FEATURED AUTHOR
LOUIS ELIOPULOS

Louis Eliopulos is a senior homicide investigations analyst with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), where he reviews, consults, and suggests investigative analysis and strategy on active and cold-case homicide investigations from all over the world. He also consults on other death investigations for NCIS as well as other criminal justice agencies. He has more than 25 years of death investigation experience.

Prior to joining NCIS in November 1999, Lou was the chief forensic investigator for the medical examiner's office in Jacksonville, Florida, where he created, hired, and trained investigative staff members. He also served as the special investigator in the capital crimes division of the state of Florida public defender's office, working on cases in which defendants faced the death penalty.

The author of the best-selling text Death Investigator's Handbook, Lou also serves as an adjunct professor of the University of North Florida Institute of Police Technology and Management. He serves as a lecturer and provides training for agencies and groups throughout the world specializing in death investigation, advanced homicide techniques, cold case investigation, traffic homicide investigation, missing and unidentified persons investigations, as well as managing a criminal investigation. Although most of his lectures are for police agencies and through arrangements with NCIS and the Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM), he does accept a small number of requests for private or other agency speaking engagements or consultations. You can contact him by
e-mail at leliopul@ncis.navy.mil.

In 2001, Lou served as a forensic consultant working with the teams responsible for recovering the remains within the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Q & A

Paladin: How did you get started in law enforcement? What attracted you to death investigations?
LE: I was actually majoring in pre-med when a relative suggested that I take a criminal justice course. I did and was somewhat intrigued. I was awarded a Department of Justice internship grant during the next summer to study forensic science at the medical examiner's office in Washington, D.C. As part of that internship, I was allowed to ride with the Metropolitan Police mobile crime units, as well as work with the homicide division. I found that I had an almost photographic memory for crime scene details. I was fascinated by what I experienced and pursued this as my career.

Paladin: Why did you write Death Investigator's Handbook?
LE: I initially started Death Investigator's Handbook as a guideline checklist for my forensic investigators to use at death scenes. It was intended as a small book containing all of the basic details required for each type of death scene the investigators might encounter, and I wanted investigators to carry it to crime scenes for on-site reference. A couple of homicide detectives saw the work in progress and requested copies. Around that time, while preparing for a two-week death investigation seminar for the local police academy, I put together a notebook for the attendees. It contained various articles and other information I had collected during my years of conducting death and homicide investigations. In attempting to organize the rather large notebook, I divided the subject material into three categories: crime scene investigation, investigative technique, and scientific technology. From this notebook, I was able to research and further organize the material into Death Investigator's Handbook.
When I first conceptualized Death Investigator's Handbook, my objective was a nontechnical manual explaining in simple terms the use of forensics and investigative applications in death investigations. The total emphasis throughout the original and revised editions is to explain things as simply as possible and to set up various investigations encountered in a simple checklist format.

Paladin: What are some of the agencies and institutions that use Death Investigator's Handbook?
LE: Just about every agency uses it. I have signed copies for the medical examiner of Malta and a chief of police in Costa Rica. I have seen advertisements for the book in Japan, Germany, France, Spain, and England. The FBI library in Quantico has several copies. The Institute of Police Technology and Management of Jacksonville, Florida, uses the text for the Basic Death and Homicide Investigation course. It is particularly nice for me to travel to a small police jurisdiction to talk to them about a suspect in one of our cases and find Death Investigator's Handbook in the bookcase of the lieutenant in charge of homicide. It will instantly open a door for me.

Paladin: Are most homicides solved?
LE: Current statistics indicate a national clearance rate for homicides averaging about 65 percent. Compared to the clearance rate of other crimes, that isn't too bad . . . unless your family member is one of the victims comprising the 35 percent unsolved rate.

Paladin: How are most of the successful cases solved?
LE: The key to solving any homicide is answering the question, "What happened?" Utilizing physical evidence and witness accounts helps to answer this question. The formula investigators use is as follows: What happened + Why (motive) = Who did it.

Paladin: What is most common means of committing a homicide in the United States?
LE: The reason I spend a considerable amount of time addressing firearm deaths in the Death Investigator's Handbook: Expanded and Updated Edition is because the vast majority of homicides and suicides involve the use of a firearm.

