Crime Scene Investigator

by Paul Millen

  The review process is extremely important and valuable if it is carried out in a professional and diplomatic manner. It tests assumptions and will always assist the investigation and its ultimate detection.

  So even when court proceedings are completed and no matter what the outcome (a not guilty or guilty verdict) all the items should be resealed and notes made in an exhibit register or report. This is because of the possibility of appeals and potential investigation later. The integrity and continuity of all exhibits needs to be maintained until they are destroyed or returned to an owner. That too is the final record in the exhibit register. Although these actions, like many others, may be undertaken by other police personnel, it was my responsibility to ensure that the right advice was given and practice adopted to ensure the integrity of the scientific investigation of the crime. That was my role as a crime scene manager and I took it seriously.

  20. Gone for a Walk

  At 9.15 am one Sunday morning in January, a few days into the New Year, William Ross reported his wife missing. Anna Ross had gone for a walk at four am in the morning to clear a head cold. She had not returned. He had driven around the area and phoned friends but he could not find her.

  Bill and Anna lived with their infant daughter in a smart new house on the outskirts of Farnham, Surrey. When police officers attended the Ross home, Bill gave them a description of his wife including the stud earrings and matching necklace she was wearing. She suffered from the eating disorder bulimia and she would vomit after eating. He also describes how she had suffered abuse as a child and that she was ‘vulnerable’. When some questions were asked about the clothing she was wearing when she left the house, it appeared that it was only her nightdress. All her coats were still in the house. The outside temperature was below zero and there was a heavy frost.

  Searches were made of the local hospitals, and an appeal was broadcast on local radio. The neighbouring police force, Hampshire, was contacted as the house was within a mile of the constabulary border.

  House to house enquiries were made and one neighbour stated that he saw Bill cleaning his Mini and Anna’s Vauxhall at eight am that morning. That was shortly before he had called the police.

  Bill was taken to the local police station while officers continued to search the surrounding area. Bill’s mother came to look after her granddaughter.

  At 4.18 pm a call was received by Hampshire Police. The naked and burnt body of a female had been found in a local beauty spot, the Abbots Wood Enclosure, in Alice Holt Forest. It was a mile of so from the Ross house.

  Hampshire officers quickly attended the scene and took control. It was getting dark and it was still very cold and frosty. It had been cold and frosty all day.

  The body was found outside a toilet block just off a car park. It was in full view. Perhaps the cold weather had deterred the dog owners and walkers who normally frequented this area.

  The Hampshire officers set an outer cordon on the main road into the car park and forest entrance. The inner cordon was set around the grass area in front of the toilet block.

  The fact that the body was naked and burnt meant that the officers dealt with this as a murder from the outset. It was unlikely to be a suicide (however bizarre) and this meant that someone else had been there. Was this the murder scene or just the disposal site?

  A priority for the Hampshire crime scene investigators was to get to the body, but they rightly decided to use the natural path around the toilet block to allow an access point beyond where the body was. This was to leave undisturbed the grass area between the car park and the body. Whoever had placed the body there (and if they used a vehicle) they would have used this route.

  They quickly undertook the general photographing of the scene. The photographs accurately captured the heavy frost.

  I was called by the local crime scene manager shortly after the body had been found. We had a missing person and Hampshire had a body. Both forces had appointed their own senior investigating officers. Detective Superintendent Pat Crossan was in charge of the Surrey investigation. There would be a need for cross-border liaison between the CSI teams, which was my responsibility.

  Pat Crossan was an experienced, accomplished and thorough senior investigator. An Irishman, he had a soft nature but a heart of steel. He knew his craft and he demanded high standards from all who worked for him. He always thought of the victims. ‘We are speaking for them,’ he would always remind the investigation team. He had been on the interview panel when I was appointed as head of scientific support. He was firm and deeply incisive, and I enjoyed the challenging questions. He seemed to enjoy my parrying responses when they were needed.

  Pat liaised with his opposite number in Hampshire. The identity of the deceased would determine who took over the investigation. If the body was that of Anna, then Surrey would take over the investigation. This was based on the guidelines set by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The police force with the majority of lines of enquiry would take jurisdiction. Since Anna had already been reported missing in Surrey, that’s where the investigation would be.

  Up to the point of identification, Hampshire would continue. They would deal with the scene at Alice Holt Forest and the postmortem examination. As usual, the body would be removed once all the required examinations had been completed at the scene.

  The body was almost completely naked, save for the burnt remains of a cotton garment still clinging to the arms. The body was burnt from underneath and in a semi-foetal position. The Hampshire crime scene manager decided that they needed a forensic biologist to examine the scene. The exposed areas of the body could have contained fibres from whatever and whoever it had come into contact with.

