ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by making a link between detection avoidance (DA)/crime scene staging (CSS) and deception more broadly. That is, it is argued that detecting CSS at a death scene might simply be an extension of detecting lies told by a suspect, similar to the work police investigators carry out routinely. However, the chapter outlines some of problems with deception detection, including calls to give up the search for mechanism to detect verbal lies through body language, speech patterns or/and physiological responses. It presents the evolutionary motivations for deception and then the possible methods for identifying these behaviors based on research on detecting deceit to make the most out of the robust literature for understanding DA and CSS. Evolutionary theories maintain that human nature was built from our ancestors’ conscious and unconscious efforts to survive and produce viable offspring. At the most basic level, these theories argue that the human condition evolved in a fashion similar to other physical structures.
