Unit 3 Lab Questions Crime Scene Investigation

Unit 3 Lab Questions Crime Scene Investigation Imagine this… You have just received your degree in Forensic Science and landed your dream job working with CSI and the Police Department in your local area. Now, it’s your first day on the job and you have already been assigned to lead the forensic investigation of a crime scene involving a murder that just occurred several hours ago! As the lead forensic scientist, your investigation will involve 3 parts: PART I. You will need to “visit” the crime scene, record observations and identify questions that you still have based on your observations. PART II. After “visiting” the crime scene, plan your investigation by determining what evidence is pertinent to the case, what is extraneous, and identifying the tools you will need. For this part, you’ll need to use books and/or online sources to research and gather information on various aspects of the case that cannot be understood from the physical evidence alone. PART III. Finally, after gathering and analyzing the evidence and performing a little research, you and your team will meet back with the local police department to communicate the results of your scientific investigation, and generate a hypothesis that outlines the crime based on your investigation and scientific research. Now, you might be wondering how exactly you’re going to accomplish this when no real crime has actually been committed?! Don’t worry – with a little imagination and creativity, you can get the job done! Note: When conducting your online research, for example, you may look up ‘tools for collecting glass evidence at a crime scene,’ ‘how to interpret blood splatter,’ or anything else that may not have been explained in the unit or in the crime scene description. Are you ready? Put on your Forensic Scientist cap, fire up your imagination, and let’s get started! The Crime + Crime Scene: You walk into the home of Sue Ellen Miller, the victim. Sue Ellen is a middle-aged, unmarried woman who lives alone. She has very long, black hair and is short and petite. She has no pets, children, or roommates. She worked as a museum curator at the local museum. You notice a pool of blood next to her body on the pink rug. The blood looks almost dry, as if it had been sitting there for several hours. You cannot identify any wounds where the blood may be coming from without moving the body. Her body is splayed out in the middle of the living room floor. She is lying on her back, with her arms and legs bent at awkward angles. All the lights are off in the room; the TV is still on, however the screen is simply black, no picture or menu is showing. As you carefully walk around her body, you notice a thin trail of dirt leading from the back door to her body. You make a mental note to check the yard for soil. You also notice broken glass near her left leg and fresh flowers laying on the floor. There is a note on the table indicating that the flowers were a gift. The card is signed, “Your Loving Boyfriend, Ben.” You get closer to the body and notice several short, brown hairs stuck to her pants. On the coffee table, there is a pile of museum comment cards that appear to be only partially read through. The card on the top of the pile catches your eye, as it has large, angry doodles decorating the page. Written at the bottom of the page, in big letters is, “I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!”. You note that the card was filled out by a Michael Wilcox. You write down his name and wonder if it was his real name. Next to the cards on the table is a pizza delivery box, slightly open, but with an untouched pizza inside. The receipt next to the box shows that the pizza was delivered yesterday evening at 5:15pm. Sue Ellen’s signature is on the receipt. On the sharp corner of the table, there is a bloodstain. It looks dry and is the only apparent bloodstain aside from the puddle next to the body. You move away from the body and begin to look around the room. You notice a bloody fingerprint near the back door on the door frame. You also notice that the lock on the door appears to have been tampered with. You head outside and examine the backyard. There is a tall wooden fence, a well-tended rose garden with a water fountain in the center, and freshly cut grass. You examine the garden and spot another bloody fingerprint on the water fountain and a footprint in the garden soil near the fence. Upon closer inspection of the fence, you find one medium length blonde hair caught between the wooden planks. You return to the house and notice a man has arrived on the scene. He identifies himself as Ben, the boyfriend. He explains that he was on a flight back from a business trip in DC and just arrived home this morning. He claims to have the plane ticket stub at home to prove it. Moments later, a female neighbor arrives on the scene and claims to have seen a tall, blonde man or teen loitering in the garden yesterday evening when she was walking her dog. She did not speak to the man, but he was wearing a black jacket and black jeans. You get your Investigative Journal out and start taking notes to make a plan for your investigation. PART I Investigation Lab Journal: The Basics (Notes, rather than full sentences, are fine) What do you see when you walk on the scene? What are your observations?  A dead body of Sue Ellen Miller, the victim.  Pool of blood next to her body on the pink rug.  The blood looks almost dry, as if it had been sitting there for several hours.  Cannot identify any wounds where the blood may be coming from.  Body is splayed out in the middle of the living room floor.  She is lying on her back, with her arms and legs bent at awkward angles.  All the lights are off in the room; the TV is still on, however the screen is simply black, no picture or menu is showing.  A thin trail of dirt leading from the back door to her body.  Broken glass near her left leg and fresh flowers laying on the floor.  There is a note on the table indicating that the flowers were a gift.  The card is signed, “Your Loving Boyfriend, Ben.”  The body has several short, brown hairs stuck to her pants.  A card that was filled out by a Michael Wilcox. Perhaps its not his real name.  A note seemed to be written by an angry or frustrated male. Perhaps his source of anger or frustration was aimed at Sue Ellen Miller. Perhaps a love quarrel gone wrong or perhaps a stalker issue.  The receipt next to the box shows that the pizza was delivered yesterday evening at 5:15pm. Sue Ellen’s signature is on the receipt.  On the sharp corner of the table, there is a bloodstain. It looks dry and is the only apparent bloodstain aside from the puddle next to the body.  There’s a bloody fingerprint near the back door on the door frame.  The lock on the door appears to have been tampered with.  Another bloody fingerprint on the water fountain  Footprint in the garden soil near the fence.  Upon closer inspection of the fence, there’s one medium length blonde hair caught between the wooden planks.  A man has arrived on the scene and identifies himself as Ben, the boyfriend.  