The cause, manner, and mechanism of ones' death is important to the family, as well as it is to law enforcement and the courts, often for different reasons, yet equally important.
The proper identification of an accidental death vs. a homicide vs. a suicide will profoundly affect a family and in some cases, it has the potential to affect an entire community.
First responders are not normally trained or equipped to take on the full-scale, indepth investigation which many death investigations become. But, it is often the first responder's first impressions and interpretation of the evidence or information at a scene which can direct the initial course of an investigation.
If the death scene investigator is insightful, they will recognize complex death investigations require more experienced investigators and expert opinions. However it is not uncommon for conjecture, incomplete scene investigations, assumptions without fact, and inexperience in identifying evidence to compromise a correct conclusion.
Dan Christman has investigated and consulted on several thousand death scenes in various jurisdictions. In an effort to standardize investigations and help minimize recurrent mistakes, Dan has been tasked with teaching every Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy class, in Death Investigation, since 1997. In addition, he has co-taught many veteran officers and detectives in the Criminal Investigations Course, and the Crime Scene Investigation Course at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center.
Christman Forensics |