Question

You are the first responder on a crime scene. You arrive and find yourself in an odd room— empty of everything except the body of an old man who has been decapitated; his head is nowhere to be found. You can clearly tell the no one else is around and the body looks like it has been here for days. What would be one of the first things you would document after arriving on the scene? The age and overall appearance of the body Whether the doors and windows in the room were open or closed The estimated time of death of the victim The presence of a murder weapon

Answer 1

Whether the doors and windows in the room were open or closed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The purpose of crime scene documentation is to create a visual record that enables the forensic laboratory and prosecutor to recreate an accurate view of the location. For this reason, the first step of the documentation is to provide an overview of where the crime occurred.

The overview documentation is the widest overview of the whole site. If the crime scene is indoors, this includes:

• view of all rooms (not only the room where the crime occurred), with photographs taken from each corner and, if there is a crane in place, from a higher vantage point. These photographs include observation whether the doors and windows of the rooms and the house are open or closed;
• aerial shots outside the building where the crime took place, including photos of all entrances and exits;
• view of the building showing its relation to adjacent buildings;
• photos of any viewers in the scene.

Answer 2

The correct answer is: Whether the doors and windows in the room were open or closed.

One of the first step to do when you arrive to the crime scene is to define the extent of the crime scene. Once you evaluated the scene, you should document and evaluate the body (like the age and overall appearance of the body).