jimtrue.com : school : CJT1111 : 2003-07-23: Homicide Investigation
Posted by Jim True on July 23, 2003 8:02 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.
Continuation of Blood Spatter Slides: Mama cooking breakfast hears a popping noise. Went into the bedroom to see if my husband was okay and his head was gone.
Where's the gun?
Gases from the shotgun explode the head; cannot tell directionality from the blood spatter on a contact shot. Gun pushed back from the head, broke and ejected the shell and spun underneath the bed.
Ex-wife in the house, get in an argument and she shoots him to protect herself.
Stabbed 53 times; sunbathing in the front yard. Small stabs, less than a half inch to inch each. Stabbed in the back through the lungs, expirated blood on her back. Defense attorney said those were not death blows; that was blood from the hair in spots around her head. Expirated blood droplets were at 90 degree angles, there was no directionality. Human body surface texture punctured the air bubbles.
Blunt Force and the Mortis Brothers, cutting, stabbing and chopping.
Ask for a Full Autopsy.
Homicide and Sexual Abuse Cases:
Document and photograph these cases. If the person is dead, treat them like they are alive. If the person is alive, have some respect of them. Rape of a 15 year old girl, photograph the entire person and make sure they have clothes on, then photograph the face. Sexual areas, never ever have that person's face in the photograph. Once the case is closed, the photos become public record. Don't have the face of the victim in the pictures.
Explain to the person, I'm here to do my job, take an overall and then go straight to your injuries, sectioned off and your face will not be in the pictures.
When they are dead, do the same thing if you can.
Not allowed to show pictures of autopsies in the State of Florida, from the Dale Earnhardt case forward.
Make sure you talk with the Doctor's, Medical Examiner's and the Nurses. Information may not be in the report, but the information can be helpful. As the investigator, you need to be in the autopsy; it will answer a lot of the questions.
Confession doesn't mean anything unless you can prove it.
Guy had young girl living with him, runaway. Found out he'd been having sex with her. Found his semen on her clothing.
20 years ago: a homicide was someone that knew the victim, pretty much that was always the assumption. Family or friend member, someone that knew them.
Drive-bys, now purse-snatchers will shoot a grandma just to take the purse. Who was there? Video cameras at the malls. No camera that shows the killing, look for someone watching someone else.
Hardest suspects on a homicide to catch are professional hitmen; nothing to tie them to the victim other than the money transfer to the hitman.
70-75% of your homicides are domestic; someone knows someone, family member or a friend. When working a homicide, complete teamwork: forensics lab experts, investigators, medical examiners, crime scene techs. SWAG (Scientific Wild Assed Guess).
Go over your photos and lab photos several times. Talk to the prosecutor; some stuff they can and can't use.
What do we need to be a good investigator?
Extremely flexible (mentally); run every scenario through your head. Think of every question the defense is going to ask you.
Mental Flexibility. Let your mind wander; come up with any kind of scenario you can come up with.
Common sense. Think outside of the box.
Usually it's the simplest answer; money, revenge, simple stupid reasons. Thanksgiving through New Year's (the Killing Season).
Slow down your investigation; never be in a hurry. Keep the body there until you're done with your investigation; are you just going to throw it in the cooler?
Defense attorneys always attack in a specific order: Laws, Facts of the Case and then You. If they are attacking you personally, you've got a rock solid case.
AFIS - Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Over a hundred different AFIS systems. A lot of them don't match up. May only be a local AFIS system; check for Statewide, Regional, Nationwide.
Disclaimer: These are MY notes taken from classroom lectures while I'm in the classroom. While I'm perfectly happy to share my notes with my classmates and I know I take very good notes, you should still make every effort to attend the class and TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. I will not transcribe everything the instructor says in the classroom, and I will NEVER post pre-exam reviews. My notes will not replace the value of actually attending class and taking your own class notes.I also cannot attest to their accuracy, other than they are what was provided in the lecture; you should not reference my notes as "expert opionion" by any means, and if you notice an error or omission, please do me the favor of e-mailing me with the correction and I will re-post my notes. End of Disclaimer.