NCJ Number
184848
Date Published
1997
Length
160 pages
Annotation
This workbook, which is designed to accommodate a semester of weekly in-class instruction, takes students step-by-step through the practical tasks of investigating a homicide.
Abstract
The workbook is built around a hypothetical homicide of a woman found in the middle of a street shot in the head. Students are first taken through the investigators' initial steps upon coming to the crime scene, including the taking of officers' statements, determination of witnesses, an officer walk-through of the crime scene, a crime scene inspection, the coroner investigator, and the coroner investigator's findings. Because the victim was presumed to be a prostitute because of her attire, interviews were conducted with employees at a nearby hotel where the victim may have taken her clients. Another pathway for the investigation concerns interviews and procedures designed to locate the victim's car. Other investigative steps pertain to the autopsy findings, interrogations and interviews of suspects, and the obtaining of search warrants. A review of relevant telephone records is also described. Other means of evidence collection are explained, including photo lineups, firearms, fingerprints, documents, DNA, tire marks and shoe print, and blood analysis.