Apartment Shooting: Body, Blood, and Cartridge Cases
At 02:15, a 28-year-old man is found supine in the hallway of a one-bedroom apartment, with a single entry wound to the left chest and no exit wound. A blood pool about 25 cm wide lies beneath his left shoulder; fine cast-off stains are visible on the wall 1.2 m from the kitchen doorway. Two 9 mm cartridge cases sit 40 cm apart near the living room threshold, and a live round is on the carpet. No firearm is present. A kitchen knife with a 20 cm blade lies outside the bathroom, 3 m from the body. The thermostat reads 24 degrees C, the apartment door is unlocked, and two roommates say they were asleep. EMS wants to move the body immediately. There is no CCTV. The detective asks you to clear the body quickly and to decide what can wait until morning.
1. What documentation and evidence-collection steps should be completed before the body is moved, and what can reasonably wait?
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Before the body is moved, treat the body and the floor around it as one scene. Take overall, mid-range, and close photographs with and without scales: the hallway from both ends, the body in situ, the blood pool, the cast-off wall, each cartridge case, the live round, and the knife. Record the thermostat setting, door position, lights, and any odors. Sketch the room with measurements from fixed points. Photograph and swab the victim's hands before removal if policy permits, and collect the clothing only after the medical examiner documents it. The body should not be moved until the medical examiner and photographer have documented it, unless there is an immediate hazard. Waiting until morning is acceptable for the roommates' detailed statements and the apartment layout, but not for perishable pattern evidence. Moving the body first would destroy the relationship between the wound, the blood pool, and the cast-off patterns.
2. How would you evaluate whether the cast-off stains and cartridge case positions support or contradict the roommates' account, and what are the limits?
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Cast-off stains show that blood was thrown from a moving blood-bearing object; their direction and size can suggest the wall was struck during a violent event, but they do not date the event or identify who was present. Cartridge cases mark ejection, not the shooter's feet. A semi-automatic pistol can eject cases roughly 1 to 3 m to the right and rear, but the exact position depends on stance, movement, and the weapon. The roommates' account of sleeping is not disproved by these items alone. You would need the scene geometry, the victim's wound, blood drying, and the missing firearm to build a sequence. Be explicit about limits: no time-of-death estimate from these patterns, no conclusion that a roommate fired, and no assumption that the cases and blood are from the same moment.
3. Describe packaging and chain-of-custody for the knife, cartridge cases, and live round, including cross-contamination controls.
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The knife is both a biohazard and a potential DNA source. Air-dry it if wet, package it in a rigid, breathable container or a knife box, and seal it with tamper-evident tape; do not put it in a plastic bag while damp. Package each cartridge case separately in a paper envelope or pillbox, labeled with location and orientation; do not handle it with bare fingers. Photograph, measure, and package the live round separately; treat it as ammunition, not as a case. Use gloves, change them between items, and avoid talking or coughing over DNA surfaces. Record every transfer on a chain-of-custody form, including collector, time, location, and storage conditions. The missing firearm is critical: document the negative find and search the apartment and nearby exits before assuming it was removed.