Week Five Crime Scene Scenarios
Scenario 1
Introduction: Police are summoned by the husband of the deceased after his wife was found in their basement bedroom, dead from blunt force trauma to her head. Both the husband, 56, and wife, 52, had been attending a funeral and the deceased decided to leave early to come home and prepare for the luncheon for those attending the funeral.
Crime Scene: The victim was found lying on her back on the floor at the end of the bed. The victim had died from blunt force trauma to her head, specifically her face. The killer had obliterated the victim’s face with a blunt instrument, most likely a shoe worn by the perpetrator. No other wounds were visible. The victim’s shirt top had been unbuttoned and pulled back to either side, revealing the victim’s bra. Her outer pants had also been unbuckled and partially pulled down. Her panties had not been removed. A pillow lay against the left side of her face. An opened bottle of Vaseline was near the body. The rest of the room appeared not to be disturbed. Upon closer inspection, a few hundred dollars in cash had been removed from a desk drawer in the bedroom. In order to do so, the desk chair would have had to be moved in order to gain access to the desk drawer. The chair had been placed back in its original position against the front of the desk. A sliding glass door was partially open and partial shoe prints were visible due to the tracking of blood from the crime scene, out the glass sliding door, across the lawn, and over the back fence.
Questions to ponder:
- Who is the most likely to be the killer? A family member? A relative? An acquaintance? A stranger? Why?
- What can you determine from the crime scene?
- What additional information do you need to help solve this case? What was the primary motivation for the crime?
- Are there sexual components to this crime scene?
- Are any of the following crime scene elements present: Staging, Undoing, Posing, and Signatures?
Scenario 2
Introduction: A girl, 15, and her boyfriend, 16, are found dead late one evening in the boyfriend’s Volkswagen Beetle, parked behind some tennis courts in an area of a small town that has low crime rates. They were eating a pizza when both of the victims were shot to death while sitting in the car. Both victims were good students. She was on the cheerleading squad, and he was on the high school football team. Neither had any known enemies. Their parents were devastated. The girl’s mother and stepfather were home watching a movie the evening of the shooting, as were the parents of the male victim. No one could offer any insights as to the motivation for such random killings.
Crime Scene: The female victim had been shot once point blank in the head. Her car window had been rolled down. The male victim was also shot once through the open window. He was hit in his right side and bled out in a few minutes. No expended shell casings were found. The driver’s window was closed. A partially eaten pizza lay in a box on the lap of the female victim. Nothing was stolen. There was no apparent sexual assault. No drugs were found nor were they using drugs or alcohol. There were no reports of any violent crimes in the area for several years.
Questions to ponder:
- Who would carry out such random acts of violence?
- What could be some of the motivations for the killings?
- Do you think there could have been a sexual component to this crime? Where would you begin your investigation?
- Who might be able to give you clues to the killer’s identity?
Scenario 3
Introduction: A 15-year-old girl’s body was found just off a park pathway not far from a pub at about 6:00 a.m. She had been drinking the night before and was seen leaving the party alone at about 11:00 p.m. She was known to party often and was used to walking by herself. Her parents had a hard time controlling her behavior. She liked to dress provocatively and stay out late.
Crime Scene: Victim was found lying in a grassy area, face up. Her throat was slashed so severely that she was almost decapitated. Her pants had been removed and a near perfect, circle-shaped incision about the size of an average apple was made through her lower abdominal wall. Her small intestines had been removed and placed on her body next to the incision. The victim had not been raped. No one had heard any screaming or calls for help.
Questions to ponder:
- Who is the most likely to be the killer?
- What can you determine from the crime scene? Was this a sex crime?
- What do you think was the primary motivation for this brutal crime? Are any of the following crime scene elements present: Staging,
- Undoing, Posing, and Signatures?
- Is this the type of crime that the offender might do again?
