VHIA OFFICER'S AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
 

President - Detective Richard Leonard - Stafford County Sheriff's Office - Rich has over 30 years of law enforcement experience with the Prince William County Police Department and Stafford County Sheriff's Office.  Rich is currently a Crime Scene Investigator with Stafford County and was the 2000 recipient of the VHIA Homicide Investigator of the Year Award.  Rich has been a Charter Member of the VHIA since 1993.  Rich served in the US Air Force/Air National Guard and retired with 25 years of service in 2000.  He was an enlisted aircrew member flying the C-130 Hercules aircraft.  

Immediate Past President  - Lt. Rich Cantarella - Retired - Prince William County Police Department - Rich began his law enforcement career in 1974 in Dunmore, PA.  In 1980 he joined the Prince William County Police Department where he served in several assignments including the Operations and Criminal Investigations Divisions.  Rich served the majority of his career assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit as a detective and later as the unit supervisor.  His last assignment was Bureau Commander of the Criminal Investigations Division and he retired as a Lieutenant in May 2007.  Rich is a Founding and Charter member of the VHIA and he and his wife Barbara now reside in Florida.

Vice-President - Detective Ronnie Young - Chesapeake Police Department - Ronnie is a 29 year veteran of the Chesapeake Police Department.  He has been assigned to the Crimes Against Person's Unit working homicides for 17 years.  Prior to his present assignment he spent time in patrol, SWAT, Vice/Narcotics and Burglary.  He's a Charter Member of the VHIA and he served 4 years on the Awards Committee before being elected to the Board of Directors in 2006.  He was elected Vice-President in 2007.  Ronnie is an instructor for the DCJS specializing in Death Investigations, Interview and Interrogation Techniques and Search Warrants.  He's the recipient of numerous letters of commendation as well as the Chesapeake Police Department's Heroism and Meritorious Service Awards.  Ronnie is currently the Chairman of the Awards Committee for the VHIA.

Treasurer - Detective Tom Leonard - Stafford County Sheriff's Office - Tom retired as a Sergeant after 23 years with the Richmond City Police Department.  While with Richmond he served in Patrol and Criminal Investigations to include Homicide and Cold Case Homicide.  He was a member of the SWAT Team for 12 years, 11 of those years as a sniper.  Tom received the Medal of Valor while serving with Richmond City and after retiring came to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office where he is now serving as a Detective assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit. 

Secretary - Detective James Dooley - Retired - Fairfax County Police Department
Jim is a Charter member and Founding member of the VHIA.  He retired from the Fairfax County Police Department after 25 years of service.  He was assigned to the Major Crimes Unit for 19 years and spent his last 14 years assigned to the Homicide Unit.  Jim has continued his investigative career by working as an investigator for the Virginia State Bar Association for over ten years and is now a Senior Fraud Investigator for Navy Federal Credit Union.

Executive Director - Master Detective Dave Watson - Retired - Prince William County Police Department. Dave is a founding member of the VHIA. He joined the Prince William County Police Department in 1974 and retired after 28 years of service in 2001.  Dave then worked for the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office as an investigator for five years.  Dave worked homicide cases from 1980 until 2001 and was in-charge of the Cold Case Homicide Unit when he retired.  Dave served as the first President of the VHIA before becoming the Executive Director of the Association. 

Board of Directors:

Detective Karen Richards - King George County Sheriff's Office - Karen is in her 20th year of law enforcement and is a senior detective with the King George County Sheriff's Office.  She graduated cum laude from Averett College with a BS in Law Enforcement/Sociology.  She began her career as a patrol officer and graduated as the top academic cadet in her basic LE school at the Rappahannock Regional Academy.  She was promoted to detective in 1994.  Between May 1997 and August 2002, Karen was assigned to the Lisk/Silva Task Force.  She became a member of the VHIA in 1997 and is also a member of the International Homicide Investigator's Association. 

Special Agent Dan Rice - Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) - Dan has over 29 years of law enforcement experience the last 23 of which have been with NCIS. He has worked cold case homicides for the past 13 years and presented at seminars for local, state and federal agencies.  Dan has taught crime scene processing at FLETC in Brunswick, Georgia.  He serves as a team leader of the Major Case Response Team responsible for processing crime scenes on major case investigations.  Dan is a Charter Member of the VHIA and a past recipient of the VHIA Homicide Investigator of the Year Award.  He is a graduate of Old Dominion University and served in the US Navy as a Radar Intercept Officer flying F-4 Phantoms.

Special Agent Ken Morris - Virginia State Police - Ken is a certified Criminal Profiler and has been with the Virginia State Police since 1987.  He has provided Criminal Investigative Analysis (traits of the unknown offender), threat assessment, statement analysis, interview/interrogation techniques and classroom instruction to various local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.  He is also a bloodstain pattern analysist, crime scene forensic technician and crisis negotiator.  He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, serving in the US Army as an armor officer. 

Detective Bob Murphy - Fairfax County Police Department - Bob has been a member of the Fairfax County Police Department since 1981.  He was assigned to the Homicide Squad in 1993 and was later assigned to his current position with the Cold Case Squad.  Bob joined the VHIA in 1994 and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2006.  Bob was awarded the VHIA "Homicide Investigator of the Year" award in 1996, 2002 and again in 2007.  He is the only three-time recipient of this award.

Sergeant John Coale - Retired - Arlington County Police Department 1979-2009.  John has been a member of the VHIA since 1994.  He was assigned to the FBI Federal Auto Theft/Carjacking Task Force in 1991-1992.  He was then assigned to the Robbery/Homicide Unit from 1992-2001 when he was promoted to Sergeant.  John served as one of the Incident Commanders at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2000.  John retired from the Arlington County Police in 2009 with 30 years of service.