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Cold case father emphasises importance of unit amid heated DA debate

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster / Julenne, left, and David Goetcheus talk Thursday, January 7, 2016 in the Cold Case office about the 1997 murder of their sons, Sean and Donny.
Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster / Julenne, left, and David Goetcheus talk Thursday, January 7, 2016 in the Cold Case office about the 1997 murder of their sons, Sean and Donny. Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster / Julenne, left, and David Goetcheus talk Thursday, January 7, 2016 in the Cold Case office about the 1997 murder of their sons, Sean and Donny.
photo Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Foster / Julenne, left, and David Goetcheus talk Thursday, January 7, 2016 in the Cold Case office about the 1997 murder of their sons, Sean and Donny.

The father of two men who were killed and whose cases eventually went cold and became one of Hamilton County’s most prominent murder cases is speaking out for fear of the local cold case unit being eliminated.

David Goetcheus, father of Sean and Donny Goetcheus – who were shot at 25 and 19, respectively in 1997 – in a Thursday interview told the Times Free Press that the families of cold case victims are at risk amid the heated district attorney’s primary race in May that could end its cold case unit if the challenger is elected.

“After the murders, we were obviously just devastated, and I could hardly focus, hardly live,” Goetcheus said during a phone interview. “As time went on, I became bitter our case wasn’t being solved. It was just excruciating.”

(READ MORE: Man serving 50 years for rape, kidnapping indicted in 1997 Goetcheus brothers slaying)

After 20 years of whittling down suspects, authorities in 2017 announced they’d finally cracked the mystery of who shot and killed Goetcheus’ sons.