Boston Marathon Bombing and Practical Homicide Investigation - Essay Example

The perpetrators of the bombing identified as the Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev confessed to having been under the influence of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and were motivated by extremist Islamic belief. Dzhokhar also claimed that they were self-radicalized and had no connection with any terrorist group.

In solving such a case, it calls for the conduction of thorough investigations on the matter which will not only investigators make progress toward arresting perpetrators, but also aid victims and prepare for prosecution. Hence, it is important to keep comprehensive and systematized case files to make sure that it is possible later to tell a comprehensive and logical story about the crime and the suspect’s engrossment (Haines, 1980).

First, I would interview the victims by asking the most basic questions about the bombing and recording all their first-hand reactions. This will include obtaining confessions from eyewitnesses at the scene. Also, it will call for reviewing street cameras or security camera footage of cameras installed in the near premises facing the scene. After that, I would review the details provided in the initial interview with the victims familiarizing myself with the facts reported. This will also help determine that the facts meet the features of the crime classification and help resolve what information is required from the victim in the next interview (Geberth, 1986)

Conducting a follow-up interview will determine whether the facts have changed, or new facts have been learned by the victim. This will also present an opportunity for the victim to clarify any information in the initial report that is not clear. At this point, I will be able to determine the true nature of the bombing and whether there are other incidences involved before setting out on analyzing the information at hand.

Based upon the known facts obtained from the site of the bombing, the analysis will include examining photographs from the traffic cameras, running fingerprint matches from fingerprints collected from the scene, examining photographs taken from the scene trying to figure out the motive of the perpetrator who can be identified through eyewitness testimony, through circumstantial evidence or a self-made confession (Geberth, 1986). Being a continuous process where evidence and leads are tracked down, it will hint where I can commence looking for those involved, gathering evidence, and obtaining relevant documents such as court orders in case the trial is beyond my jurisdiction.

At this point, it will be easier to start generating a paper and a digital trail of physical evidence such as the suspect’s photo assortments to be shown to witnesses and also gathering witnesses and f activities physical evidence to aid build a concrete case. Likewise, I should be able to create an evidence book that will include customer records, transaction history, the cast of characters, my timeline of conducting the investigation, and any videos of the perpetrator’s in-person transaction at the scene before and after the bombing (O'Hara, 1980).

However, this investigation may be decelerated by various factors including varying testimony from distressed eyewitnesses who may also be unwilling to be a witness in the case. Read More