Scene of murder: How did we do it?

I was fast asleep on one Sunday night in February. It was late winter but still unbearably cold. My bleeper went off around 11 p.m. reminding me that I was on-call for the weekend. I got up and phone the police control room as I was supposed to do when somebody bleeped me. They told me that I was required to attend a scene of a murder about 25 miles away.

It does not mean than you are supposed to run to the scene of murder as soon as possible. It means that you are required to contact the police station or the police detective in-charge of the investigation of the murder to know the exact time you are required to attend the police station. In the past I had bitter experience of rushing to the police stations to know that they did not expect me so soon because they were still in the middle of organizing the logistics of the scene visit.

The management of a scene of crime is a complex issue. Before allowing the ‘experts’ to go in they have to secure the scene, make it safe for them, finish recording before the interferences of the experts by still photography and video recording and recover some forensic evidence, which may be flimsy and easily destroyed by the slightest interference such as foot and shoe prints on the carpets. Whatever they do they take extra care not to disturb the evidence, which need to be examined by the experts.

Among the many things the police need to organise is the assembly of the experts from various different fields from many parts of the country. Some have to travel many miles before reaching their destination. They need to come together to discuss how best they could do the scene investigation allowing each expert to do their part to their heart’s content while not interfering with other’s work. Although the time is an important factor the police will not allow it to dictate terms. The most important thing is to do a proper investigation, which should allow the police to gather the maximum possible amount of evidence to solve the crime.

Knowing all these by experience the first thing I did was to make a cup of coffee to get rid of the sleepiness and call the detective inspector in-charge of the murder investigation. He said that I was required to attend the ‘meeting’ at 12.30 a.m. at the ………police station. He said the ballistic expert, biologist, Scene of Crime Officers, police photographers, foot and finger print specialists, and the ‘prosecutor’,who is the chief legal officer responsible for building up the case for prosecution, would be there.

I had a shower, ate few slices of toast, took extra-food and drinks knowing that it would be a long day and left for the police station. At the police station I was greeted by the ‘detective inspector’ and directed to the conference room, where some of the experts were already there. After exchanging the greeting I came to know everybody was waiting for the biologist to come as she was travelling from far away. Finally she arrived around 1.30 a.m.

We started the meeting, which was chaired by the ‘detective inspector’ immediately after. He revealed to us the details of the case, which turned out to be a ‘shooting incident’. Then went on to describe how he intended to do the investigation and explained what he wanted from each of us. Then he introduced to us the ‘crime scene manager’ and left the room.

The crime scene manager is the one who organizes the whole operation. Since it was the first shooting incident in that area after many years, the police was excited and unable to think clearly. We were told they were still in the process of photographing and video recording the scene to the dismay of everyone else. But everybody kept their calm as they knew that these things happened.

The scene was cordoned off with the police tapes as you can see from the photographs. We went there in police vehicles. As soon as we got down we were asked to change into white overalls. They come in separated packets. They cover the head to toe, contain a mask, gloves and over shoes. When you wear it only the eyes are exposed.

While we were waiting wearing the overalls expecting the crime scene manager’s ‘command’ to march to the crime scene we saw a few journalists approaching us. They police went to them and had a friendly chat and allow them to take a picture of us so that they had something to publish with the story of the murder. There were no bystanders, politicians or anybody who could disturb the work and contaminate the forensic evidence. Even the vehicles, which were inside the crime scene were considered part of the crime scene and were not allowed to be approached by their owners.

After waiting for long time we were shown the path to approach the house, where the deceased was lying by the crime scene manager. We were not allowed to deviate from the path even by few inches. That was how they considered the preservation of the crime scene to the letter. As soon as we came to the front door of the flat we saw plastic pedestals placed on the floor as if showing the way to the deceased. We were required to walk on them without touching the floor or anything else.

First other experts went and came out after having an overview of the situation. They wanted me to finish my part first so that they could let me go. The easiest was the forensic pathologist’s role in this particular scene of crime as in majority of cases. Later I was told that the ballistic expert and biologists worked full two days gathering forensic evidence even after the body had been removed.

I approached the body stepping on those pedestals. The other experts came behind me to watch what I am doing so that they know what kind of evidence I would alter. A fully clothed, well-built and obese man was lying on the prone position. The right side of the face was up. On the back of the right side of the upper neck was a bullet injury possibly entry wound. It was not easy to differentiate entry from exit wound at the scene for obvious reasons. The blood came out from the wound had trickled down to the floor over the right side of the face, nose, mouth and chin. The left arm was stretched. Very close to it was an empty cartridge case. A few feet away on the floor was an incisor tooth with a bloody root. After getting permission from others I turned the body over to find another possible entry wound on the nose. Since the edges were burned, it looked like a contact or near contact wound. Surprisingly here was only little amount of blood at the scene. Then again with permission I looked at the rest of the body after lifting and pushing the clothing to exclude injuries to them. Since the time since death was not an issue I did not take rectal temperature. I recorded everything in my notes including the date, time, locus, persons present, names of crime scene manager, the ‘detective inspector’ who briefed us at the police station, posture of the body, rough sketch of the locus, position of the relevant items in relation to the body such as the tooth and cartridge case, extent of rigor mortis, distribution of the hypostasis, whether the body was cold or warm, obvious injuries, distribution and amount of blood stains etc. I haven’t taken photographs as the police usually provide the pathologist with a CD containing detailed high quality police photographs of the scene.

After my examination is over we went back to the police station and had another meeting, in which I expressed my opinion on the questions I was asked by the police. Then they discussed with me about the most appropriate way to transport the body to the mortuary. Then they discussed with me the date and time of the autopsy. After that they let me leave the police station and said that they were looking forward to see me soon at the mortuary!

Still to come:
What did the police wanted from me after the visit to the crime scene?
What happened at the mortuary?

Priyanjith Perera

13 November 2012