ABSTRACT
People engaged in criminal activity are unable to use legal dispute settlement processes. As a result, they sometimes use homicide to obtain “self-help” justice to resolve disputes over payment, establishing turf, and elimination of those cooperating with police. This chapter examines body disposal as one technique used to avoid prosecution. A review of cases indicates that body disposal is more common when eliminating “friends” than it is for eliminating “enemies.” No-body homicides conducted between criminals are often a group activity, which makes accomplice testimony an important, but contentious, source of evidence for police.
