Homicidal Drowning Investigation Dep Coroner Asst Chief Inv

Homicidal Drowning Investigation Dep. Coroner Asst. Chief Inv. Rick Fellabaum 2013

To Rule Out Foul Play… It Must First Be Considered.

Dispatched to A Drowning… What You Think… • Accident What you Really Have… • BFIW (Body Found In Water) • Suicide • Homicide

Be Careful Where You Find the Victim…

Recovery What is the correct way to recover the body: • Tow to Shore • Removal from the Water

Scene Information What Information to Get: • Set (Direction of movement) • Drift (Speed) • Fetch (Surface Area of the Water Pushed By the Wind) • Wind Speed • Water Temp • Air Temp • Photos • VPOD Does the Scene Match the ‘Story’?

Does Deceased Fit the Scene?

Questions? ? ? Does it Make Sense Victim is in the Water? Does the Physical Information Support it? Does it Makes Sense the Victim is Dead? Possible Red Flags! What Makes the Most Sense.

What Comes to Mind?

Recovery Teams • How to Search • Chain of Evidence

Scenario 1 Where should the child be after drowning?

Triangulate Your Evidence

Scenario 1 Answer Calculations say 16 feet. Actual Location… Was Somebody Lying?

The Vicious Circle • • Dispatched to a Drowning Assume it is… Poor Observations Missed Red Flags Little Investigation Done Witness Statements not Challenged Drowning is Supported • “It’s An Accident”

Physical & Physiology Concepts • • • • Archimedes Principle Boyles Law Thermocline Newton’s Law of Cooling Rigor Mortis Dutis Anserina Hypostasis Vitreous Humor Laryngospasm Anthropophagy Cadaveric Rigidity Putrefaction / Decomposition Saponification

Rigor – Right for a Floater?

Float Times • What keeps a Body Down Longer

How You Going to Find ‘em?

The Statement… "On July 18, 1969, at approximately 11: 15 PM in Chappaquiddick, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, I was driving my car on Main Street on my way to get the ferry back to Edgartown. I was unfamiliar with the road and turned right on Dyke Road, instead of bearing hard left on Main street. After proceeding for approximately one-half mile on Dyke Road, I descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge (arrow on map). The car went off the side of the bridge. There was one passenger with me, one Miss Mary (here the police chief paused, indicated That Kennedy was not sure of the spelling of the dead girl's last name, and offered a rough phonetic approximation), a former secretary of my brother Sen. Robert Kennedy' The car turned over and sank into the water and landed with the roof resting on the bottom. I attempted to open the door and the window of the car but have no recollection of how I got out of the car. I came to the surface and then repeatedly dove down to the car in an attempt to see if the passenger was still in the car. I was unsuccessful in the attempt. I was exhausted and in a state of shock. I recall walking back to where my friends were eating. There was a car parked in front of the cottage and I climbed into the back seat. I then asked someone to bring me back to present the I remember walking around for a period of time and then going back to my hotel room. When I fully realized what had happened this morning, I immediately contacted the police. "