Paladin: What are most common motives for homicide?
LE: The most common motives are included in a group roughly characterized as altercation homicides. They include domestic homicides and other homicides committed by related or associated individuals who get into an argument that leads to a homicidal act.

Paladin: How has the field of death investigation changed over the past few decades? Since the first Death Investigator's Handbook was published?
LE: We have seen two remarkable changes that have revolutionized death investigation during the past few years: the technological advances that have allowed us to database fingerprints (IAFIS) and the development of DNA into a catalog-like retrieval system (Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS). These two changes have given investigators the extended flexibility to develop "blind hits" on unknown perpetrators and unidentified remains.
Not so long ago, if a latent print believed to have been deposited by the bad guy was discovered at the scene, the detective would have to supply the crime lab with a list of potential suspects to compare with that print. Even if investigators did develop a suspect, that did not necessarily mean that this potential suspect had his or her fingerprints on file. This was also true with recovered remains that were decomposing. For example, if we fished a dead body out of a river, and because of the body's decomposing state we were only able to develop one partial print from the body, we had to have some idea about the identity of the remains to compare prints. Then, we would have to locate fingerprints that had been recorded prior to the subject's death. With the ability to place recorded fingerprints into a retrievable database system, investigators now can enter the fingerprint found at a crime scene or recovered from the body into a database that can identify the suspect or the victim.
With the ability to store massive amounts of fingerprint records, crime scene technology has become even more effective in preserving and developing the perpetrator's prints from scenes. As a result, we have seen the development and increased use of evidence tools, such as alternate lights sources (ALS) or various chemicals to develop or enhance latent fingerprints. I was involved in a serial murder investigation a few years ago in which the killer's prints were developed on the victim's chest.
DNA continues to be an incredible investigative source of information that is constantly evolving. Through this evolution, the investigative abilities of investigators have been improved dramatically. As with fingerprints, the development of PCR-STR DNA has allowed law enforcement agencies to create and implement a retrievable database that compares known perpetrators with an unknown perpetrator forensic file. In those difficult-to-solve cases where the perpetrator was a stranger to the victim, we now have the ability to link and solve these cases through "blind hits."
As we learn more and more about DNA and its applications for solving crimes, its role in death investigations is expanding tremendously. For example. when DNA was first used in law enforcement investigations in1985, a large amount of serological material was necessary for forensic application, and many crime scenes just didn't yield enough DNA material to allow testing. Today you can do DNA testing even if you have a very tiny specimen. To give you an idea of how little is needed for testing, imagine an aspirin tablet as a source of DNA. If you hit that aspirin tablet with a hammer and take just one of the small fragments as a serological specimen, the DNA lab can not only compare that specimen with its donor, but it can do so with an accuracy probability in the trillions. That gives investigators a lot more flexibility. A case was recently solved when skin cells containing DNA were pulled from a cord the bad guy had left during the commission of his crime.

Paladin: So DNA has fundamentally changed homicide investigations? Has it made fingerprints obsolete for identifying suspects and victims?
LE: DNA has changed homicide investigations. Juries expect DNA evidence. Prosecutors want DNA evidence before they file cases. Death row and other inmates are demanding that their cases be reinvestigated using DNA technology. However, fingerprints will never become obsolete. In fact, fingerprint identification is still the only scientific evidence that is mutually exclusive (although some DNA probabilities and testimony in court have placed DNA, theoretically, in that category).

Paladin: Is there a place for old-fashioned investigative skills in homicide investigations, or have they been replaced by high-tech labs and technicians? In other words, is death investigation still as much of an art as a science?
LE: I remember when I first started working at the medical examiner's office years ago I responded to the scene of a murder involving a federal agent. The suspect had been quickly developed, but the suspect had fled the area and his whereabouts were unknown. As a rather intense investigation mounted to find this suspect, an old crusty homicide detective sat down in my office. None of the young federal agents had bothered to ask him his opinion of the case. Years of homicide experience were ignored in their egotistical quest to solve the case before anyone else could. I asked the old veteran what he thought. He told me if he had to find a place to disappear to, he would escape to a dairy farm in Colorado. I never asked him to explain. Two weeks later, the suspect was found working under an assumed name in a dairy farm in Colorado. To this day, I don't know how the detective knew this information. It taught me something, though. You are never too young or too old to receive sage advice. Standing over bodies, you learn things. After five years, you have seen a lot, but not as much as you will have seen after 10, 15, or 20 years. Veteran detectives are used whenever possible on cold case investigations.

