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Crime Scene

The Analysis of the Crime Scene

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Obviously, some crimes are more appropriate for profiling than others. We have listed these crimes in Chapter 1: sadistic torture +In sexual assault, evisceration, postmortem slashing and cutting, motiveless fire setting, lust and mutilation murder, and rape (stranger rape, not date or acquaintance rape). Such crimes as check forgery, bank robbery, and kidnapping, in contrast, are usually not appropriate candidates for profiling, nor are “smoking gun” or “dripping knife” murders. In this chapter we focus on those crimes to which the process of profiling is directly applicable.

BEYOND THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Perhaps one of the most difficult things for investigators to accept is the need to look beyond the physical evidence. Homicide detectives are generally trained to reconstruct a crime based on the physical evidence found at the scene, such as blood spatters, fingerprints, and semen. This kind of evidence is often mistakenly thought to hold the key to the successful resolution of any criminal case.

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Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders, Second Edition

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Introduction

This guide is intended to assist State and local law enforcement and other first responders who may be responsible for preserving an electronic crime scene and for recognizing, collecting, and safeguarding digital evidence. It is not all inclusive but addresses situations encountered with electronic crime scenes and digital evidence. All crime scenes are unique and the judgment of the first responder, agency protocols, and prevailing technology should all be considered when implementing the information in this guide. First responders to electronic crime scenes should adjust their practices as circumstances including level of experience, conditions, and available equipment warrant. The circumstances of individual crime scenes and Federal, State, and local laws may dictate actions or a particular order of actions other than those described in this guide. First responders should be familiar with all the information in this guide and perform their duties and responsibilities as circumstances dictate.

When dealing with digital evidence, general forensic and procedural principles should be applied:

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Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders

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To assist State and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutorial offices with the growing volume of electronic crime, a series of reference guides regarding practices, procedures, and decision making processes for investigating electronic crime is being prepared by technical working groups of practitioners and subject matter experts who are knowledgeable about electronic crime. The practitioners and experts are from Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies; criminal justice agencies; offices of prosecutors and district attorneys general; and academic, commercial, and professional organizations. The series of guides will address the investigation process from the crime scene first responder, to the laboratory, to the courtroom. Specifically, the series of guides will address:
◆ Crime scene investigations by first responders.
◆ Examination of digital evidence.
◆ Investigative uses of technology.
◆ Investigating electronic technology crimes.
◆ Creating a digital evidence forensic unit.
◆ Courtroom presentation of digital evidence.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of electronic and computer technologies and of electronic crime, efforts will be periodically...

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Crime Scene Investigation A Guide For Law Enforcement

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Introduction

This guide is intended for use by law enforcement and other responders who have responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence, and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination. Physical evidence has the potential to play a critical role in the overall investigation and resolution of a suspected criminal act. Realization of this potential depends on actions taken early in the criminal investigation at the crime scene. Developments in technology and improvements in the analysis and interpretation of physical evidence recovered from crime scenes will place even greater importance on properly documented and preserved evidence. An important factor influencing the ultimate legal significance of this scientific evidence is that investigators follow an objective, thorough, and thoughtful approach. The goal of this process is to recognize and preserve physical evidence that will yield reliable information to aid in the investigation. Investigators should approach the crime scene investigation as if it will be their only opportunity to preserve and recover these physical clues....

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Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides

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Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized dynamics in homicide investigation. Staging might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized.

A careful and intelligently guided examination of the crime scene and of the forensically analyzable evidence found there gives direction to and often determines the success or failure of an investigation. It is clear, however, that some crime scenes are difficult to evaluate when the victim’s body and perhaps other elements of the scene have been deliberately manipulated.

A number of authors have defined staging as the purposeful alteration of a crime scene in an attempt to mislead investigators and to frustrate the criminal justice process. An example would be making a homicide appear to be a suicide. Staging does not refer to efforts taken by a surviving family member or other loved ones to cover or dress a victim in order to avoid embarrassment.

In death investigations,...

Additional Resource: Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides (2757 downloads )

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Prior Crime Specialization and Its Relationship to Homicide Crime Scene Behavior Type

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Abstract

The present study explored the link between offenders’ prior criminal specialization (violent crime, sexual crime, or burglary/theft) and subsequent homicide crime scene type (exploit, control, distance) in 77 U.S. cases of single-offender/single-victim homicides. Specialists as compared to those with no prior criminal history were significantly more likely to engage in goal directed behaviors such as controlling the victim, controlling the outcome, and exploitative behaviors (sex and theft). Sexual crime specialists specifically were the more distinct subtype. The findings indicated differences in how first-time homicide offenders approach the crime scene and are discussed in line with the usefulness to homicide investigators.

