Crime Scene Investigation Lab

To conclude our study of forensics, we completed a simulated crime scene investigation, which required us to analyze clues to determine who committed the crime and how it was committed. My group's scenario was a body found in the middle of an open area near a forest.

We determined that the killer was Lucas Moore. The body found was his son, who he tried to kidnap after he broke out of his mental institution. He was divorced by his wife after she determined that his mental disorder posed a danger to her and her child. He was then sent to a mental institution, and subsequently broke out. He wanted custody of his son, but the court decided that he did not have visitation rights or split custody. He returned to his wife's home during the night, and left a note saying "I'm sorry. I really do love you all". Moore then kidnapped his son and tried to run away with him. His son resisted, and in the struggle Moore severely beat his son and his son was critically injured. Moore was frightened and ran away, leaving his son to die.

Evidence:

Two Footprints: One small footprint and one large footprint were collected. The small footprint is a child's footprint, likely a boy

Ripped up note: Reads "Please forgive me. I do love you all". We determined that this note was left by Moore for his family. Handwriting closely resembled that of Lucas Moore.
Caucasian Hair: Several hairs were found in a bunch, which indicates that there was a struggle between the killer and the victim

Photo of Skull and Maggots: Body was determined to be approximately 20+ days after death

Single Fiber: Determined to be nylon. Likely came from clothing of suspect or victim.

Fingerprints: Matched fingerprints of Lucas Moore

Unidentified Yellow Substance: This presented a problem in our invesitgation process. It did not respond to any poison or drug tests. We determined that it was probably incidental to the crime.

Syringe: Another puzzling piece of evidence. We were not able to connect this syringe to the cause of death of the victim

This investigation was the final piece of our study of forensics. It was the culmination of all the knowledge and techniques that we have learned over the past several weeks. It required all of the group members to combine our knowledge of forensics and our investigation skills to come to our conclusion about the crime.