13-year-old girl and another involving the strangulation of two small boys), narcotics and gang related cases, and cases of armed robbery/murder, to name just a few.

Mr. Lowery participated as a member of the Child Abduction Analysis Team (CAAT) for the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) in Quantico, Virginia. He was an original member of the Board of Advisors for the "Team Adam" Program for NCMEC, and additionally served on the selection committee for "Team Adam" consultants. Additionally, he is a Past President of the International Homicide Investigators Association and continues to serve the organization as a member of the Executive Board. He actively participated in organizing IHIA Symposia in St. Louis, Missouri; the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia; the National Crime Faculty – Bramshill, Hampshire, England; Houston, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts Degree ("Summa Cum Laude") and a Master of Science Degree from Lindenwood University in Business and Human Resource Management. He is a graduate of many advanced training schools on police management, including the FBI National Academy, Class 177. He also served as an adjunct instructor for the Criminal Justice Department at Lindenwood University in St. Louis, Missouri and guest lectures at several other universities and training schools.

Mr. Lowery provides law enforcement training on basic and advanced homicide investigation, interview and interrogation, crime scene, cold case investigation, and multi-jurisdictional case management.

Western Regional Director

Detective Paul Belli Image Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Sacramento, California

Detective Paul Belli has been with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department since 1998, and is currently assigned as a Homicide Detective. In his tenure with the department, he has worked a wide variety of assignments including corrections and courts prior to rotating to patrol. During his 7 years as a patrol deputy he served assignments in the regional transit detail, a patrol field training officer, and with the high impact motor unit. Upon his selection to detectives, he was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Elder Abuse bureau before his current assignment to the Homicide Bureau. He is also a departmental firearms, force options, TASER, and EVOC instructor at both basic recruit and advanced officer training levels. Detective Belli holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in investigations from California State University, Sacramento. He attended training at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Basic Recruit Academy and holds California POST Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Certificates, as well as two Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigations certificates in Homicide and Narcotics investigations. You may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

Eastern Regional Director

Detective Joseph M. Rauch Atlantic City Police Department Atlantic City, New Jersey

Detective Joseph M. Rauch is a decorated seventeen-year veteran of the Atlantic City Police Department assigned to the Major Crime Unit – Homicide Squad of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office in Atlantic County, New Jersey since 2006. In 1984 Joe began his career in Atlantic City’s casino gaming industry as an Investigator with Harrah’s Entertainment Incorporated and Trump Entertainment Resorts Incorporated conducting civil and cooperative criminal investigations, serving as a law enforcement liaison and providing protective services for executives, dignitaries, celebrities and high profile clientele. In 1994, he left the casino gaming industry and joined the Atlantic City Police Department. 

Detective Rauch has an extensive education, training and experience in multiple facets of law enforcement having served a variety of assignments throughout his career including; Uniform Patrol Division, Community Policing Section, Accident Investigation Unit, Gun Reduction Unit, Narcotics Unit, Prostitution Unit, Casino Hotel Investigations Unit, Police Community Partnership Grant Team, Juvenile Investigations Section, Criminal Investigations Section and the Shooting Response Team. He is a certified Fire/Arson investigator routinely assisting the Atlantic City Police & Fire Departments Arson Investigation Unit and Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Investigation Unit in conducting arson and fire related death investigations. As a member of the Atlantic City Police Department Emergency Response Team, he serves as a Negotiator with the Crisis Negotiation Team and is a certified police diver trained in rescue and underwater search & recovery.

Since 1998, Detective Rauch has served as a lead instructor at both the Atlantic County Police Training Center in Atlantic County, New Jersey and the Cape May County Police Academy in Cape May County, New Jersey, providing basic and advanced training and curriculum development in Report Writing and Criminal Investigation. He is also a repeat guest lecturer for the Forensic Science Program at Atlantic Cape Community College in Atlantic County, New Jersey and the Criminal Justice Department at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.

A former two-term 2^nd Vice President of the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association Local #24 Detective Rauch continues to serve as an executive board member working in the interests and welfare of the men and women of the Atlantic City Police Department. In 2004, Detective Rauch accepted a consultant position with Defensive Systems Institute / DSI Training Solutions, LLC, where he is involved with the research and development of direct and internet based instructional programs for law enforcement and private/corporate security.

