What is a Staged Crime Scene?
Examples of staged crime scenes are –
When a husband hit his wife on the head by a blunt object and it leads to her death.
Then he tries to clean up the area and moves her body into the bathroom, stage a drama,
claiming that she fell while bathing.
A criminal make an effort to stage the murder crime scene that’s look like,
“a burglar killed the victim” by staging a breaking lock or a window and missing
of valuable items.
When someone secretly feeds a deadly quantity of sedatives to the other and forges a
suicide note to make a homicide look like a suicide.
MOTIVATION
Motive is one of the key issues that have to be determined or to be resolved in any criminal
investigation.
Why someone employs staging -
First to mislead or to redirect the investigation away from the suspect or to protect victim or victim’s
family”.
The investigator found two different behaviors that are determining the motive for the staged crime
scene.
(a) The original act that necessitated the staging (i.e.,
homicide, false allegation of rape,
autoerotic death) and
(b) The staging itself.
The following motives are commonly associated with staged
crime scenes -
Greed- Desire for money or property is greed.
Greed-motivated homicides include staging of crime as a robbery-related
homicide or as a sex-related homicide.
Anger - revenge - Strong feelings of aggression go together
with a desire for retribution. Anger -
revenge motivated crime staged as an autoerotic fatality.
Attention - This motive is related with false claims of
sexual assault. Though, the investigator also supposed to find attention in
staged robberies, burglaries, break-ins and petty vandalism.
Game playing - The least common motive and it is observed in
suicide or homicide cases. The staging of the crime scene was to mislead police
as to the manner of death.
Embarrassment-shame - In this motive the staging offender is
trying to deliver the victim with a degree of self-respect (Ex redressing the
body) or to let the family to recall the victim in a more substantial sense
than the original scene would have permitted (Ex, victim died during dangerous
autoerotic activities). In some cases, the individual repositioning the scene
because of his or her own sense of clumsiness or self-awareness.
We are aware of greed-motivated homicides staged as satanic
crimes, greed-motivated homicides staged as sexual homicides, greed-motivated
homicides staged as robbery-related deaths, anger-motivated homicides staged as
autoerotic fatalities, anger-motivated homicides staged as home-invasion
homicides, autoerotic fatalities staged as suicides, autoerotic fatalities
staged as homicides, pseudo-victims staging violent sexual assaults and suicides
staged as homicides.
INDICATORS OF A STAGED CRIME SCENE
The determination of whether a crime has been staged or not
is based on the recognition of inconsistencies/irregularities in three
categories and these are -
(a) Victim-centered
(b) Immediate location
and (c) Distant locations.
Victim-centered term denotes the information about the
victim (i.e., victimology) and referred those elements of the crime that rightly
influence upon the victim (i.e., sexual assault, clothing disarray, injuries
etc.).
Immediate location mention the significant facts or circumstances
present at the scene, close the scene, or around the alleged assault location
(i.e., forced entry, signs of struggle, items taken or destroyed, TV on or off,
etc.).
Distant locations describe the other geographic locations that
are associated with the crime, such as car disposal site, body disposed site or
a location where a pseudo-victim claims she was taken.
INVESTIGATIVE STRATEGIES
The investigator in a staged crime scene must be open to all
possibilities. His training and experience help him to reach the ultimate
solution. He always has two sources of information available at crime scene -
(a)
The victim and (b) the scene.
These two factors benefit him to complete comprehensive
inquiry and help him to identify the indicative of a staged crime scene. In
both fatal and non-fatal staged crime scene the victimology is the key factor.
SOME INVESTIGATIVE STEPS
Study the victimology of the deceased.
Possible motive for the original act and for the staging of
the crime should be identify and documented.
The behavior(s) of the victim and suspects should be evaluated.
To establish and ascertain the facts of the case, necessary
forensic examinations should be conducted.
Corroborate the statements of victim and witnesses with
evidential facts.
Recreate and estimate the event.
Compare the medico-legal autopsy with investigative findings
and discuss with the medical examiner.
First conduct and Process all investigations related to
death as homicide cases.
MR. DEEPAK PAWAR has been working as Finger Print Expert / Police Officer in Finger Print Bureau , Delhi Police at New Delhi since 2001 . He is the senior most Finger Print Expert , attending / visited several scene of crime and solved many crime cases .He has passed M.Sc (Chemistry) and he is the Member of International Association of Identification . He is the Member of Delhi Police welfare association . He is supervising the Forensic , New Delhi District , Mobile Crime Team . He is one of the Expert in the Special Investigation Team held for investigation of important cases . He has been giving fingerprint proficient training to Delhi Police personnel's . He has been Presented / giving lectures on topics related to forensic science . He is also making examination paper of Finger Print proficient course . He is awarded with Police Medal by MHA and Delhi Police.