jimtrue.com : school : CJT1110 : CH16: Homicide Investigation Pt 2
Posted by Jim True on April 21, 2003 6:14 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
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Firearms Documentation for Handguns; very useful form. 'PCSO Firearms Documentation Information Sheet'
Talking about Ballistics, talking about weapons. Closer the gun is to the entry of the bullet hole, the more damage it does.
Bloody sponge, hung with cardboard on both sides. Forward and back spatter. Projectile will rotate after exiting the sponge. OSHA Standards, Horse not considered Biohazard.
Backspatter (always check their hand for backspatter); look for bottom parts of the pants legs or the shoes.
.22 short (smallest caliber handgun); the more power the more spatter. Forward spatter will always be more, but the projectile has to come out in order to create forward spatter.
Video, body after death:
Deceased body can tell approximate time of death, where the body has been moved.
10% of the cases of Battered Children, there will be no evidence on the outside of the body.
At the scene, body touched as little as possible, everything documented by photographs. Trace evidence collected at the morgue, not at the scene. Blood trails and spatters should be documented and photographed. Samples collected after documentation.
As your fingernails, mark and striations are evident underneath the nail. These striations can be matched to the original growing fingernails they are cut or torn from.
Partially eaten food will be noted at the scene; and then compared to the stomach contents back at the morgue to determine digestive rate.
There is no scientific way to determine when an individual died. Can be an approximation.
Pattern of livor mortis. Cannot be used to determine time of death; just be used to determine position of death.
Rigor mortis; same determination; cannot determine time of death with Rigor Mortis. Violent struggle can develop rigor mortis almost instantaneously. Decomposition will deplete the chemicals in the muscles that create rigor mortis. General guideline to determine how long a person has been dead.
Clothing, a/c, heating, surface can affect the time the body cools.
Weapons at the scene: police investigators have a tendency to pick up the gun, check the rounds, etc. By doing so they are destroying evidence. By removing rounds, can destroy knowledge of the sequence of the firing.
Weapon should never be unloaded, cylinder should never be spun, should not place the weapon in their belt.
Examination of the clothing by the medical examiner is just as important as the examination of the body. By looking at the cloth, we can determine the range of the weapon, and the position of the clothing when the projectile entered the body. Can determine if the body was dressed after they were killed.
EMT or Hospital; will need to collect the original tube of blood drawn at the hospital to determine if drugs were present in their system.
Demayo, ME.
Dying Declaration: You killed me, and I telled the police officer that you killed me. Person has to know that they are dying, police officer will say 'you're going to die; who killed you?' If the person dies, you can use it in court. If they survive, it cannot be used in court.
First officer will often ride with the dead person on the way to the ambulance; first responding officer will attempt to get the 'dying declaration'.
Law says 'if I arrest you, do I have to read your rights?' No. Only have to tell you why you're being arrested or accused of. Only have to read them their rights if you're going to interview/interrogate them. As long as you are not engaging in conversation and asking them questions, it is 'spontaneous utterance'.
Electrocution (110V small holes on the toes).
220V will destroy body parts where the electricity arcs out of the body.
larger power lines will destroy parts.
Lightning even more powerful and can flash the entire body.
Animals or pets will eat the owner's flesh if they are dead; there will be no blood because the blood will no longer be pumping.
Calf muscle is actually used as the second pump to pump the blood back up to the heart.
Post mortem, no blood. A lot more to homicides than homicides; are they post mortem or pre mortem? You can tell if the injury is done before death; could be animals.
Decomps will soak right through the bed; pick up by the sheets and blankets and roll into the body bag.
Test is cumulative; because we have learned and know this material.
Profiling: organized and disorganized killers. Will bring their weapons and plan the killing.
'The Catch Me Killer'; police officer in Hollywood, Florida. 'In The Belly of the Beast' Jack Abbott story Michigan.
Jack the Ripper case, first case of blood spatter.
Death Investigator's handbook; Illeopolis [Outline form of how to work the different crime scenes].
Once you work a burglary you pretty much work everything. Burgary, Homicide exact same thing: POE in both. Dead body create a path to the body; burglary will do the same.
Homicide: photograph, videotape, alternate light source to collect hairs & fibers; creating a path to the body (after laying out butcher block paper). Used to vacuum everything; do not do that any longer. Unless it's a serial killer, because it is so time consuming. Stretch out tape to collect the hairs and fibers.
Work around the body and create a path so the ME can get to the body. Once the body is removed, photograph the back and underneath the body and collect hairs and fibers below.
At the autopsy will run ALS to collect hair and fibers. Also watch the autopsy while they are working the body. [Cancer in the lungs is not black it's white... a growth].
Cause, Manner and Mechanism.
Cause of Death - What started the death
Manner of Death - DEFINE [accident, suicide, etc.]
Mechanism of Death - What actually happened in the body that was the mechanism of death.
If wearing very tight clothing will hold the skin together during an exit wound. Which is larger, entrance or exit. Exit will be larger. If it hits a bone it will break and tear it apart. Laying on the bed, small exit.
Projectiles, what it hits or where it hits inside. Will go through the rip cage and miss the heart, but the piece of rib will take out the heart.
In 1971 if someone tried to outrun you could start shooting; can't shoot any longer or chase them. Once they're shooting can shoot. 21 feet safe distance. Kill range with a knife: 21 feet.
3 minutes the brain will continue to work after the heart stops beating; head taken off the heart will continue beating after the head is gone. Brain destroys the motor function.
.308 deer hunting, military rifle in Kennedy assassination.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK: Questions about crime scene stuff, on the book or what we've talked about.
Police report
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