The Homicide Crime Scene

The homicide crime scene is, without a doubt, the most important crime scene to which a police officer or investigator will be called upon to respond. Documentation is the hallmark of professionalism. “The facts and just the facts” are the basis of the official reports. Preservation of the crime scene and the integrity of the evidence cannot be overemphasized. The investigation of homicide usually starts at the point where the body is originally found. This location is referred to as the primary crime scene. The homicide crime scene must be protected from entry by unnecessary or unauthorized persons so that physical evidence will not be altered, moved, destroyed, lost, or contaminated. In staged crime scenes, however, the presentation of the homicide victim and the manipulation of the crime scene by a clever offender could make the death appear to be a suicide. The author have investigated many such cases and the truth is that initially the cases did look like suicides.