  The fire was clearly under the body. There was a single seat of fire and the only question remained regarding the presence of accelerants. This is the term given to any flammable material (often liquid) which will accelerate the process of a fire. It is difficult to set fire to a body. The amount of water present means that the fatty tissue will not burn even with the help of accelerants.

  Clearing the path around the toilet block meant that the common approach path was quickly completed to allow the prompt examination of the body.

  It was then removed for post-mortem examination to Basingstoke and in Surrey we awaited the cause of death and the identification. The remainder of the scene at the forest was protected for further searches in daylight the following day.

  At Farnham Police Station we continued with our investigation of the missing person. Bill had been informed that the body of a female had been found. He voluntarily remained at the police station, but he was not going to be allowed to leave. He sat with a detective.

  A search had already been made of the house by two detectives. They were looking for Anna, in case she had hidden there, they even checked the loft.

  We made contingency plans to take control of the family house, but until the deceased was identified we had no powers to do so. Pat Crossan asked me to go to the house, which I did. With Bill’s mother and child there I concluded that whatever was there would stay there until we had full authority to examine it. It was apparent that Bill’s mother had put her grandchild to bed, and was probably doing what mothers do, tidying and fussing. The fact was that the house had been briefly searched by detectives looking for Anna and they hadn’t noticed anything untoward. This scene wasn’t going anywhere.

  Bill was clearly a suspect because of the strange nature of his wife’s disappearance from the house. This was extenuated as he had been seen cleaning their two cars before he called the police to report his wife missing. I arranged for a scene investigator and police surgeon to be available and wait in the custody suite at Farnham in case he was arrested.

  Shortly after ten pm, Pat Crossan received a call from his Hampshire counterpart. The description matched Anna; right down to the jewellery and a damaged eardrum (Anna was deaf in one ear). Although this would need confirmation by fingerprints, DNA or dental record
s, the coroner was content with this preliminary identification. The cause of death was a single blow to the back of the head caused by a round blunt object. Pat Crossan called his senior team together and we reviewed this information. He decided that Bill was to be arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife. This immediately took place. Bill was marched the few paces from the room where he had been sitting with a cup of tea in front of him to the charge room. He was immediately examined by the police surgeon and his clothing seized, labelled and sealed in brown paper sacks. As there was the possibility that an accelerant may have been used to start the fire under he body, all the bags were placed in one large nylon bag and additionally sealed. It may have been too late but there could have been some residues of accelerant present. It was possible that if they had been there they would have evaporated, but the day had been cold and it was better to do this now, even though late, rather than not at all. You never know what you might find.

  Officers also attended the family home and gave Bill’s mother the bad news. As delicately as possible she was told she and her granddaughter would have to leave as this was now the subject of a murder investigation.

  Once examined, Bill was placed in a cell and allowed to have a night’s sleep. The clock was ticking but it was not appropriate to question him through the night. I sent the rest of the Surrey CSI team home to rest and told them to report before first light the following morning. I would then brief them. There were now a number of scenes and many issues. The forest scene examination had been started and would be resumed the next day, in better light. The house examination would also be started. Bill was a scene but he had been examined. There were also the two cars, Bill’s Mini and Anna’s Vauxhall.

  I spoke with my counterpart in Hampshire about their continuation of the examination at the forest. I also called the forensic science laboratory and requested that a forensic biologist attend the house scene with our CSI team. One of the reasons for the search and examination of the house was to determine if this was the scene of Anna’s murder. Had it been cleaned up recently? A head wound would bleed extensively. If this had been cleaned up we would be looking for signs of that clear-up. I would work through the night preparing information about the search area, maps and plans and a briefing for the CSI team and the forensic biologist.

  The question I asked was, ‘Which forensic biologist?’ One had already attended Alice Holt Forest at the request of Hampshire. This person would normally take on the case as they were called first. But we needed a biologist at the house scene too. If we used the same scientist, there would be a contamination issue. Fibres evidence could play a part later. We would not know this until we were well into the investigation and had looked. Bill could be innocent. We were there to determine that. Anna may have left the house, as Bill had said, and been attacked by someone else. Contamination of blood would be less of an issue but still needed careful consideration. For blood to be contaminated it would need to be in large enough quantities, picked up on a transferable medium and liquid. So the careful changing of gloves and protective clothing would cover this issue.

  Following a discussion with the scientist concerned, we decided that he would examine the house scene. He would go home, shower and change clothing and, on his return the following morning, go to the house. He would use protective clothing: white suit, gloves and masks and any other equipment he needed, provided by us in Surrey.

  The vehicles would be briefly searched for weapons and anything that the interviewing officer might urgently need to know. But then they would be removed to the laboratory where they would be examined by scene investigators and forensic photographers from Surrey Police and scientists from the laboratory.