In 2011, Detective Rauch was chosen to panel the committee responsible for authoring the Atlantic City Police Department “Tourism District Plan.” A comprehensive departmental reorganization plan designed to address the increased demand for police services within the Atlantic City Casino/Tourism District in compliance with newly enacted New Jersey State legislation to reform the gaming industry in Atlantic City and revitalize tourism.          

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Joe is an accomplished musician, avid scuba diver and a horrible golfer.

Northern Regional Director

JAMES C. HOLMES Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation

Jim Holmes is a Special Agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), where he has been employed since 1996. He has been assigned to the Major Crimes Unit in DCI, since 2000, where he is responsible for the investigation of all types of violent crime that occur within Wisconsin. Prior to his employment with DCI, Jim was employed with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and the Fitchburg Police Department in Wisconsin. Jim also served for three years on active duty in the United States Army, and was attached to the 732^nd Military Intelligence Battalion in Hawaii. Jim is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in the areas of Behavioral Science & Law and Sociology.

Since 2004, Jim has been the Coordinator of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s annual two-week death investigation school, of which over 400 hundred law enforcement officers have attended. Jim has been actively involved in the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators (WAHI) since 2002, a past president, a current member of the Board of Directors, and he serves on WAHI’s Training Committee where he is actively involved in the development of WAHI’s annual training conference. Jim has been a member of the Wisconsin Statewide Child Death Review Council since 2007. Jim has also participated in a fourteen week Advanced Criminal Investigative Techniques training program administered by the FBI in which he was assigned to the Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resource Center of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, while also being attached to the FBI’s 205^th National Academy class. Jim has been the International Homicide Investigators Association’s (IHIA) Northern Regional Director since 2010.  You may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

Southern Regional Director

Capt. Stephen Buras Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office IHIA 2007 Past President,

Captain Stephen Buras is a 35 year veteran of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Steve is a graduate of Loyola University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice and a 1994 graduate of the FBI National Academy (Class #177).

Steve has been assigned to the Homicide Section since 1978 and has been its Commander since 1989. Under his command the Homicide Section has maintained an average solvability rate of 90%, with 100% clearance rate in 1997 and 2001.

Steve has received extensive training in all areas of homicide investigations and has provided training and instruction to over 20 law enforcement and medical examiner organizations in the area of death investigations. His expertise includes, but is not limited to, death and major case investigations, crime scene processing, interview and interrogation, trial preparation, officer involved shootings, mass catastrophes, and courtroom testimony. He has investigated and/or been involved in over 500 homicide investigations in his career.

In January 2007, Captain Buras was promoted to Commander of the Persons Division, which includes the homicide, robbery, and rape squad.Captain Buras has been a member of IHIA since 1992 and a member of the IHIA Board since 2001. Steve believes that the benefits of being a member of IHIA goes beyond the information shared at the conference. Since criminal activity knows no boundary, the IHIA provides national and international access throughout the year to law enforcement agencies, here and abroad.

On a personal note, Steve has been married for 33 years and has two children. He is an avid deer hunter, fisherman, golfer, and anything else that gets him out of the office. Since he's rarely in the office, you may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

Executive Director

Bill Hagmaier Federal Bureau of Investigation (Ret) Image

Bill Hagmaier was born in 1947 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . He received his undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock University in 1969. After serving in the U S. Army Military Police Corps, he completed his master's degree requirements in psychology and counseling in 1974. He also attended post-master's studies at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia .

Upon completion of FBI training in May, 1978, Mr. Hagmaier was assigned to the Minneapolis Division for four years, serving two years in the Minneapolis Headquarters Office and two years as the Assistant Senior Resident Agent in St. Paul , Minnesota .

Mr. Hagmaier was then transferred to New York where he served with New York City Police Detectives on a special joint task force (JTF-1) that targeted major case investigations including bank robbery, homicide, extortion, kidnapping, and terrorism. In recognition of his contributions, he was inducted into the prestigious Honor Legion of the New York City Police Department, a tribute normally reserved for outstanding New York Police Department investigators and rarely bestowed upon personnel from other agencies.

