Crime Scene Homicide
People kill each other for various reasons; ranging from disagreements resulting from issues such as mistrust in a relationship, lack of self-control, or anger (Greenemeier, 2011) to unresolved business conflicts. Whereas some people are unable to restrain their anger and end up committing such heinous crimes as murder, others manage to direct such anger to something constructive. The case under review involves a man who is found dead in his bedroom. The cause of death could have been an attack following an argument with a known person, or it could have been due to an attack by a mentally unstable person. According to Fields (2016), human beings are genetically predisposed to murder each other. The killing could also have been a result of unresolved family issues, or the victim was embroiled in certain illegal activities and then got killed over a deal gone sour. There is also the likelihood that the man got killed by a mentally ill person rummaging through the garbage bins beneath the window. The suspect is likely to be a mentally ill person due to the amount of evidence left behind. One who is unaware that prints can be taken from the hammer, the stained clothes, and the blood-stained bandages.
The dead man sustained injuries and these will play a key role in identifying the cause of death. The crime scene investigation team normally observes and notes injuries sustained by a murder victim before commencing a postmortem, and these observations aid in carrying out the investigation. The injuries will also help in finding out whether the victim struggled with the attacker and whether there was self-defense (Ruslander, 2016). Onzivua (2015) notes that the results of a post-mortem aid in identifying the cause of death. After the autopsy, it was revealed that the victim was hit several times on the head; hits that were way too many than what was necessary to cause death. What this appears to suggest is that the perpetrator could either have been mentally unstable, or very agitated. A mentally ill person can also act in the manner described earlier because they are not in the right state of mind.
The crime scene is a bit interesting in that the perpetrator leaves all the evidence in the scene. The murder weapon, the perpetrator’s clothes, and soiled bandages were found on the crime scene. The fact that the perpetrator also took a shower in the victim’s bathroom and most probably changed into the victim’s clothes is also interesting. It is also interesting how the perpetrator gained entrance into the victim’s house and he/she left. The door was found locked and there was no sign of forced entry. The victim’s house is on the second floor so anyone jumping from the window could hurt themselves.
From the writer’s point of view and assessment of both the information gathered from the scene and the photographs taken, the perpetrator could either have been a mentally ill person or an associate in a given business. If we go by the mentally ill person’s theory, the perpetrator could be found going on with life as usual after 12 hours. They most probably cannot even remember having committed any actions of murder. If the perpetrator was an associate of the victim, they could still be shaken 12 hours after the murder. They may appear confused and if taken in for questioning, they may easily give information.
The perpetrator's personality will be gauged according to the person’s state of mind. If the suspect is a mentally ill person, then their personality is different from that of a normal person. They will act as if nothing happened. There is a high possibility that this person is in no way related to the victim. The suspect is not also intelligent enough, because they left all the possible evidence at the crime scene. The amount of evidence found at the crime scene rules out a mentally upright person at this point. No person in their right mind would murder another and intentionally leave traces. Most people kill and wipe out the physical evidence. For evidence to be recovered, forensic science expertly may be required. Therefore, the writer concludes that the perpetrator was a mentally ill person who climbed into the room through the window killed the victim, and left through the same window. The perpetrator was not related to the victim and the rummaging in the other rooms could have been carried out for the sake of it. The victim could not have committed suicide as there were bandages found at the crime scene containing someone else’s blood.
Reference
Ruslander, H. W. (2016). Searching and examining a major case crime scene: The initial death scene examination. Crime Scene Investigator Network.
Greenemeier, L. (2011). What causes someone to act on violent impulses and commit murder? Scientific American.
What is a postmortem and why is it important? Daily Monitor. Fields, R. D. (2016). Humans are genetically predisposed to kill each other. Psychology Today.
