This was an old and cold case. That is to say it was 15 years old and wasn’t being worked on.Then a new DA read the reports and decided he wanted to prosecute the two youths (at the time it happened) for murder.
He had a story from the ex-girlfriend Romona of one of the youths. According to her, the two had gone to see the victim twice one evening. The first time, he wasn’t home. The second time she stated that Bill (not her boyfriend) had a gun and was a martial arts student. He put the victim in a bear hug and takes him down. Bill tells his partner Joe to get the gun and shoot the victim in the head. Then to shoot him again.
They took the gold necklace and gold bracelet that the decedent wore. They got blood on their clothing so they went to the beach and changed, getting rid of the gun. They gave the gold jewelry to Romona, which she took to her aunt in Tijuana. The aunt melted it so Romona could sell it.
Based on what was just described, the prosecution asked their crime lab experts, one from the county lab and one from the city lab, to examine the evidence. The DA did not like either of their reports so he hired an outside expert.1 One that always testifies the way the prosecution wants.
The defendant states that they went to the home twice, but Ray didn’t answer the door either time, so they left. That the girlfriend, who came forward only after she had a big fight and broke up with Joe 2 years after the murder. His field of martial arts is Muey Thai, the most violent of the martial arts. In Muey Thai there is no “bear hug” or holding someone down. It is a form of kick boxing and elbow smashing blows.
The outside expert’s report supports the theory of wrestling and holding the victim down
with his left arm across his chest when he is shot. The DA brings the case to trial. One of theauthors (Chisum) was hired by the defense (Figures 1–3).
“The shot to the top of the head is 2 cm left of midline, 14.0 cm above left external auditory canal, 2 cm from top of head, downward back to front about 45, right to left 20, gunpowder and soot under skin and in wound.”
“The shot on the lower back of the head is midoccipital scalp, centered 1 .0 cm to right of midline, 13.0 cm from top of head, 4 cm above the level of the external auditory canals, 3.0 7.0 cm graze defect, straight left to right and horizontal, no powder.”
“Secondary injury from the lower shot, 2 cm from end of above defect, 1.0-cm laceration, exitwound, no powder, explanation: bullet split.”
“To split a bullet it must enter at a fairly low angle. A number of factors enter into the
determination but a hollow point is more likely to split off some of the jacketing material than a round-nosed solid bullet. The angle of entry will change to a steeper angle as the bullet enters. Therefore, a straight line is not justified in a back of the head shot. A fragment of the bullet is imbedded in the magazine under the decedent’s head.”
This case was being prosecuted based on the story by Romona (a jilted girlfriend) and the “wrestling” theory. While the bloodstains are important to interpret, you must examine every detail of the body carefully before it is moved or the stains may have another tale to tell. The bloodstains shown above on the wall and the newspaper appear to be consistent with the theory that he was shot twice in the head while he was down. But let’s examine the rest of the body and then take a second look at the stains. Examine the figures before you read further. What do you see? How do you explain what you see?
In Figure 4, you should have noted the shoestring on the left shoe stretched toward the right shoe. Both toes are pointed in the same direction. The shorts are “scrunched up” on the right side, but smooth and laying flat on the left, with the pants leg extended toward the right.
In Figure 5, you should have noted the tucked portion of the t-shirt behind the belt.
In Figure 6, you need to have noted that the blood on the face is smeared and is running counter to gravity. The blood has been carried by capillary action up the front of the arm; however, there is no connection of the blood to the top of the arm where the blood has soaked the chest.There is a worm of blood on the right shoulder. The blood in front of the body is considerably darker than the rest of the blood. There are a couple of small drops of blood on the upper back.
In Figure 7 there are several bloodstains. The wall, the newspaper, and the carpet have bloodstain patterns that must be explained. The wall actually has several different bloodstain patterns. You should have noted the splash pattern on the carpet, the forceful drops of blood on the wall in two areas, above the top of the head and to the far right, and the “curtain” pattern overlying the spatters. Note the directions of flows on the newspaper and the color and thickness of the bloodstains.
Finally, the folded edge of the newspaper is resting on the baseboard, raising it about 2 inches.
The two experts from the crime labs would not support the prosecution. The prosecution
hired the outside expert who stated in the first line of his report that it was obvious the body had not been moved. He also stated that it was equally obvious that someone used a wrestling type hold to pull the arm across the body. He stated that the victim was held while the other man shot him the first time; then he didn’t move and was shot the second time in the top of the head. The blood on the wall he stated was arterial spurting. The crime lab experts did not agree with his conclusions but found nothing to counter his statements.
What did you see that could counter these conclusions?
