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Homicide Investigation

Promoting Effective Homicide Investigations

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INTRODUCTION

CALL FOR ACTION

In 2006, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) hosted two conferences addressing violent crime: the “Promoting Effective Homicide Investigations” (May 25 and 26) and the “National Violent Crime Sum- mit” (August 30). Both were instrumental in understanding violent crime in the United States, as well as national and local initiatives to reduce it.1 The primary goal of this document is to improve homicide investigations by exploring law enforcement agency practices and examining relatively new procedures that may lead to more effective investigations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) report of 2005 crime data showed a 2.4 percent nationwide increase in homicides from 2004.The FBI’s preliminary numbers for 2006 indicate a continued upward trend in homicides in cities across the nation. For example, during the period 2004 to 2006, homicides increased by 38 percent in Cleveland. Other cities with significant increases in homicides in that period include Cincinnati (41 percent), Houston (37 percent), Las Vegas (16 percent),

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Following Blood Trails: A Sar Perspective

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Blood Trails, DNA, and O. J.

Since 1985, with Alec Jeffrey's discovery of the uniqueness of portions of the DNA structure of certain genes, investigations involving blood have taken an entirely new turn. While the ultimate goal of the analysis of proteins and enzymes was to individualize blood, that's pretty much established with DNA technology. Within a year of the discovery, DNA typing was being put to the test in criminal cases. It not only cleared one man who had confessed to a crime, but also led to the conviction of the actual killer in the same crime. DNA can narrow down suspects in a hurry, but it's not foolproof. It can be challenged in court on the basis of sloppy evidence collection and the corruption of samples during testing. That was the tactic that O. J. Simpson's defense team used to win for him an acquittal in his double murder trial. Just how did they manage to accomplish this?

Additional Resource: Blood Trails, DNA, and O. J. (3188 downloads )

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Cracking the Cold Case: The Anatomy and Deconstruction of Unsolved Crimes

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Abstract

Popularized by the media and trendy television programs, the topic of “cold case investigation” has become ubiquitous. By examining unsolved cases and investigating detective processes, a compilation of information is gathered to analyze, reexamine and recreate crimes in an effort to solve them. This research aims to examine the procedures and anatomy of unsolved cases while reviewing the current cold case management tactics used by local and national law enforcement officials. Through academic literature, eight law enforcement staff interviews, governmental publications and the author’s documented first-hand investigative experience, this thesis also suggests recommendations for all cold case investigative personnel in their future case investigations. Though the media has worked for and against creating an accurate depiction of cold case investigation, using determined volunteers or decks of playing cards could offer unique techniques to investigators that now may have more tools to use than they realized.

Part I: Introduction and Definitions

For centuries, law enforcement agencies have used

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Examining Attributes of Homicides

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Homicide is a widely studied phenomenon using various units of anal-ysis, research designs, statistical approaches, and diverse datasources. From the extant literature on this topic, numerous findings emerge that assist in our statistical understanding of homicidal behavior. In particular, one of the most frequent sources of information on homicides is drawn from the Federal e u r I Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which collates and reports Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHRs) from more than 18,000 police agencies annually. As one of the most widely available sources of data, this information often forms the basis for a great deal of what is known about homicide. For example, the most recent Crime in the United States shows that the rate of homicide has declined in recent years to the current rate of 5.6 per 100,000 inhabitants (FBI, 2003). In addition, this publication depicts the demographic composition of homicides in the United States by

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Children as Victims of Homicide

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Since 1989 the Australian Institute of Criminology has been examining the characteristics of all homicide incidents reported to or coming to the attention of police, and of the victims and offenders involved in these incidents. An important objective of this ongoing study, known as the Homicide Monitoring Program, is to provide data which will, over time, permit the detection of patterns and trends in Australian homicide. Such information not only provides for better public understanding about homicide risk, but can also serve as the foundation for the rational formulation of public policy in such areas as family law, firearms and, importantly, child protection. Australia’s overall homicide rate is around 2 per 100 000, and this figure has remained fairly stable over the past twenty years. However, aggregate figures mask large differential risks between identifiable groups. For example, information relating to the age of homicide victims in Australia reveals a phenomenon found in a great many countries, namely the enhanced risk for children under the...