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Crime Scene Staging: An Exploratory Study of the Frequency and Characteristics of Sexual Posing in Homicides

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Abstract

Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized homicide investigation phenomena. Even though staging and sexual posing might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized, there are no reliable data on the frequency of occurrences. The results of a survey administered to 46 trained homicide investigators indicated that while staging may be frequently observed at crime scenes, sexual posing occurs infrequently. Of an estimated 44,541 homicide investigations, respondents indicated that sexual posing was present in less than 1% of the cases (n = 428). Results also indicated that most often sexual posing, in contrast to crime scene staging, was typically not carried out to mislead, but the offenders' motivation was more often based on a psychological need for sexual fantasizing or to satisfy anger at the victim. Homicide case examples are presented and discussed to elaborate on the characteristics of sexually-posed crime scenes The scene of a homicide is the most important criminal

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Crime Scene Clues to Suspect Misdirection of the Investigation

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ABSTRACT

In the course of their career, most detectives and forensic practitioners will come into contact with a staged crime scene; a scene that has been altered by the offender to either mislead a police investigation as to the true facts of the crime or for other reasons understood only by the offender. To better understand the dynamics of the event, the nature of “staging” is examined through the introduction of distinct categories of staged crime scenes based on the motive of the offender’s misdirection. With this in mind, the offender’s objective relevant to the staged event can be divided into three separate types, Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. The Primary staged scene involves intentional and purposeful, altering or changing of the crime scene with specific criminal intent to misdirect a police investigation, where as Secondary staging involves the intentional alteration or manipulation of the crime scene or victim by an offender that is unrelated to misdirecting or diverting subsequent investigations. Noncriminal alterations; i.e.

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Crime Scene Robot and Sensor Simulation

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Abstract

Virtual reality has been proposed as a training regime for a large number of tasks from surgery rehearsal (cf. [Robb et al. 1996], to combat simulation (cf. [U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1994]) to assiting in basic design (cf. [Fa et al. 1992]). Virtual reality provides a novel and effective training medium for applications in which training “in the real world” is dangerous or expensive. Here we describe the C2SM simulator system – a virtual reality-based training system that provides an accurate simulation of the CBRNE Crime Scene Modeller System (see [Topol et al. 2008]). The training system provides a simulation of both the underlying robotic platform and the C2SM sensor suite, and allows training of the system to take place without physically deploying the robot or the simulation of chemical and radiological agents that might be present. This paper describes the basic structure of the C2SM simulator and the software components that were used to construct it.

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Violent Crime Scene Analysis Modus Operandi, Signature, and Staging

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Most crime scenes tell a story. And like most stories, crime scenes have characters, a plot, a beginning, a middle, and hopefully, a conclusion. However, in contrast to authors who lead their readers to a predetermined ending, the final disposition of a crime scene depends on the investigators assigned to the case. The investigators' abilities to analyze the crime scene and to determine the who, what, how, and why govern how the crime scene story unfolds. To ensure a satisfactory ending, that is, the apprehension and prosecution of the violent crime offender, investigators must realize that the outcome depends on their insight into the dynamics of human behavior. Speech patterns, writing styles, verbal and nonverbal gestures, and other traits and patterns give shape to human behavior. These individual characteristics work in concert to cause each person to act, react, function, or perform in a unique and specific way. This individualistic behavior usually remains consistent, regardless of the

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NCJRS | Frequency of Body Posing in Homicides

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Abstract:

Analysis of the cases revealed three specific motives for posing: fantasy (offenders pose a body to satisfy a perverse sexual fantasy), retaliation (offenders pose a body out of anger), and staging (offenders pose a body to make it appear to be a sex-related murder to mislead the police investigation). This study provides investigators with a frame of reference regarding staged homicide scenes involving posing. Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized dynamics in homicide investigations. Staging, if it goes unrecognized, might misdirect an investigation. This study collected data from 43 renowned homicide experts who regularly provided expert testimony and advanced training in their particular field of expertise, and who supervised or consulted on 44,541 homicide investigations collectively. Of these homicide investigations, 185 cases used for this analysis maintained full documentation, such as crime scene photographs, the offender’s statements and confession, and investigative reports....

