Too often we confuse “stress” with “trauma.”  Stress happens, but trauma happens TO you.  Stress is an expected part of life, good or bad, and can be managed by such things as exercise, moderation in habits such as alcohol, deep breathing and even therapy.  Trauma, on the other hand, either runs over you like a…

Toxicology testing is a vital piece of  the post mortem investigative puzzle.  Many investigators confuse the importance of toxicology in cases where no autopsy is being conducted. An even greater danger is submitting fluids for testing but then making an incorrect determination because of the miss-interpretations of the results. To better understand the dangers and…

Forensics is the study of the past as it relates to the present.  Criminal forensic is applying  science  to the law. In short it’s the study of known science and relating it to a crime scene for the determination and prosecution of a crime.  Many men and women are specially trained to collect evidence and in…

Police work and in particular, death investigation,   is one of the most stressful jobs in this country. Day after day, investigators see the worst of humanity; absorb the world’s negativity; and come home to families who  love them . How can you not  expect this to have an effect on your mind, body, and soul? Not…

Every crime scene presents unique obstacles for the investigator, but in a death investigation three elements will always exists to  some degree. These three elements make up the investigative triangle. Although independent in nature – they are interdependent in the investigation. A complete and accurate investigation can not be accomplished without weaving these three elements…

The first officers on any scene can be faced with chaos in trying to secure the scene, check for signs of life, and separate witnesses. Not to mention trying to make initial determination as to what other assistance may be needed and starting an investigation.  Add all of this to having to cooperate with other…

In this episode of Coroner Talk™  I give you a sample portion of a live training  I  did on Death Scene Investigation.  This course is an eight hour course that was recently  held in Cass County Missouri;  of the eight hour training, this is a one hour portion  of the day.   The recording will…

Subsequent to the original murder case Cain vs. Abel, there have always been a small percentage of murders that were unsolved for a variety of case-specific reasons. There have also always been detectives who’d occasionally look back at “the one that got away,” but the idea of dedicating a group of professionals to work solely…

Crime scene investigation is an indispensable part of our work, which will have a direct impact on the success of the criminal investigation.  With Technological progress and changes in Social situations, scene investigation work is facing unprecedented challenges. The standardization of the crime scene investigation should be the goal of  all police agencies. Therefore, promoting the…