The first thing I noted were the pants, why would one leg be flat and the other wrinkled? Then the shoestrings, why are the ones on the smooth leg stretched out? The next thing I noted was that the blood on the chest could not get to that location as shown in Figure 6. It cannot jump the space on the arm, and because the arm is pressed by the chest, it can’t flow between the chest to the arm. If it did, it would stain the top of the arm too. Therefore, the body has been moved before the photos were taken.
The detective who responded to the scene stated that she took two firemen with her and they lifted the body to ensure that there was no gun under the body.4 Fifteen years later she states that they only lifted the body a little bit, but she couldn’t remember if the lights were on at 9 pm. One fireman at the feet twisted the legs to help raise the body, resulting in the left leg being raised off the floor; the other put his left hand in the waist of the trousers (see Figure 5) and under the newspaper to hold the head steady. The arm, which was to the left side, draped across the front of the body. When they lowered the body, the arm was trapped. The shoestrings and pants show the rolling back down.
The splash stain on the carpet does not originate from either of the head wounds. It is consistent with the blood pouring off the corner of the newspaper if it is lifted. The flow of blood on the paper would defy gravity as it lies. The raised edge should only have splashed stains present. The wall stains are not arterial stains but a thin blood sheet pouring from the newspaper onto the wall; the top of the paper is bent down so that the blood runs at an angle in this area. The spatter underlying the curtain is from the hole in the top of the head when the second shot was fired into the head. This caused a hydraulic effect, causing the blood to squirt out to the first hole.
The stains on the face are because he was more face down on the floor until he was lifted. This caused some of the blood to run in the wrong direction.
As a final note, the blood in front of the body was very black, similar to the color we get when we add HCl to blood. In a photo (not shown) there are many white pieces in this blood consistent with the rice the doctor found in his stomach. The arm being across the body caused pressure on his stomach to disgorge some of the meal and blood that had accumulated.
To complete the reconstruction, he was kneeling when he was shot from behind. He fell
face down. A coup de grace shot to the back of the head was fired at a low angle, causing the bullet to split.
The prosecution’s expert started his hypotheses with a false assumption. Therefore, nothing he concluded is correct.
The point of this exercise is that careful observations of the body and surroundings need to be made and subtle incongruities need to be explained before you start explaining the bloodstains.
This was an old and cold case. That is to say it was 15 years old and wasn’t being worked on.Then a new DA read the reports and decided he wanted to prosecute the two youths (at the time it happened) for murder.
He had a story from the ex-girlfriend Romona of one of the youths. According to her, the two had gone to see the victim twice one evening. The first time, he wasn’t home. The second time she stated that Bill (not her boyfriend) had a gun and was a martial arts student. He put the victim in a bear hug and takes him down. Bill tells his partner Joe to get the gun and shoot the victim in the head. Then to shoot him again.
They took the gold necklace and gold bracelet that the decedent wore. They got blood on their clothing so they went to the beach and changed, getting rid of the gun. They gave the gold jewelry to Romona, which she took to her aunt in Tijuana. The aunt melted it so Romona could sell it.
Based on what was just described, the prosecution asked their crime lab experts, one from the county lab and one from the city lab, to examine the evidence. The DA did not like either of their reports so he hired an outside expert.1 One that always testifies the way the prosecution wants.
The defendant states that they went to the home twice, but Ray didn’t answer the door either time, so they left. That the girlfriend, who came forward only after she had a big fight and broke up with Joe 2 years after the murder. His field of martial arts is Muey Thai, the most violent of the martial arts. In Muey Thai there is no “bear hug” or holding someone down. It is a form of kick boxing and elbow smashing blows.
The outside expert’s report supports the theory of wrestling and holding the victim down
with his left arm across his chest when he is shot. The DA brings the case to trial. One of theauthors (Chisum) was hired by the defense (Figures 1–3).
“The shot to the top of the head is 2 cm left of midline, 14.0 cm above left external auditory canal, 2 cm from top of head, downward back to front about 45, right to left 20, gunpowder and soot under skin and in wound.”
“The shot on the lower back of the head is midoccipital scalp, centered 1 .0 cm to right of midline, 13.0 cm from top of head, 4 cm above the level of the external auditory canals, 3.0 7.0 cm graze defect, straight left to right and horizontal, no powder.”
“Secondary injury from the lower shot, 2 cm from end of above defect, 1.0-cm laceration, exitwound, no powder, explanation: bullet split.”
