James Fitzgerald

James R. “Fitz” Fitzgerald remains an active criminal profiler and forensic linguist with his company, James R. Fitzgerald Associates, LLC, even after retiring in 2007 with 20 years in the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent, along with 11 years before that as a police
officer/detective/sergeant on the Bensalem Twp. (PA) PD. During his extensive and varied law enforcement career he successfully investigated numerous homicides, sexual assaults, kidnappings, bank robberies, and other violent crimes, as well as matters of international notoriety to include the Unabom, Jon Benet Ramsey, Anthrax, and DC Sniper cases as a profiler
and/or a forensic linguist.

Jim’s role in helping to solve the Unabom serial bomber investigation was highlighted in Discovery Channel’s scripted mini-series Manhunt: Unabomber, which aired over eight weeks beginning August 1, 2017. In it, he was portrayed by actor Sam Worthington. Jim served as the Consulting Producer on the series. It is presently still available on various streaming services. Jim was one of several renowned experts on CBS television’s four-hour documentary series The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey, which aired in September 2016. He was also a featured expert on Oxygen Network’s The Case of: Caylee Anthony. He appeared on Reelz Channel’s Notorious, which premiered in March 2019.

Jim was one of two technical advisors for CBS-TV’s Criminal Minds, was one of two technical advisors for Fox TV’s Sleepy Hollow, was co-host and executive producer of A&E’s Killer Profile. He continues to make frequent appearances on cable news networks as well as radio shows, internet programs, podcasts, and has been featured in numerous media articles over the last decade-plus.

Book I in Jim’s four-part memoir series, A Journey to the Center of the Mind (JCM), relates to his youthful coming-of-age years in Philadelphia and beyond, and was published in 2014. JCM Book II, which covers his 11 years as a police officer/detective/sergeant, was published in February 2017. In JCM Book III, Jim writes of his first ten years in the FBI, from Quantico to New York City, back to Quantico as a new profiler, and ending with a very detailed chapter about his role in the Unabom investigation. It was published in July 2017. The award nominated JCM Book III audiobook was released in Summer 2019. JCM Book IV will be published in early 2024.

In 2021 Jim created, executive produced, and narrated an eight-chapter audiobook titled The Fitz Files – Manhunt: Unabomber. It covers the TV series and the real case, with interesting guests and commentary. Jim is the co-host of Cold Red, a true-crime oriented podcast. It is available on all major podcast outlets, and YouTube.

Jim presently serves on the faculty at two universities. They are Hofstra University and Pennsylvania Western University. In 2021, the latter school created the annual “James R. Fitzgerald Academic Excellence in Forensic Linguistics Award” in his honor.

Jim is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Law Enforcement and Corrections. He also holds an M.S. from Villanova University in Human Organizational Science, and an M.S. from Georgetown University in Linguistics.

Website – www.jamesrfitzgerald.com Twitter - @JFitzJourney