Old Watchdogs

Three years a widower, and as many years retired from the NYPD, Tom Newberry set out to capture a serial killer that targeted women on the streets of northern Queens. He realized his approach was unorthodox and questionable, but he was dead set on getting into the killer's head. His determination never wavered, even when Sergeant Ray Wheeler threatened to arrest him for interfering with an investigation Wheeler and his task force were conducting. Tom tried to recruit Barry Noonan, his former NYPD partner from the department's Fugitive Warrant Squad, but Noonan turned him down telling Tom to let the new breed of officers handle this one. "We're not the city's watchdogs anymore," Noonan said. In time though Wheeler and Noonan realized that Tom had stumbled onto something that broke the case wide open

His retirement from NYPD left former Detective Tom Newberry bored and restless. But when a serial killer targeted women on the streets of northern Queens on their way home from work, food shopping or just out for a leisurely stroll, Newberry sprang into action, determined to catch the madman that was responsible. His sleuthing tactics were admittedly unorthodox, but his determination never wavered as he tried to get into the killer's head. He tried to recruit Barry Noonan, his former partner from NYPD's Fugitive Warrant Squad, but Noonan turned him down, saying their days of solving crimes were behind them. "Let the new breed of officers handle this one," he said. "We're not the city's watchdogs anymore." But Tom wouldn't give up, even when he was threatened with arrest by Sergeant Ray Wheeler, the man who headed a task force that was set up to catch the killer resented Tom's interference. In time though, Wheeler realized Tom might be onto something.

Don Collins is a retired NYPD investigator, a former private investigator, licensed in New York and Florida. Don was also the Chief Fraud Investigator for the Home Shopping Network in St. Petersburg, Florida. Don served with the 716 MP Battalion and the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam during the 1968 TET Offensive. He has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the New York Institute of Technology. Don and his wife Cathy live in Seminole, Florida