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Homicide and Suicide Investigative Techniques

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Abstract

Investigating a homicide is the ultimate challenge for law enforcement personnel. Actions taken from the outset of an investigation to the courtroom presentation will have a major influence on the successful outcome of the case. In order to identify the offender, prosecute and provide closure to the victim’s family we must ensure a quality investigation is conducted. The investigation of an alleged suicide can be just as complex as an alleged murder. A suicide may be influenced by psychological, biological or social factors as well as a combination of any of the three.
This course will assist the new death investigator by giving direction on conducting, organizing, and managing a homicide or alleged suicide investigation from start to finish. Topics covered during the course are:

  • First Responder Duties and Responsibilities
  • Pyramid Investigative Technique of Homicide Investigation Lead
  • Investigator Responsibilities and the Preliminary Investigation
  • Scene Analysis and Reconstruction
  • Crime Scene Considerations and Processing
  • Time of Death Indicators

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Investigation and Prosecution of Homicide Cases in the U.S.: The Process for Federal Involvement

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ABSTRACT

This research builds on earlier studies conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that focused on the federal death penalty system. It responds directly to a call for research into the process by which “homicide cases are investigated and how and why some of those cases enter the federal system and others enter the state system.” Using qualitative research techniques, this study examined the processes by which criminal cases, especially homicide cases, entered the federal criminal justice system. Researchers visited nine federal districts and interviewed federal, state, and local investigators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys who potentially played a role in determining whether homicide cases were investigated and prosecuted in the state or federal systems. The ten original districts were selected purposefully and should not be considered representative of the 94 federal districts. The findings in this report are limited to the first four districts analyzed. These districts are geographically diverse, with and without state capital provisions, and sent among the highest and...

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Murder by Structure: Dominance Relations and the Social Structure of Gang Homicide

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Most sociological theories consider murder an outcome of the differential distribution of individual, neighborhood, or social characteristics. And while such studies explain variation in aggregate homicide rates, they do not explain the social order of murder, that is, who kills whom, when, where, and for what reason. This article argues that gang murder is best understood not by searching for its individual determinants but by examining the social networks of action and reaction that create it. In short, the social structure of gang murder is defined by the manner in which social networks are constructed and by people’s placement in them. The author uses a network approach and incident-level homicide records to recreate and analyze the structure of gang murders in Chicago. Findings demonstrate that individual murders between gangs create an institutionalized network of group conflict, net of any individual’s participation or motive. Within this network, murders spread...

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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, surviving family members and loved ones experience extreme...

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Psychiatric Mechanisms In Child Murderers

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Most child victims of homicide are killed by a parent or step-parent. This large population study provides a contemporary and detailed description of filicide perpetrators. We examined the relationship between filicide and mental illness at the time of the offence, and care received from mental health services in the past.

Method All filicide and filicide-suicide cases in England and Wales (1997–2006) were drawn from a national index of homicide perpetrators. Data on people in contact with mental health services were obtained via a questionnaire from mental health teams. Additional clinical information was collected from psychiatric reports.

Results
6144 people were convicted of homicide, 297 were filicides, and 45 cases were filicide-suicides. 195 (66%) perpetrators were fathers. Mothers were more likely than fathers to have a history of mental disorder (66% v 27%) and symptoms at the time of the offence (53% v 23%), most often affective disorder. 17% of mothers had schizophrenia or other delusional disorders. Overall 8% had schizophrenia. 37% were mentally ill at the time...

See Also: Filicide: Mental Illness in Those Who Kill Their Children

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Automated Information Systems for Homicide Investigation:

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I. Introduction

With the growing number of automated investigative support systems in police departments, a tempting assumption would be that those with automated systems are better equipped to face the investigative challenge that certain types of homicides present. Preliminary survey data, however, suggest otherwise. This paper provides a preliminary review of the correlations between departments with and without automated systems and their respective UCR (Uniform Crime Reports) clearance rates. It also summarizes the prominent homicide investigation technology issues throughout the country, with particular emphasis on the role and effectiveness of automated information systems in improving UCR homicide clearance rates. In an earlier survey, respondents indicated that homicide clearance rates either decreased or remained constant while overall homicides decreased (PERF, 1994). Why some departments’ clearance rates decreased and others’ remained consistent, even though homicides actually decreased, deserves further exploration. The two main factors this paper examines are the homicide types and the analytical tools used to solve them. By analyzing...

