City On Edge

Late one afternoon, in an upper middle class neighborhood, a woman was murdered in her home. Her husband came home and found her. It was gruesome, not the type of thing that usually happened in our community.

Officers were assigned to guard the house in case the perpetrator returned to the scene as they sometimes do. I had the twelve midnight until eight in the morning shift.  I sat in my patrol car and watched over the house as best I could from that position. I walked around the house every fifteen minutes or so to ensure the security of the residence. It was eerie and intimidating even with my 357-magnum revolver at my side and a shotgun in my car. This was early in my law enforcement career and I had never been exposed to a murder let alone one this gruesome.

The whole city was on edge. Officers responded all night to suspicious noise calls, the residents of the city were horrified and scared they could be next.  Residents and officers were highly sensitive to strangers and suspicious noises throughout the following few weeks. The work the local officers did concerning the murder was extensive. The reports, interviews, photographs and other pertinent paperwork filled several large three ring binders. Many leads were followed but the case remained unsolved for years.

This case was classic. The case was used as a training example in several crime scene investigation and criminal justice training courses in which I was a student.

Eventually the case was solved only because the killer bragged about several of his exploits of which this was one while drinking at a bar in some other part of the country. Fortunately someone hearing the information contacted our agency.

What can we gleam from this situation? Several things. Crimes often don’t make sense. This victim was randomly chosen, not for retaliation or any other reason, but randomly chosen while out shopping and followed home. Why certain neighborhoods? Why certain victims? Why so gruesome? Second, the officers thoroughly and professionally processed the murder scene in addition to the whole house and little useful evidence was found and what was didn’t lead to the identification of the assailant. Television shows and movies make catching the “bad guys” look too easy sometimes.  Its not that the police aren’t trained enough or don’t work hard enough.

Until Later,

Sally S