  At seven am I briefed the assembled team and gave them their assignments. One of the forensic photographers, rather boldly, asked me what my role was in this. I was relatively new to Surrey and he had not had a technically qualified manager like me as a head of department. My role as scientific support manager was new to the force. Although I was his departmental head, this was the first time we had worked together on a major investigation. I realised that this marked a change for the force. Up to that time no CSI actually managed the scene. In fact, up to that time the photographers (they were yet to become forensic photographers) went in first and reported what they had seen. The scene examiners followed in after. This was not acceptable to me. The photographers could have walked over any evidence on the floor. Photography is a tool and the scene needs to be managed. This is so that each expert undertakes their work without disturbing other forms of evidence. The crucial role is that of the crime scene manager. So the local crime scene manager would manage the scene investigation process at the house. That would be repeated at the forest. My role was to coordinate all the examinations of scene, suspects and vehicles and all the crime scene managers and their teams. I prioritised and resourced the forensic science demands of the investigation. I worked closely with the Pat Crossan, the SIO, to ensure his needs were met and that he received timely advice and support. I would take the problem of the scene investigations off his back but keep him fully informed. This was a much better way to investigate the crime scene and it was new to Surrey. In other places it had yet to happen at all.

  One asset which was exploding with potential was Ken Williams. Ken was the head of the Photographic Section and what was to become the Forensic Photography and Enhancement Section within the Scientific Support Department. Ken was an expert photographer who joined Surrey Police the year I was born. Nothing had dampened his resourcefulness or motivation. He embraced and sought new technologies which had been pioneered by the first forensic photographer, Ken Creer at the Metropolitan Police Laboratory in the 1980s. Ken Williams had only been head of the Photographic Section in Surrey for a couple of years when I arrived. His talent was stunted up to then. That was about to change; I hope in me he found a champion. Ken and his technology, skills and team were going to become an important asset in the investigation and detection of crime. He often commented that photography was recovering evidence by photographic means. He was right. He would however go on to introduce high-intensity light source and sequential chemical enhancement of finger marks. Later I would nominate him for public recognition for his length and depth of service, his motivation and professionalism for over forty years with Surrey Police. But it wasn’t to be. I always thought that it was a great injustice that his life’s work was not recognised beyond his immediate colleagues. My words here can only attempt to right that wrong. Ken is an unsung hero and pioneer of forensic photography and its application.

  The team briefed, they set out to their tasks. A crime scene manager would lead the team at the home address. Also present would be a crime scene investigator, the forensic photographic manager, a forensic photographer and the forensic biologist. Their brief was to look for any sign of disturbance or assault. They were to locate and examine any site for signs of attack and for any weapons. We knew from the post-mortem examination that there had been a blow to Anna’s head caused by a round object. They had to look for blood or signs that it had been cleaned up.

  There would be no examination for finger marks at this time, unless they were found in blood. This was because both Anna and Bill lived in the house and so this would serve no purpose. But we did not discount that the story we had could change later and other players could become relevant. So, although there would be no need for a fingerprint examination at this stage, the team would preserve the scene as they went along in case it needed to take place later. Fingerprint examinations usually take place at two stages during investigations of this kind. At the beginning, in the non-destructive search with light and light sources, marks might be found, then, towards the end of the searches (usually on day two or three) and once all the delicate trace evidence has been located and removed, the scene would be examined with powders and chemicals to develop latent marks.

  The scene that greeted the investigator was that expected in any post-Christmas home
. It was tidy, with Christmas decorations and cards displayed in many places. The sight of toys indicated the presence of children. The house was two storeys. A front door gave way to a small hallway. To the right a flight of stairs led to the first floor where there were three bedrooms and a bathroom. To the left of the downstairs hallway were a lounge and a kitchen at the rear. There was a kitchen door leading to the enclosed garden. The house was detached. Outside the front of the house, on a small driveway, was Anna’s red Vauxhall hatchback car. Bill’s Mini was parked in the street.

  Starting downstairs, the house was searched in a general way for blood and disturbance. Some stains were found when using a presumptive test for blood. The test is not specific for blood. If it indicates a positive result it means that the stain could be blood. This is because other materials (such as coffee) may also give a positive reading. It is a useful way of screening stains but it needs confirmation later in the laboratory. All positive stains will be considered in the investigation. A negative reaction means the material is not blood.

  The search continued to the stairs to the first floor. More stains were found on the white-painted woodwork and these had a directional shape, indicating a moving splash. They looked more like blood. These continued up the stairs in small amounts. At the top of the stairs there was a door to the rear master bedroom. Inside the door was a wash and vac machine, it was plugged in. Looking inside the door, the investigators saw to the left a pine double bed. Either side there were small freestanding pine wardrobes. On the right wall there were pine chests of drawers. On the floor there were neat piles of clothing.