Thursday (day four of forensics week) was the day we got to put our knowledge of crime scenes and forensics to the test. We were split between two different staged crime scenes in our St. Luke’s library and had to create conclusions on the reason of death. Maggie McDonough, Allie Champagne, and Alex Scott, and I were presented a scene as a team. Our jobs were lead detective (maggie), photographer (me), scribe (allie), and diagram (alex). The dispatcher stated: Wife has Stage 4 Cancer that has spread to her bloodstream. Husband explains “I’m sorry this has happened. She’s better off.” A priest comes and consults with the husband but can not share what was said because what was said is privileged. Upon arrival: Victim is on the floor next to the bed with a plastic bag wrapped around her head. A shoelace is nearby and the covers are laying in a position facing her.
Our observations included : Victim is wearing a nightgown and slippers and is covered in a blanket.
The plastic bag wrapped around her head has no holes. A shoelace was about a foot from the victim above her head to the right.
Drops of blood were found on the sides of the pillowcase and on the bed sheets directly under the pillow. The right side of her head also had blood on it.
Lists of Lab Results requested were: Dust the plastic bag, shoelace, book (Final Exit), and the cup on the table for fingerprints.
Search for DNA (skin cells) under the victim's fingernails and blood on the sheets.
Perform an autopsy to see what caused the death (i.e. asphyxiation, head trauma), and test the victim’s system for Sedative/depressant type drugs.
We considered a suicide books that was found and came to the conclusion that the women commited suicide to create peace within her life. Her husband was so weak and could not get upstairs to create a murder. As we collected this evidence, we created a slideshow. The last day of Forensics week was presenting the slideshow and our evidence. We received critics on our jobs and talked about the cases as a class. It was such a fun and exciting week!
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