Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

give clues to the type of killing. For instance, a person usually does not commit suicide by holding a gun to the back of his own head.

The entrance wound is where the bullet enters and is identified by powder tattooing, if the weapon is close enough, and/or the abrasion wound, which happens when the bullet passes through the skin. The rotating action of the bullet causes the skin around it to abrade where the bullet enters. This abrasion appears as a reddish mark around the hole itself. Entrance wounds are usually small, the size of the projectile including the abrasive ring.

Exit wounds, no matter the distance from which the weapon is fired, are larger, more irregular and usually do not have the abrasion ring.

Experts use the aforementioned characteristics to determine the path of the bullet and the distance of the weapon from the victim. This is extremely helpful in verifying the suspect's account of what happened.

When dealing with homicides that occur indoors, it is important to remember that, whether it be a domestic dispute or a sexual sadist, most of the bullets will hit the mark. This is mainly because of the close proximity of the weapon to the victim.

Things to Remember

Most criminals are apprehended because they don't realize the clues they leave behind. This is especially true of homicides. Even the most carefully laid plan can result in an arrest. Here are a few ways the manner of death can lead to an arrest.

Strangulation. Here's an example of killing someone for greed, an important motivation. One scenario is the business partnership where one partner wants to buy out the other partner and is unsuccessful. The business contract indicates that upon death, the surviving associate will maintain controlling interest. Our greedy partner decides that he will kill his partner to obtain control.

He has decided that the best way is to have the victim appear to hang himself and sets his plan into action. He will speak with employees and other associates about how he feels that his partner is down in the dumps lately to plant the idea of suicide among co-workers.

After work one night he uses the associate's personal typewriter to type a heart-felt suicide note and then signs the note by tracing the signature. The day of the killing, he will ask the victim to stay a little later to go over some business details. When the office is empty, the killer will make his way behind the victim and using a piece of clothesline, which he retrieved from his garage earlier that day, strangle the victim.

Now, you are all thinking that the victim sees the rope and starts to fight back. What we must remember here is that the victim has no idea of what is happening. He feels entirely comfortable with his partner. The killer has no need to wear gloves because his fingerprints would normally be found throughout the office. Once the victim has succumbed to the attack, the clothesline is removed and the victim is moved to a coat rack and the clothesline is replaced with the victim's telephone cord. The rope is taken from the scene by the assailant and prior to leaving, the suicide note is placed in an obvious location on the victim's desk.

The next day the killer will be late for work so that someone else finds the body. Now, remember, he told coworkers and friends of his partner's depression and placed the suicide note in an obvious location. The police respond and observe the suicide note and the lack of any signs of struggle in the office. There's only one problem, our killer left a handful of clues. The victim's secretary knows that the victim worked late with his partner. The victim's wife is aware of the attempted takeover of the company. The victim's body shows the rope imprint. Through handwriting analysis, it is determined that the signature was indeed forged by tracing.

Accidents That Aren't. A husband returns home and finds his wife lying face down in a water-filled bathtub. Apparently, a slip and fall resulted in accidental drowning. The police arrive and examine the scene and observe no signs of foul play in the residence especially in the bathroom area. The scene is documented and the victim removed.

The next day, an autopsy is performed, and the victim's body is carefully examined. Close examination of the victim's neck reveal injuries from abrasions and lacerations. These injuries were not visible until the victim's body was thoroughly dry.

The lacerations are from the fingernails of the killer as he strangled her and the victim's own fingernails as she attempted to free herself. The other abrasions are from the killer's hands squeezing the life from her. During the autopsy, we found that the tissue on her neck contained hemorrhages. The victim's larynx was fractured and we found an additional fracture in the thyroid and the cricoid cartilages. The hyoid bone was also fractured, indicating signs of strangulation.

When examining the injury to the head, which at first appeared to be from slipping on the slick surface of the tub, an autopsy revealed quite a different scenario. The injury was to the top of the victim's head. The hemorrhages were linear and caused by an impact with a hard rounded object consistent with a small piece of metal pipe found in the garage. Upon examination in the laboratory, the pipe showed blood stains.

Decomposition. Decomposing victims can help an investigation in some ways and severely hinder it in others. The rate of decomposition helps detectives determine the time of death. The medical examiner must take into consideration the temperature and condition of the body. If the victim is placed in a refrigerated box, the rate of decomposition will be quite slow. Think of it as chicken stored in your refrigerator versus chicken stored in the freezer. Which will last longer?

Another factor in decomposing is the effects that animal and insects have. Animals eat the flesh, which increases the decomposing.

When examining a severely decomposed body, it is