ABSTRACT
It is arguable that when embarking on an investigation, it pays o to be the skeptic. It makes a dierence to be the investigator who does not “buy” the crime scene as it is presented, the one who hungers to solve the problem, and the one who is willing to do whatever it takes to gather all of the necessary information in copious amounts if need be toward resolving every issue in the case. ese are the types of investigators who do the very best with staged crime scenes (and cold cases). ese are the investigators who consider everyone a suspect until the investigation reveals otherwise. It is important to recognize that those without a lot of homicide experience might not be as prone to recognize the signs of a staged homicide because stranger-to-victim homicides present much dierently in many ways than staged stranger-tovictim homicides. is is why it is so very important to study the literature on the topic from both the policing and criminological scientic perspectives. Both are very valuable, but while advise can be oered based on anecdotal experience or opinions can be suggested, the author recommends a systematic, scientic methodology of one’s choosing for conducting investigations into the potentially staged crime scene because it needs to hold up in court.