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I. Primary vs Secondary Crime Scenes Primary Crime Scene: Secondary Crime Scene: Example: in a Bank Robbery…

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Marking Evidence at Crime Scenes: Developing a System

One of the most basic—and most important—tasks a crime scene officer has is locating, collecting, packaging, and marking evidence found at a crime scene. In this article, I‘ll address the marking of evidence collected. No matter the type of scene, you must carefully mark and record every piece of evidence you find. This may seem pretty straightforward, but it becomes more complicated when you have multiple crime scenes or incidents. Then the question becomes, how do you coordinate evidence marking across crime scenes? By developing a system for marking evidence before you arrive at your crime scenes, you will avoid confusion and build stronger cases. There are many possible systems that you can use to mark evidence. Some departments use a combination of numbers and letters, or include a breakdown that specifies locations such as bedroom...

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From Aristotle To Crime Scene: A Forensics Of The Academic Essay

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Writing in the academy is almost always about making a claim, or ‘case’, based on evidence, as one does in court: its rhetoric is forensic (L. forensis ‘in open court, public’, from forum), in Aristotle’s sense. Just as forensic rhetoric takes as a given the laws of the polis and is directed at persuading a judge (Aristotle 1991: 80-82), academic writing assumes a set of rules (one must be sincere, demonstrate one’s argument using evidence, and obey a certain decorum) and is written to persuade an assessor, namely a teacher or peer. And, since the Harvard ‘forensic system’ of essay writing in the late 1870s (Russell 2002: 51-63), it has often been taught in the language of forensic rhetoric: in particular, the apocryphal ‘rhetorical triangle’ of persuasion by ethos, logos and pathos (Booth 1963; Kinneavy 1971) and the informal logic of the enthymeme (Toulmin 1958). At its best, academic...

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Criminal Personality Profiling and Crime Scene Assessment

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Abstract

Within the justice system, there appears to be a growing demand for experts in the field of behavioral science who can help law enforcement solve bizarre and unusual cases. There are multiple factors and antecedent events that are involved in a violent crime. These factors and events include the intent, the plan, the type of criminal, the type of victim, the crime scene, and the premortem and postmortem interval. The manner in which a violent crime is performed expresses the psychological pattern, makeup, and expression of the individual performing it. Criminal investigative analysis, or criminal personality profiling, examines and identifies the subtle habits, psychological traits, and personality variables associated with criminal activity. These variables and traits are used to develop personality and behavioral descriptors of an offender who often commits heinous crimes such as serial homicide, sex crimes leading to criminal homicide, arson, bombings, ritualistic crimes that include torture, child abduction, kidnapping, child molestation, and bank robbery...

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Crime Scene Rhetoric — Usually Falls Into Three Categories: Notes, Wall Writing, And Body Messages.

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Rhetoric is the art of discourse, wherein a writer or speaker strives to inform, persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the European tradition.[1] Its best known definition comes from Aristotle, who considers it a counterpart of both logic and politics, and calls it "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."[2] Rhetoric typically provides heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations, such as Aristotle's three persuasive audience appeals, logos, pathos, and ethos. The five canons of rhetoric, which trace the traditional tasks in designing a persuasive speech, were first codified in classical Rome: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Along with grammar and logic (or dialectic—see Martianus Capella), rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....

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When the Bedroom Is the Crime Scene: To What Extent Does Johnson’s Typology Account for Intimate Partner Sexual Assault?

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Abstract

Johnson's (2008) typology of domestic violence was conceptualized to explain the control context and presence of violence in intimate relationships. However, issues surrounding sexual assault in the context of intimate partner violence remain insufficiently addressed. The current study situates sexual assault within Johnson's (2008Johnson , M. P. ( 2008 ).A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence . Lebanon , NH: Northeastern University Press . [Google Scholar]) typology because prior research has largely ignored it. Doing so is necessary to determine the utility of Johnson's categorizations. Using qualitative data from 134 intimate partner sexual assaults reported to Los Angeles law enforcement in 2008Johnson , M. P. ( 2008 ).A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence . Lebanon , NH: Northeastern University Press . [Google Scholar], the present study examines the control context and co-occurrence of physical and sexual assault, as well as the presence of non-physical...

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