Death Scene Investigation

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Death Scene Investigation

• Homicide Case 021858T
• Unidentified Hispanic Male

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Daytime Scene Photograph
Homeless Shelters
Housing Projects
Crime Scene
Liquor Store
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April 5 2002 2210 hrs

• A Fort Worth PD officer is flagged down by a
  witness who states that there is a fight nearby.
• The witness advises that one of the subjects
  involved was left lying on the ground and the
  other participant fled the scene.
• Fort Worth PD officers and EMS respond to the
  scene.

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The Scene

• 700 E. 17th St Fort Worth TX
• Vacant field next to freeway
• Directly under the edge of a 70 foot high freeway
  overpass
• Next to a freeway and railroad tracks
• Near the homeless shelters and low-income housing
  projects

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Initial Police Observations Actions

• EMS pronounces the decedent at the scene
• The area is secured as a crime scene
• No witnesses or suspects found at the scene
• The cause of death is unknown and no obvious
  weapon is found
• Homicide detectives crime scene officers and
  Tarrant County ME are notified of the death and
  respond to the scene

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Tarrant County ME Forensic Death Investigator
arrival and initial contact

• The death investigator meets with officers and is
  briefed on the circumstances of discovery
• The witness described to officers that the
  decedent was involved in a fight but additional
  theories of a body dump or jumper from the
  freeway are suggested

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Scene Observations

• The body is face down (prone)
• There is a large area of blood on the ground
  around the decedents head
• There appears to be trauma to the back of the
  head
• The decedents right rear pants pocket is turned
  inside out
• The decedent has what appear to be wood fragments
  on his clothing

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Scene Observations Continued

• There are beer bottles lying on the ground nearby
• There is blood spatter on the ground around the
  decedent
• There is no weapon initially visible

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Body Examination

• The rear of the head has what appear to be linear
  type fractures
• Blood spatter on the body and clothing suggests
  assault type injuries
• The back of the shirt and head have dirt or soil
  on them
• Several possible wood fragments are found on the
  body
• Rigor lividity and body temperature are
  consistent with the position observed and death
  at this scene

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Body Examination Continued

• The body is rolled over onto a clean sheet to
  preserve trace evidence
• The decedents face has extensive trauma
• There are multiple abrasions and contusions about
  the body
• There is blood spatter on the decedents clothing
• The hands are placed in paper bags to preserve
  trace evidence
• A possible wood fragment is secured as evidence
  from the decedents pants to preserve it prior to
  transport and protect it from the rain

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Wound Interpretation and Weapon Description

• The wounds on the posterior (back) of the head
  are linear long and well defined
• Consistent with an injury from a blunt force
  object with a possible defined edge
• The wounds on the anterior (front) of the head
  have deformed the face into a flattened
  appearance
• Consistent with an injury from a blunt force
  object that is flat wide and possibly heavy

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Excluding Theories

• Jumper from the freeway overpass above the scene
  is excluded
• No other serious injuries apparent other than
  head trauma
• No leg/feet trauma
• Blood spatter at scene not consistent with a fall
• Possible soil and wood fragments on clothing not
  consistent with a fall

• Body Dump is excluded
• No apparent drag marks
• Blood spatter consistent with injuries occurring
  at this scene
• No blood trail found
• Rigor and lividity are consistent with death at
  this scene

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Locating the Weapon

• Crime Scene officers are informed of the Death
  Investigators interpretation of the wounds
• An expanded crime scene search begins
• A large debris pile is located approximately 20
  yards from the body
• The debris pile includes broken and discarded
  railroad cross ties
• A possible weapon is located

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Approximate 4 foot long railroad cross tie with
blood and possible hair fiber evidence
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Scene Conclusion

• The decedent appears to be the victim of an
  assault consistent with the original witness
  statement about a fight occurring
• The decedent has no personal property on him and
  the pants pocket turned out suggests theft or
  robbery
• Alcohol containers at the scene suggests the
  participants and/or decedent had been drinking
• The incident occurred at this location

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Police Department Interviews and Investigation

• Detectives locate a witness at a nearby liquor
  store that saw the decedent and suspect
• Beer bottles found at the scene are possibly from
  the subjects involved
• The witness at the liquor store identifies the
  suspect and his possible home address
• Officers respond to the suspects home address
  across the highway at the housing projects

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Police Department Interviews and Investigation
Continued

• A witness at that location states the suspect had
  just come to the house and told her that he had
  killed a Hispanic male
• The suspect discards his bloody clothes at the
  home which are located by the police
• The suspect later returns to the home and is
  arrested
• Both the suspect and decedent are transients
• The suspect is charged with Capital Murder

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Examination Details

• The decedent arrives at the Medical Examiner
  Office for examination
• The body is processed by the trace evidence
  collection team
• The examining physician identifies 18 different
  sets of wounds on the decedent
• Cause and Manner of death are finalized
  Blunt Force Trauma of Head Homicide
• All attempts to identify the decedent and locate
  his family are unsuccessful
• The decedents fingerprints dental chart DNA
  and photographs are kept on file for future
  identification. The decedent is entered into the
  NCIC unidentified person database.
• The decedent is given a county burial