He explains that he was on a flight back from a business trip in DC and just arrived home this morning. He claims to have the plane ticket stub at home to prove it.  Moments later, a female neighbor arrives on the scene and claims to have seen a tall, blonde man or teen loitering in the garden yesterday evening when she was walking her dog. She did not speak to the man, but he was wearing a black jacket and black jeans. What questions do you have based on what you observe?         Why was the note addressed to Sue? Why was the man in the note so angry or frustrated? Was it directed towards Sue? Who was Michael Wilcox? Was the note from Michael Wilcox or Ben? Who had brown hair Michael Wilcox or Ben? If Ben is Sue’s boyfriend who is Michael Wilcox an ex or a stalker? Is this a case love quarrel gone wrong or a stalker issue? What physical evidence will you attempt to collect from the scene? Is there evidence to collect that is NOT at the scene? If so, what? Physical evidence collected:  The card written by Michael Wilcox.  The note written by Ben indicating that the flowers were a gift.  The card signed by Ben.  pool of blood on the pink rug.  A thin trail of dirt leading from the back door.  Broken glass.  Flowers laying on the floor.  Short, brown hairs stuck to the victim’s pants.  A bloody fingerprint near the back door on the door frame.  The lock on the door which was tampered with.  Bloody fingerprint on the water fountain.  A footprint in the garden plane ticket soil near the fence.  Soil.  The medium length blonde hair caught between the wooden planks.  The plane ticket stub from Ben.  The receipt from the pizza delivered which shows the time 5:15pm and Sue’s signature.  A bloodstain on the sharp corner of the table. What tools will you need to collect the physical evidence? Paper and plastic bags for the note, the 2 cards, the flowers, the plane ticket, the receipt and the broken glass. Gloves and a collection kit for blood, hairs, bloody finger and footprints, the soil, the bloodstain on the table, the medium length blonde hair caught between the wooden planks, the lock on the door which was tampered with, and the victim’s clothes. What tools or scientific processes will you use to analyze the evidence collected? Physical properties and class characteristics. Who are some possible witnesses/suspects to interview? Ben the boyfriend, The female neighbor, and Michael Wilcox are some possible witnesses/suspects to interview. What do you need to know more about in order to make sense of this scene? (This is what you will research online or find out from witnesses/suspects)      I would need to know more about Michael Wilcox who wrote an angry note to Sue. I would need to know more about Ben and if he really was on a flight back from a business trip in DC like he said. I would need to know more about the female neighbor and if her description of a tall, blonde man or teen loitering in the garden in a black jacket and jeans. Research about how blood dries. Research about cases similar to these where there is no blood on the victim’s clothes or body. PART II Investigative Lab Journal: Evidence Discuss at least three pieces of evidence you plan to collect from the crime scene. For each piece of evidence you plan to collect (for example, fingerprints), provide the following information:  The physical properties for each piece of evidence  The chemical properties for each piece of evidence (you may hypothesize about what chemical properties the evidence may have or what substances/chemical tests you could use to see how it reacts – you will need to do some online research for this, like searching “forensic soil analysis”) The victim’s hair doesn’t match the profile. She was said to have very long, black hair but the hair stuck on her pants was short and brown and the hair caught between the wooden planks was medium length and blonde. The short and brown hair stuck on the victim’s pants would be explainable if she had a pet but it is sated that she lived alone and that she had no children or roommates. The short brown hairs can be compared or tested with pets to see if they match and whether or not the murder had any pets. The fingerprints found can be tested with the fingerprints found near the back door on the door frame, the lock on the door which was tampered with and the bloody fingerprint on the water fountain to see if they match each other and belong to the same person or if they all different and belong to different people. The fingerprints on the note can be tested with the fingerprints found on the victim’s body to determine who committed the murder Michael Wilcox or Ben. The writing on the note and cards (The card written by Michael Wilcox. The note written by Ben indicating that the flowers were a gift. The card signed by Ben.) can be matched with each other to see if the writings match and if they were written by Ben or Michael Wilcox. The broken glass found on the floor can have fingerprints from Sue or her murder. Testing the broken glass for fingerprints with a non acidic acid may prove who touched the glass, Sue or her murderer. Investigative Lab Journal: Research List at least three other questions you have or items you’d like to further research. To answer each question or explain an item you’d like to find more about, use your imagination to create witness/suspect testimony/facts not included in story. Who was the guy that the victim’s female neighbor described? Why did Michael Wilcox write the angry note to Sue? If Ben is Sue’s boyfriend who is Michael Wilcox an ex or a stalker? Is this a case love quarrel gone wrong or a stalker issue? PART III Investigation Journal: Series of Events + Conclusions Wrap up your investigation by describing different possibilities for the series of events that led to the crime and draw conclusions based on your investigation. You can do this by creating a minimum of three conclusion statements. For example, “Based on _______, I conclude that _______.” Based on the witness testimony given by the victim’s female neighbor, I conclude that the murderer was Michael Wilcox. Reflection Questions: 1. Was the information that you used to research your investigation reliable? How do you know? Yes. I used information from the school’s lesson. And used reliable websites and made sure to check who owned it and if it was reliable or not. 2. Summarize your final scientific theory regarding this case based on your investigation. Support your theory with evidence from your investigation. My final scientific theory regarding this case based on my investigation is that Michael Wilcox is the murderer. The reason for this is that Michael Wilcox wrote the angry letter to Sue which was found among her possessions in the crime scene and he was also the only one who did not come to the police station for questioning to clear his name and provide an alibi like the female neighbor and Ben. 3. Why are scientific theories often so powerful? Scientific theories are often so powerful because they can join many hypothesis together. Even if they are only theories with the help of science they can became stronger.