“To split a bullet it must enter at a fairly low angle. A number of factors enter into the
determination but a hollow point is more likely to split off some of the jacketing material than a round-nosed solid bullet. The angle of entry will change to a steeper angle as the bullet enters. Therefore, a straight line is not justified in a back of the head shot. A fragment of the bullet is imbedded in the magazine under the decedent’s head.”
This case was being prosecuted based on the story by Romona (a jilted girlfriend) and the “wrestling” theory. While the bloodstains are important to interpret, you must examine every detail of the body carefully before it is moved or the stains may have another tale to tell. The bloodstains shown above on the wall and the newspaper appear to be consistent with the theory that he was shot twice in the head while he was down. But let’s examine the rest of the body and then take a second look at the stains. Examine the figures before you read further. What do you see? How do you explain what you see?
In Figure 4, you should have noted the shoestring on the left shoe stretched toward the right shoe. Both toes are pointed in the same direction. The shorts are “scrunched up” on the right side, but smooth and laying flat on the left, with the pants leg extended toward the right.
In Figure 5, you should have noted the tucked portion of the t-shirt behind the belt.
In Figure 6, you need to have noted that the blood on the face is smeared and is running counter to gravity. The blood has been carried by capillary action up the front of the arm; however, there is no connection of the blood to the top of the arm where the blood has soaked the chest.There is a worm of blood on the right shoulder. The blood in front of the body is considerably darker than the rest of the blood. There are a couple of small drops of blood on the upper back.
In Figure 7 there are several bloodstains. The wall, the newspaper, and the carpet have bloodstain patterns that must be explained. The wall actually has several different bloodstain patterns. You should have noted the splash pattern on the carpet, the forceful drops of blood on the wall in two areas, above the top of the head and to the far right, and the “curtain” pattern overlying the spatters. Note the directions of flows on the newspaper and the color and thickness of the bloodstains.
Finally, the folded edge of the newspaper is resting on the baseboard, raising it about 2 inches.
The two experts from the crime labs would not support the prosecution. The prosecution
hired the outside expert who stated in the first line of his report that it was obvious the body had not been moved. He also stated that it was equally obvious that someone used a wrestling type hold to pull the arm across the body. He stated that the victim was held while the other man shot him the first time; then he didn’t move and was shot the second time in the top of the head. The blood on the wall he stated was arterial spurting. The crime lab experts did not agree with his conclusions but found nothing to counter his statements.
What did you see that could counter these conclusions?
The first thing I noted were the pants, why would one leg be flat and the other wrinkled? Then the shoestrings, why are the ones on the smooth leg stretched out? The next thing I noted was that the blood on the chest could not get to that location as shown in Figure 6. It cannot jump the space on the arm, and because the arm is pressed by the chest, it can’t flow between the chest to the arm. If it did, it would stain the top of the arm too. Therefore, the body has been moved before the photos were taken.
The detective who responded to the scene stated that she took two firemen with her and they lifted the body to ensure that there was no gun under the body.4 Fifteen years later she states that they only lifted the body a little bit, but she couldn’t remember if the lights were on at 9 pm. One fireman at the feet twisted the legs to help raise the body, resulting in the left leg being raised off the floor; the other put his left hand in the waist of the trousers (see Figure 5) and under the newspaper to hold the head steady. The arm, which was to the left side, draped across the front of the body. When they lowered the body, the arm was trapped. The shoestrings and pants show the rolling back down.
The splash stain on the carpet does not originate from either of the head wounds. It is consistent with the blood pouring off the corner of the newspaper if it is lifted. The flow of blood on the paper would defy gravity as it lies. The raised edge should only have splashed stains present. The wall stains are not arterial stains but a thin blood sheet pouring from the newspaper onto the wall; the top of the paper is bent down so that the blood runs at an angle in this area. The spatter underlying the curtain is from the hole in the top of the head when the second shot was fired into the head. This caused a hydraulic effect, causing the blood to squirt out to the first hole.
The stains on the face are because he was more face down on the floor until he was lifted. This caused some of the blood to run in the wrong direction.
As a final note, the blood in front of the body was very black, similar to the color we get when we add HCl to blood. In a photo (not shown) there are many white pieces in this blood consistent with the rice the doctor found in his stomach. The arm being across the body caused pressure on his stomach to disgorge some of the meal and blood that had accumulated.
To complete the reconstruction, he was kneeling when he was shot from behind. He fell
face down. A coup de grace shot to the back of the head was fired at a low angle, causing the bullet to split.
The prosecution’s expert started his hypotheses with a false assumption. Therefore, nothing he concluded is correct.
The point of this exercise is that careful observations of the body and surroundings need to be made and subtle incongruities need to be explained before you start explaining the bloodstains.
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