Introduction
Crime investigation is a field covered by a number of twists that need to be untwisted. There are no set procedures to use in uncovering the twist, may be due to different nature of the crimes. However, there are guidelines that suites all crimes irrespective of their nature. According to Swanson et al. (2009), every crime is unique even when carried out by the same person. Therefore, investigators are not supposed to make any assumption. They should treat everything in the crime scene as a potential evidence to assist in crime recreation and thus, a thorough, intelligent and procedural investigation should be carried out to ensure the twists in any murder crime are untwisted (Geberth, 2003).
Analyses of the Crime Scene Evidence
The murdered victim in this is case is a teenage girl who is murdered in her home. The victim was found lying on the floor next to the staircase, head down where she was pronounced dead at the crime scene. The compound was empty and she was the only person in the house together with two dogs. There was no physical injury or blood stain notices on the victim’s body and therefore, the cause of death was not directly identified. At time of her death, the victim was fully dressed with a blue jeans trouser and a white –shirt as well as loss hair. She was immediately identified as a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brauer LaBrie
In arrival the alarm response officers noticed the front door was ajar, as well as a garage door. A clear indication that there was some one out of the house not long time and possible took a car. The person may have left in a hurry and had no time to close the two doors. The urgency is also indicated by the fallen flower pots on the corridors that lead to where the victim was lying. The items in the lounge were scattered in the floor and disorganized a clear indication of struggle or play.
The house had three doors. The front door was open and led to the route out of the house, the back door was guarded by a big dog that kept on barking, the third door connected the house to the garage and it was bolted. Therefore, the only route that could have been used to escape was the front door which was left open and activated the alarm. This is also supported by an open garage that shows the person might have used a vehicle to leave the compound.
The victim’s neighbor had taken a photo of an old model of white pick-up the week before the crime. The pick-up was packed close to the victim’s house in absence of her parent. Therefore, the pick-up driver had visited a few days before the crime. In addition, a similar description of a pickup was reported to be involved in reckless driving close to the victim’s home. This was done by one of the victim’s neighbors a few minutes after the alarm response squad realized there was an active alarm in the victim’s house. The pick-up driver was used to visiting the victim in her parent absence, therefore, there was likelihood that the driver was in the victim’s house during the murder or had witnessed the murder immediately after it took place, or he or she murdered the victim and was running away from the scene not to be identified.
Evidence Preservation
There is no much evidence to be preserved in this case. However, the victim’s body could be of great use in uncovering the cause of death. Therefore, it was supposed to be preserved until forensic technicians extract the sample they may require in their analysis. In addition, the doors and other solid items that seemed to have been touched were supposed to be preserved until all possible prints were analyzed to determine if there were prints of any other individuals a part from the family members. The entire compound where the crime took place was supposed to be shielded until scene analysis was over. This is because in any crime scene anything can be evidence and therefore, the investigators should not take chances.
The evidence preservation should start with shielding the compound where the crime took place, then the exact position where the body was found. A thorough search should be done in the house to establish any unusual items or situation, and prints be collected from all doors by a specialist. The victim body should then be escorted to a forensic lab for extraction of required sample before it is preserved.
To get deeper into the case, the investigator needs to collect more physical evidence. This includes information on the truck and the truck driver. Determination on any fracture on the victim’s body, blusters, presence of any drug in the girl’s room or anything that would explain the murder or her close associate, any phone communication in record, or diary. A thorough search should be done in her room, her game club locker or school locker if any to find anything that would give connection to the murder.
Interviews
To uncover the twist, the investigator may require interviewing a number of individuals. Those will include the victim’s parents, who give a general overview of the victim’s character, close friends, teammates, and information about her boyfriends if any. The neighbor is expected to give information of any unusual events that take place in the compound in the absence of the victim’s parent. The neighbor interview should assist in getting the description of any visitor in the house or about the truck driver in aid of uncovering his identity.
The victim’s friends, teammates and classmates to establish of whether there were any of them with information regarding her day’s plans, boyfriend or the driver of the truck and his relation with the victim. If uncovered, the truck driver should also be interviewed to explain what he was doing in the compound when the photo was taken as well as where he was coming from when reported with reckless driving. This would assist in establishing the connection between the victim and the truck driver, as well as on whether there was anything to link him to the murder. Finger prints should also be taken to establish any connection with any strange prints established in the house.
More Information to be Collected
The investigator required to gather more information regarding the victim’s boyfriend who the team players claimed to have fought a week before and reconciled later with the victim. This will assist on understanding the relation and if the boyfriend had a motive to kill the victim. They should also check on where about of the victim for the other part of the day: before murder. The victim’s lifestyle and individuals she hugs out with to establish any possibility of use of drugs, or built up rows.
Other Roles and Agencies
The investigation should be handed over to an investigative agency set aside for this kind of jobs. Experienced investigation officers can easily uncover the twist due to past experience and developed imagination that results to excellent solution. The investigator should also try to involve the public by offering incentives for any individual with useful information. This can be done through opening of a free phone connection for informing the investigative officers. This will allow all those teenagers who shared mysterious story come out and give the information even without identification. The agency should also link all scattered information from all sources to recreate the crime scene and the events that happened before the crime. This will ensure the responsible culprit is identified and punished for his or her crimes.
References
Geberth, V. J. (2003). The homicide crime scene. Practical Homicide Investigation, 51(11), Retrieved from < ww.practicalhomicide.com/Research/HomCrimeSc.htm >
Swanson, C.R., Chamelin, N.C., & Territo, L. (2009).Criminal Investigation, 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
