Lou Tessmann retired from the Waukegan Police Department in 2005 at the rank of Deputy Chief. During a 21-year career, Lou served in a variety of assignments, including Commander of the elite Lake County Major Crime Task Force where he investigated homicides, kidnappings, and officer involved shootings.

Throughout his career, he conducted thousands of interviews and interrogations and obtained over 80 homicide confessions. At present, Lou teaches throughout the United States. His areas of expertise include criminal interrogation, death investigation, field interviewing, and investigative strategies.

Lou has a B.A. in English and Physical Education from Northeastern Illinois University and is a member of numerous professional and training organizations, including the International Homicide Investigators Association and the International Narcotics Officers Association. Lou has appeared as a guest analyst on The Discovery Channel, Real Detective, and America's Most Wanted.

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Jeffrey J. Pavletic is an award winning trial attorney who has built a reputation of integrity and exceptional skill in the courtroom. As a prosecutor for the past two decades, he has tried countless cases to victory (including approximately 150 jury trials with a concentration in homicide and violent crime). In addition to trying some of the most high profile and complex cases that have occurred in the history of Northern Illinois, Jeff was Chief of the Felony Review Division, and is currently the First Assistant State’s Attorney for the Lake County (Illinois) State’s Attorney’s Office.

Jeff served as Special Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in the impeachment of President Clinton. His duties included all aspects of independent counsel review, the impeachment inquiry, presentation of articles of impeachment to the U.S. House of Representatives, all witness interviews and depositions of trial witnesses, and the actual impeachment trial before the United States Senate.

Not only has he developed a reputation for excellence in the courtroom, but he is also a published author and a well‐respected legal instructor. He currently holds undergraduate and graduate faculty positions and has received accolades as a nationally renowned lecturer, training thousands of police officers, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.

Jeff has received numerous federal, state and local awards. These include the Illinois State Crime Commission’s State’s Attorney of the Year, Felony Trial Attorney of the Year, The Fred L. Foreman Criminal Justice Award, The Ruth Rosengarden Victim Service provider Award, and a special U.S. House of Representatives Award presented by Congressman Henry Hyde. Jeff has been featured on 20/20, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Court TV, and the Discovery Channel.

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Carol Gudbrandsen is a Cyber Crimes Analyst with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in their Cyber/White Collar Crimes Division. She has been with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office since 2010. Carol has specialized training in digital evidence forensics of computers, mobile devices and computer networks. Carol has performed thousands of forensic examinations on various types of digital evidence and has been the forensic point of contact and resource in homicide cases investigated by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.

Carol’s forensic examination abilities have made her an integral part of criminal investigations including homicides, crimes against children, sexual assault/abuse, drug investigations, theft, burglary, and white collar crime cases. Carol’s forensic examinations on computers and mobile devices have been crucial to many criminal cases, due to her unique abilities in bypassing, or locating security barriers that otherwise would not have been discovered by traditional forensic methods.

Carol provides investigation and analysis services in the area of digital evidence forensics for all of the Lake County, Illinois police departments. She has also worked criminal forensic cases with Homeland Security, FBI, DEA, Illinois Attorney General’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals. Carol has actively participated in executing search warrants with local law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. She has been qualified as an expert witness in the area of digital forensics for Lake County, Illinois criminal cases. Additionally, Carol provides support to law enforcement in the areas of search warrants, court orders, social media, and various forms of cybercrimes.

Carol trains law enforcement in the matters of technology, seizure of digital evidence, internet investigations, and transportation and chain of custody issues related to digital evidence. She conducts community presentations to schools, parents, staff, and professionals on cyber-related matters, including internet safety, cyberbullying, sexting, and identity theft.

Carol is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Carthage College, and has 30+ years of experience in the areas of Information Technology and Accounting. She is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Forensic Task Force, International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS), and High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA).