ABSTRACT

Renowned for being THE definitive resource for homicide investigators, Practical Homicide Investigation: Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques details the recognized protocols used by investigative divisions of major police departments throughout the world. The text is used in most police academies, including the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Now in its fifth edition, the book begins with a comprehensive discussion of homicide crime scenes and moves chronologically from initial police notification, the correct police response that follows, and the subsequent steps necessary to conduct an intelligent investigation. It then delves into the more technical aspects of homicide investigation, augmented with numerous pictures and full-color illustrations that involve pertinent case histories.

This latest edition includes three new chapters along with fully revised chapters with new case histories and techniques that reflect the latest forensic methods and modern investigative procedures.

Highlights of the Fifth Edition Include:

  • Newly revised "Homicide Investigator’s Checklist"
  • A new chapter on the latest DNA technology
  • A rewritten chapter on equivocal death investigations that includes staged crime scenes
  • Additional information on modes of death
  • Fully updated chapters on death notifications, sex-related homicide, management for police administrators, suicide investigation, and narcotics-related and homosexually based homicides
  • Over 920 photos and illustrations, 250 new photographs, and several new case histories

Eminent author, lecturer, consultant, and expert witness Vernon J. Geberth incorporates his more than four and a half decades of real-world law enforcement experience in this quintessential reference. This classic and must-have resource provides the most vital information needed by detectives and police investigators responsible for cases in violent and sudden death.

Remember: do it right the first time. You only get one chance.
—Vernon J. Geberth, M.S., M.P.S., Homicide and Forensic Consultant, Author of Practical Homicide Investigation, and Series Editor of The Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations

chapter 1|47 pages

The Homicide Crime Scene

chapter 2|21 pages

First Officer’s Duties

General

chapter 3|18 pages

First Officer’s Duties

Specific

chapter 4|25 pages

The Preliminary Investigation at the Scene

The Detectives

chapter 5|44 pages

Specific Investigative Duties at the Scene

chapter 6|38 pages

The Crime Scene Photographs

chapter 7|17 pages

The Crime Scene Sketch

chapter 8|70 pages

The Homicide Crime Scene Search

chapter 9|37 pages

Estimating Time of Death

chapter 11|11 pages

Death Notifications

The Surviving Family as Secondary Victims

chapter 12|109 pages

Modes of Death

chapter 13|77 pages

Suicide Investigation

chapter 14|82 pages

The Investigation of Sex-Related Homicides

chapter 15|42 pages

Homosexual Homicides

chapter 16|49 pages

Forensic Application of DNA Analysis*

Introduction

chapter 17|62 pages

Collection of Evidence

chapter 18|53 pages

The Autopsy

chapter 19|15 pages

The News Media in Homicide Investigations

chapter 20|83 pages

Identification of Suspects

chapter 21|93 pages

Investigative Assessment

Criminal Personality Profiling

chapter 22|59 pages

Equivocal Death Investigation

chapter 23|16 pages

Narcotics-Related Homicides

chapter 24|45 pages

Practical Homicide Investigation

Supervision and Management of the Homicide Investigation