The perpetrator left

The perpetrator left

In a suburb of London, an elderly gentleman is attacked in his home.  The area is a middle-class area, relatively low crime.  The home is a second story apartment.  The door is locked and there is no sign of forced entry, but a window had been left open, presumably to catch a cool summer breeze (it’s a UK thing, no central air).  Outside, the window looks down on a fenced alley.  There are large garbage bins below.

The victim, a 67-year-old male was attacked in his bedroom.  Lights in the bedroom were on when police responded to the scene.  The victim was attacked with a hammer that is presumed to have been the victim’s.  Autopsy would reveal that the victim had been hit several dozen times in the head with the hammer, far beyond what was necessary to cause unconsciousness or death.  The hammer was wiped, then left at the scene.

The perpetrator then went into the man’s bathroom and showered.  The perpetrator left his own clothes at the scene, soaked in the victim’s blood.  The perpetrator is presumed to have taken some of the victim’s clothes as replacements.  The perpetrator also left behind several bandages that had been used to bind a fairly significant injury.  Blood type analysis confirm that the blood on the bandages is not that of the victim.

The victim’s neighbors say that he lived alone and quiet and was a decent neighbor.  They believe he has some family living in other cities, although they don’t visit often.  Until the family are notified and arrive, investigators can’t be certain what, if anything, may have been taken from the scene.  However, the other rooms do show signs of being rummaged.

Police are called when the victim fails to show up for a meeting with a friend and the friend can’t reach him.  A “well visit” by police reveals the crime scene.

Here is the photograph of the crime scene as the investigators discovered it:

Here are autopsy photos taken of injuries to the skull.  Note that some of the flesh of the scalp has been surgically peeled back to reveal the bone.  This reveals the top of the skull.  Most of the facial bones had been complete crushed.

Your mission is the same as for the first paper:

• What are the likely possible scenarios of what might have happened? It is best to consider multiple possibilities at first, then use the evidence to potentially narrow in your considerations.  Who would you consider to be suspects and why?
• What are the significance of the various injuries, pre and most-mortem? What do the injuries tell you about possible motivation and the perpetrator’s state of mind?
• Do you notice anything interesting about the crime scene itself?
• It’s been at least 12 hours since the homicide. What would you expect the perpetrator to look and act like at this point?
• What would you expect your suspect to be like…personality, intelligence, relationship to the victim, etc.