Presentaton on Harris County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit

In 2003, Minchew started working as a detective in the sheriff's office's warrants division. Having previously worked as a jailer, a patrol deputy and in the department's human resources division, this marked the beginning of his career as an investigator.

It had been a while since he'd thought about Inez Deaton, his uncle's first wife. Deaton's body had been discovered 24 years before on the banks of Greens Bayou, stabbed several times. A topic rarely spoken about, he knew his family members suffered after her murder.

But that year, he heard her name. It might have been on the news or maybe in the office. He can't really recall. Nonetheless, the information he learned was exciting: The killer in the case, Danny Paul Bible, had been caught and two homicide investigators just 50 feet down the hall from him helped solve the case.

"I just thought what a small world it is," Minchew said.

That was the first he'd also ever heard of the sheriff's office cold case unit.

"I just assumed the homicide guys, you know, just worked their cases and put them in a file cabinet for later use," he said. "I didn't realize we had an active investigations going on for unsolved murders from the past."

Minchew went to the then detectives on the cold case unit, Sgt. Roger Wedgeworth and Sgt. Harry Fikaris, and told them about his connection to the case. Speaking to them made Minchew fairly certain he wanted to be doing what they were one day.

"I just thought it'd be the best job for having a direct impact," he said.

After being dismantled for a few years, the cold case unit was reinstated at the sheriff's office in 2009. Minchew made sure to tell Sgt. Eric Clegg, a member of the cold case squad, that if there was ever an opening for an investigator, he wanted to be considered.

Last October, Minchew got his wish.

Clegg said choosing Minchew for the job was a no-brainer. Minchew led a successful career as an investigator, even at one time tracking down suspects for the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force. Clegg, who had met Minchew almost 15 years ago as a patrol deputy, said he also picked him for his compassion, intelligence and most importantly, dedication.

"Some of them (cold cases) require just a great deal of diligence," he said. "You can't get frustrated, you can't quit, you can't put it down and look for another one. You've got to ride it out, and I knew that's what I'd be getting with him and that's so important."

The next month, Minchew began work on his first cold case.