Mr. Hagmaier joined the FBI Academy 's Behavioral Science Unit in 1983 and enjoyed adjunct faculty status with the University of Virginia . Along with specializing in crime analysis and criminal personality profiling and interviewing techniques, he was responsible for the year-long training of select senior local investigators (chosen world-wide) who had been selected to participate in the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime's Police Fellowship Program.

Mr. Hagmaier designed the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group which was established in 1994 and facilitates the FBI's rapid response to, and the management of, crisis incidents.

Also in 1994, Mr. Hagmaier was assigned as chief of the FBI's Undercover Safeguard Program and developed it into an operational unit that now supports FBI special investigations through selection, training, and debriefing of covert operatives.

Mr. Hagmaier became Chief of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC), which is part of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group and included child abduction and serial murder consultative resources as well as all FBI criminal profiling services. He also served as chief of the federal interagency (seven federal agencies represented) taskforce for missing and abducted children which was created through an act of congress. He represented the FBI on the Attorney General's National Interagency Task Force on Exploited Children. Mr. Hagmaier was the manager of several Department of Justice grants supporting research into areas of child abduction and serial murder. He interacts regularly with various victim support groups to include Parents of Murdered Children and Project Hope, a program designed to prepare victim parents to support others who experience similar tragedies.

Mr. Hagmaier has testified on behalf of law enforcement before committees in the House of Representatives as well as the U. S. Senate. Mr. Hagmaier has been a consultant to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States , Canada , Puerto Rico , England , Australia , Iceland , Switzerland and other nations. His consultations have dealt with such acts as homicide, arson, bombing, political corruption, sexual assault, child abduction/molestation, kidnapping, infant abductions, organized crime, terrorism, and foreign counterintelligence. Included in these cases are UNABOM, Columbus Stranglings, Green River Homicides, Sentry Armored Car Robbery, (largest cash robbery in US. history), Dupont Plaza Hotel (91 deaths), The Nightstalker Homicides, The Ted Bundy, Danny Rolling, and Aileen Wuornos Serial Murders, Federal Judge Assassinations, JonBenet Ramsey Case, and many more.

He interacts on a daily basis with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) staff where he serves as a Team Adam advisory board member and often assists in the Center's training of investigators and assists on-site in abducted child cases from around the world. He is a consultant to the Department of Justice's Amber Alert Program and serves on the Attorney General's National Taskforce on Missing Persons. You may contact him through our CONTACT US page.

IHIA Attorney

Paul J. Marino, Esq. Belleair Beach , Florida

Mr. Paul Marino of Belleair Beach, Florida is a member of the Florida and Maryland Bars and was appointed as IHIA Corporate Counsel in 2003. Mr. Marino came to IHIA with a long history of providing legal advice to several of the nation's leading criminal justice oriented associations. In 1976, Mr. Marino left his native Baltimore , where he served as a member of the Mayor's staff, handling public safety and emergency management issues for the City of Baltimore, and was a Reserve Major in the Baltimore County Police Department, to accept an appointment as Chief Legal Counsel to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida . During his work with the Sheriff's Office, in addition to his primary responsibility to manage claims and reduce potential liability against the Sheriff and his deputies, he was initially responsible for handling public information matters for the Sheriff, and worked closely with Internal Affairs. He retired after 17 years of government service to further his career in private practice and as a civil liability defense attorney for police departments throughout the state of Florida . Today, Mr. Marino's law practice is centered on his work as a contract city attorney for the City of Belleair Beach in Pinellas County , Florida , and as a corporate counsel for law enforcement associations. Mr. Marino was the 1993 recipient of the Florida Bar's Ralph Marsicano Award for excellence as a government attorney and a Proclamation from the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in recognition of his saving the Sheriff's Office and County millions of dollars in civil liability costs. In 1990, the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) awarded Mr. Marino with the Robert Cormier Memorial Award which is the Association's highest award sponsored by Bell Helicopter Company for his representation of ALEA before the U.S. Supreme Court in the aerial surveillance case of Florida vs. Riley. In 1976, he was awarded the Baltimore Mayor's Citation for his work in handling major emergencies faced by the city in the previous decade.

President

Emeritus Terry Green Oakland Police Department (Ret)