Contaminating Crime Scenes

[SarcasticBella]

Let me start this thread off by saying that I fully understand that most people are not true crime buffs and don't know what to do in these situations.

Now that that is out of the way, I can't tell you how many times I've yelled at my tv as I've rewatched this series seeing so many people trapsing in and out of homes all willy nilly. All I can think is "What are you doing?! Other than contaminating the crime scene! GET OUT!! And quit touching everything!"

I feel that many Unsolved crimes happen in part because people don't understand that they are walking into crime scenes, or they do, and still don't follow proper protocol.

In the Springfield three case, I think it was a neighbor or family member that cleaned up the broken light bulb off the porch. In the JonBenet Ramsey case, family members came and went all through the house as they pleased. In the Amanda Knox case, she sees the house has clearly been broken into, and still not only goes inside, but takes a shower. Then there was the case I just saw of the husband and wife who went missing at different times (can't remember the name of them unfortunately, but the wife was rumored to try feeding her husband dog food casseroles.) the husbands truck is found abondoned, and instead of calling the police, his friends just go through his truck, they pick up his keys found a few feet away in the grass.

I wish more people would recognize that something is wrong with a scene more quickly before they start moving things all around and trying to "help." But again, I realize that that is most likely what the average person thinks they are doing, helping.

[amandab1234]

Originally Posted by SarcasticBella

Let me start this thread off by saying that I fully understand that most people are not true crime buffs and don't know what to do in these situations.

Now that that is out of the way, I can't tell you how many times I've yelled at my tv as I've rewatched this series seeing so many people trapsing in and out of homes all willy nilly. All I can think is "What are you doing?! Other than contaminating the crime scene! GET OUT!! And quit touching everything!"

I feel that many Unsolved crimes happen in part because people don't understand that they are walking into crime scenes, or they do, and still don't follow proper protocol.

In the Springfield three case, I think it was a neighbor or family member that cleaned up the broken light bulb off the porch. In the JonBenet Ramsey case, family members came and went all through the house as they pleased. In the Amanda Knox case, she sees the house has clearly been broken into, and still not only goes inside, but takes a shower. Then there was the case I just saw of the husband and wife who went missing at different times (can't remember the name of them unfortunately, but the wife was rumored to try feeding her husband dog food casseroles.) the husbands truck is found abondoned, and instead of calling the police, his friends just go through his truck, they pick up his keys found a few feet away in the grass.

I wish more people would recognize that something is wrong with a scene more quickly before they start moving things all around and trying to "help." But again, I realize that that is most likely what the average person thinks they are doing, helping.

The husband/wife eating dog casserole is Hugh and Diane Harlon. I've always wondered why his friends touched everything when they could've potentially gotten fingerprints.

[SarcasticBella]

Thank you, Amanda. The name was on the tip of my tongue. I knew it started with an H, but I kept thinking Hans. I've binged watched season six in two days, and a lot of the cases are starting to blend together lol.

[amandab1234]

Originally Posted by SarcasticBella

Thank you, Amanda. The name was on the tip of my tongue. I knew it started with an H, but I kept thinking Hans. I've binged watched season six in two days, and a lot of the cases are starting to blend together lol.

Thats what I did this past weekend

[DazzlerSparkler]

I vaguely recall Stack mentioning botched crime scenes...

Or maybe its law enforcement negligence?

[SarcasticBella]

Originally Posted by DazzlerSparkler

I vaguely recall Stack mentioning botched crime scenes...

Or maybe its law enforcement negligence?

Law Enforcement has definitely screwed up crime scenes (and been way too embarrassed to admit it.) but many times, family members walk into homes or abandoned cars looking for evidence. While well intentioned, they will move things around, inadvertently wipe away fingerprints, or clean up messes that could have been tagged as evidence.

In worst case scenarios, it's a product of family contaminating crime scenes and LE botching things up as well.

[Hops3098]

Maybe they just like living in clean houses?

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Can't forget when LE missed Danny Freeman's body

[freakbook]

"Whoops, I didn do nuffin. Evidence? wuz dat?"

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by SarcasticBella

In the Springfield three case, I think it was a neighbor or family member that cleaned up the broken light bulb off the porch.

Janelle Kirby and her boyfriend cleaned up the broken light bulb pieces to be nice. They hadn't even knocked on the door yet. And with all three women's cars in the driveway, they had no reason to believe they weren't inside. I think that's kind of an unfair example.

[SarcasticBella]

Originally Posted by xxxxmattxxxx69

Can't forget when LE missed Danny Freeman's body

Yeah, that whole case was a mess.

[SarcasticBella]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Janelle Kirby and her boyfriend cleaned up the broken light bulb pieces to be nice. They hadn't even knocked on the door yet. And with all three women's cars in the driveway, they had no reason to believe they weren't inside. I think that's kind of an unfair example.

Touché, I will retract that one from my list. It is hard when they don't yet know a crime has been committed.

But in the cases where it is obvious something isn't right or someone is missing, it just always boggles my mind that people don't stop and think before touching/moving things. Of course, hind sight is always 20/20.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by freakbook

"Whoops, I didn do nuffin. Evidence? wuz dat?"

Ha, nothing suspicious about that at all...he was just trying to "save the family pain"

[Drakken]

The vast majority of people were simply not acquainted with LE crime scene procedures at the time. Far less information, like documentaries, TV shows, and non-fiction, on true crimes at the time compared with today, made most people look a bit clueless in hindsight concerning how police investigators work. Plus, DNA was not yet a thing. Nowadays, there is so much common knowledge on how police procedures function when a major crime occurs, we know now how careful we must tread around a crime scene.

Perhaps a bit too much information, even - now it to the point that your Average Joe or Jane can decide to play the armchair detective when they feel a culprit is guilty or innocent. That is, I fear, a bit dangerous.

[Hops3098]

Originally Posted by Jon

Ha, nothing suspicious about that at all...he was just trying to "save the family pain"

I've never seriously suspected the sheriff but that bit never made sense to me.

While a bit unusual, his decision to save the family the indignity disposing of soiled bedding seemed plausible to me. But I think the next logical step would be to either burn it yourself or have a subordinate do it. Asking a civilian third party who is supposedly a "close friend" to do it makes about as much sense as a little boy directing you to speak to a masked man in a parked car.