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Structural Factors And Black Interracial Homicide: A New Examination of The Casual Process

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Abstract

This study evaluates the assumption that deprivation among African Americans and racial inequality lead to black interracial homicide due to racial conflict and antagonism. Using refined race‐adjusted Supplemental Homicide Report data, Uniform Crime Report data and census data, we test an alternative hypothesis that draws on the macrostructural opportunity theory to assess and more accurately specify the relationship between structural characteristics and black interracial homicide. We find that first, the relationship between economic factors and black interracial homicide can be explained in large part by high rates of financially motivated crime such as robbery, and second, that economic factors are associated with financially motivated but not expressive black interracial killings. Analyses of black intraracial killings are performed for comparison purposes. Collectively, the findings suggest that conflict‐based explanations rooted in racial antagonism and frustration aggression may be premature.

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Psychology of Homicide Unit IV

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Computed across a lifespan of 75 years, there is a 1 in 200 chance that an individual in the United States will be murdered. The frequency of homicide and this startlingly high statistic warrant more concerted efforts to research the psychological underpinnings motivating homicide. The history of the study of the psychology of homicide is replete with theoretical shifts—some of which have led to empirical dead ends and others to tremendous advances. Explaining the motivations of a murderer historically has been a difficult task for psychologists because of the wide array of individual, situational, and cultural variables influencing the development of homicidal behavior. Recent psychological research includes both theoretical and methodological advances that have allowed for new, unprecedented insights into the psychology of homicide.

Theoretical Perspectives on Homicide

Several theories have been developed over the brief history of psychology seeking explanations of the patterns of homicide. These theories have followed larger movements within psychology. Movements have proceeded from individualistic explanations

Additional Resource: Homicide Psychology

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Serving Survivors of Homicide Victims During Cold Case Investigations:

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INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

Advancements in DNA technology and other forensic investigative tools have enabled law enforcement agencies to reopen cases left dormant for years. Although the number of cold cases investigated by agencies on a nationwide basis each year is currently not tracked, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does track the number of offenses cleared. In 2009, 66.6 percent of the 13,242 murder and non-negligent manslaughter crimes in the United States were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.1 While this is a significant clearance rate, it leaves many homicides unsolved each year. In response to the advances in forensic technology, many law enforcement agencies have established cold case units with the hope that reexamining evidence will help solve more crimes. As cases are reopened, investigators are contacting survivors of homicide victims. Although survivors may be grateful that their loved one’s murder has renewed attention, the reopening of a case can sometimes have traumatic effects. As discussed in Section 4.1, “Training for Investigators,” survivors

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A Proposed FBIAddition to the FBI Criminal Classification Manual:

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Abstract

Behavioral data were located from 27 homicide cases in which fraud, a white-collar crime, occurred either prior to or contemporaneously with each homicide. The homicide cases in this study were classified as fraud-detection homicides because either white-collar criminals themselves, or assassins they hired, killed the individuals suspected of detecting their fraud. The white-collar criminals who committed murder were sub-classified as red-collar criminals. Both the descriptive homicide data and the literature review lend support to three overriding impressions: red-collar criminals harbor the requisite mens rea, or state of mind, to physically harm someone that may have detected, or is on the verge of detecting, their fraudulent behavior; the victim of a red-collar crime does not have to be someone who profiteered, aided, or abetted in the fraud; and red-collar criminals have a history of antisocial and psychopathic tendencies. Given these conclusions, advocacy for consideration of forensic accountants and fraud examiners as members of homicide investigation teams to assist in the development of a...

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When Turnabout Is Fair Play: Character Evidence and Self-Defense in Homicide and Assault Cases

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INTRODUCTION

Debbie, a call girl, agrees to meet a new customer, Victor, at the Shady Acres Motel for dancing and a massage. They retire to a motel room, but once there, Victor demands an entirely different act from Debbie, one in which she does not want to participate. Debbie gathers her belongings and tries to leave, but Victor escalates his demands by becoming aggressive. He blocks the doorway, grabs Debbie’s blouse, and attempts to pull her towards him. She slaps him and scratches his cheek, causing him to break his grip on her blouse. He threatens to break her neck. She screams and retreats from him. He grabs a chair and swings it at her, barely missing her head. Debbie retreats again, this time to a corner of the room, across the bed from Victor. In a panic, she rummages through her purse and finds the switchblade she carries for self-defense. She pulls it out, waves it at him, and warns him to stay away.

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