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Criminals and individuals perpetrating murder sometimes pose or reposition victims and rearrange bodies, weapons, and evidence in an attempt to make it look like events happened in a different way than what actually transpired. There is scare literature on crime scene staging, and this is the first book to look at the practice. The book examines the subject in detail and provides investigators and homicide detectives with a toolkit to understand the whys and hows of staging and how to detect it.
List of contents
Introduction to Staging. Offenders and Victims. Victim-Centered Death Investigation Methodology.
About the author
Laura Gail Pettler is a forensic criminologist, author, educator, and inventor. She is a crusader for justice for victims in homicide cases. Laura is dedicated to using her life to make a difference. Laura holds a bachelor of science degree in preprofessional psychology; a master of science degree in criminal justice where she focused on death investigation, forensic psychology, and aspects of forensic science; and a doctor of philosophy degree in public safety specializing in criminal justice where she focused on forensic criminology and specifically on the study of intimate partner violence and crime scene staging behaviors. Laura is an International Association for Identification (IAI) Certified Senior Crime Scene analyst and is the chairwoman of the IAI's Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Subcommittee.
Laura was inducted into the American Investigative Society of Cold Cases (AISOCC) and served one year on its honorary review board while simultaneously serving as AISOCC's Director of Development before being promoted to vice president in 2014. Laura dedicates a tremendous amount of time and resources toward furthering AISOCC's mission in support of cold case victims and their family in the pursuit of justice.
Summary
Individuals who perpetrate murder sometimes pose or reposition victims, weapons, and evidence to make it look like events happened in a different way than what actually transpired. Until now, there has been scarce literature published on crime scene staging.
Crime Scene Staging Dynamics in Homicide Cases is the first book to look at this practice, providing a methodology of identifying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating the evidence of each case by learning to marry the physical evidence to the behavioral evidence.
The book begins with the history of crime scene staging and includes many case examples that illustrate how, when, and why criminals stage crime scenes. The characteristics of crime scene stagers and their victims are examined along with the intent of crime scene staging and dynamics of the staged crime scene. In addition, coverage of forensic victimology explores the reasons why a person might become a victim and why, based on this, staging may be performed.
The book emphasizes the importance of recognizing behavioral red flags which are often present in staged crime scenes. These indicators can be commonly overlooked by investigators when they focus only on the physical evidence of a crime scene. Early detection, crime scene analysis, and crime scene reconstruction of the staged crime scene are each supported—by the full body of literature and latest published research on staging as well as by proven real-world, field-based methodologies.
The book identifies and describes various types of crime scene staging behavioral patterns, presenting the complications and challenges that crime scene staging presents for investigators. This book will be an invaluable tool for forensic scientists, investigators, homicide detectives, and law enforcement to understand all aspects of crime scene staging dynamics.
Additional text
"...it is my hope that this book, the first one written on staging, will help investigators, prosecutors, and academicians to begin building a body of work that will bring more killers to justice. Laura Pettler has proposed new conceptual and practical theories here that I hope will get the readers’ creative juices flowing and aid investigators in convicting more of the guilty and sending more of the innocent home."
—From the Book’s Foreword by Michael D. Parker, Esq., Retired Former District Attorney, Prosecutorial District 20A, North Carolina, USA
