THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
INVESTIGATIVE SPECIALISTS

IS PROUD TO PRESENT

2002 INVESTIGATOR OF THE YEAR
JOHN M. LAJOIE, CCDI, CLI, CII


LAJOIE INVESTIGATIONS, INC.
287 West Boylston St.  West Boylston, MA  01583

www.PrivateInvestigator.com

President and Founder of Lajoie Investigations, Inc (1988), John M. Lajoie has an extensive background in legal, criminal defense, corporate, insurance, and claims management investigations. He is a Board Certified Legal Investigator® and a Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator.  Lajoie is the current Northeast Regional Director for the National Association of Legal Investigators, Inc. (NALI). He was elected to serve three previous terms.  Mr. Lajoie is considered an expert defense homicide investigator, as well as a specialist in legal and all lines insurance coverage and liability investigations.  Mr. Lajoie has conducted many high profile investigations and has been the chief defense homicide investigator in numerous central and western Massachusetts homicide investigations. His investigative acumen has been recognized and honored by his brother and sister investigators, as well as law firms, corporations, insurance companies, and other organizations. Mr. Lajoie has been featured in various local and national publications and other news media and has lectured about the reputation and enhancement of the professional private investigative industry to diverse groups. He has also lectured at some of the largest investigative conferences in the world on self-defense investigation and reviewing autopsy reports.  In 1997, Mr. Lajoie was the recipient of a National Editorial Publisher Award for his outstanding article Homicide Se Defendendo-The Investigation of Homicide in Self Defense, which was the lead article in the February 1997 addition of The Legal Investigator and in the fall 1997 Issue of Focus International. In 2000, Lajoie authored his first book about the private investigation industry as a profession, which is published and sold all over the world.  Additionally, Mr. Lajoie is a contributing chapter author to Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education s January 2001 published book, Crime Scene Investigation and Discovery, which is sold to attorneys.  In addition to his service with NALI, Mr. Lajoie is a charter member of the Licensed Private Detectives Association of Massachusetts where he has sat on a number of committees.

John Lajoie With The NAIS Investigator
Of The Year Award For 2002

 

He is also a Certified International Investigator and a member of the Council of International Investigators.  He was a 2002 Nominee for International Investigator of the Year. Lajoie also holds memberships in the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, National Council of Investigation and Security Services, National Association of Investigative Specialists, Louisiana Private Investigators Association, and the Global Investigators Network. He is the Chairman of the Julius "Buddy" Bombet Lifetime Achievement Award Committee; arguably the most prestigious award presented within the private investigation profession nationwide.

 

 

John Lajoie Presenting Jack Reed The 2002
Julius "Buddy" Bombet Lifetime Achievement Award
At The 2002 International Private Investigator's Super Conference
In New Oleans. There Was Not A Dry Private-Eye In The Room!

Lajoie is also considered an expert investigation Conference Coordinator, having coordinated a number of the largest and most successful investigative professional development and continuing education conferences in the country. His investigative skills are renown in his area of expertise. After learning that another attorney had hired Lajoie to do a simple DUI defense case, one of Lajoie s high profile attorney-clients commented, ðIt s like using a howitzer to kill an ant!   Lajoie s defense investigation of the killing of a Holyoke, MA police officer was critical to the ðself defense defense respected Attorney Peter Ettenberg developed during a high profile trial in March of 2001, and it was done in a hostile and lonely environment wrought with roadblocks.  Despite tremendous obstacles, Lajoie lived to tell about it and was credited by Ettenberg with finding the only defense possible.  Four of Lajoie s recent homicide case investigations resulted in two out right dismissals, one not guilty, and one directed verdict. Lajoie is also credited with finding a family member of a client who had changed his name more than ten times, his SSAN more than five times, and who had been missing in action from the military since 1972. He has worked for high profile attorneys, celebrities, sports teams, and world famous rock bands.  Lajoie also works for the homeless, defends those who are indigent, and helps prostitutes, drug addicts, and alcoholics.  Lajoie considers his greatest investigative achievement as resolving an unsolved homicide case for an indigent family, pro bono, to a successful conclusion.

What A Gang! Barbara Maikell-Thomas, John LaJoie, Ralph Thomas
And Cody Woods. John did not know it at the time but he was being nominated
as 2002 NAIS Investigator Of The Year at the time this photo was taken.

He was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, was educated in public schools and colleges (graduating Summa Cum Laude), and now resides in Sterling, Massachusetts with his wife Susan (a good investigator in her own right) and their three children.  He can be reached at 508-835-2211.