Paladin: How have the types of murders you deal with changed over the years?
LE: The nature of murders has been changing since the 1960s, with an increase in stranger-to-stranger murders and a decrease in altercation-type murders. That is significant because most homicide detectives are taught to investigate the latter, not the former. Homicide detectives learn to investigate from a victim's perspective. That is, if you can find out who was angry with the victim or who would benefit from the victim's death, you have identified your suspect. This theory works well in about two-thirds of homicide cases where the perpetrator and victim had some type of relationship. On those cases where Grandma is robbed and killed in a shopping center parking lot, however, the detective's ability to solve the murder is severely challenged because it does not fit into the regimen of the detective's usual training. Opportunity should be the focus of this type of investigation, not motive. We have seen an alarming increase in these types of crimes involving robbery/murders, rape/murders, child abduction/murders, gang-related murders, drug murders, etc.

Paladin: What do you find most rewarding about your job?
LE: A squad of dedicated detectives I once worked with was told not to waste time working on a case because all the evidence had been lost. The squad continued to work on the case, made an arrest, and the person is now serving the rest of his life behind bars for killing two people. I met one of the victim's mothers in the courtroom during sentencing. I sat with her and reviewed the photo album of her daughter's life. It gave me great pleasure to introduce her to this squad of detectives who wouldn't take "no" for an answer and remained undaunted in their quest to seek justice.

Paladin: Did you find it difficult to keep your emotions in check when you first began working as a death investigator? How did you learn to deal with that, and what advice do you give to those just starting out in the field?
LE: You will quickly find out if you are meant to work in death investigations. There is no hiding from unpleasant tasks in this job: they will find you. I tell investigators that they have to monitor themselves. No one else will be a better gauge for how they cope with the horrible sights, sounds, and smells they will witness. To be successful at death investigation you have to find a balance. If you think about what you have seen all the time, if it affects you constantly, you need to get out and do something else. On the flip side, if you don't think about it, if you are so cold and callous that the scenes don't have any effect on you, then that too is a sign that it is time to find another line of work.

Paladin: Is it easy to become cynical in this line of work, or does it depend on the personality of the investigator? What can one do to avoid becoming cynical?
LE: It is very easy for someone to become cynical doing this job. You will actually see and be part of the worst our society has to offer. You will be associated with incidents no one else wants to be a part of. I remember rolling up to a scene one time where people, including the police officers, were standing a block away from the crime scene tape. I did not know what was going on until I got out of my vehicle and got a whiff of the air. Some woman had killed her husband and placed him in a small room under the staircase of her home two weeks before his body was found. He was lying in 2 inches of purging body fluids. I remember the patrol officer grinning at me as I got out of my vehicle and saying, "Lou, I don't know how much they pay you, but it isn't enough today." It was a comment I would hear over and over.
I've been in rooms where someone had placed a shotgun to his head and fired, and you spend the majority of your time trying to avoid the brain matter dripping from the ceiling. I've been to scenes where I have picked up the scattered pieces of remains along a train track. I have dug out the body of an 18-month-old child, covered in bruises and burn marks from cigarettes, who was battered until her skull was fractured and she died. I remember the case where the father told us he held his infant son in front of him by his rib cage and squeezed him until he could feel his son's ribs crushing under his fingers. The child's death had been ruled a natural death. When we exhumed his body, we found 54 rib fractures and a broken arm. I have spoken to defendants who have killed people over $1 or because they looked at them the "wrong way."
As an investigator, your job is to collect information, to keep that focus. Your job is not to judge. You must always act in a professional manner. You have to get lost in the challenge of doing your job well.

Paladin: Why would anyone want to do this job?
LE: If you don't like this type of work, it's a terrible job. The hours, the pay, the conditions of collecting bodies with maggots in them-they're all terrible. But investigators serve a valuable purpose, not only figuring out what happened, but helping families through the worst times of their lives. That makes it all worthwhile.

Paladin: What have been some of the most challenging cases of your career?
LE: Just about any case I pick up any more is one that is considered the most challenging. Unfortunately, unless you work as a hot homicide detective, you may get a "slam-dunk" case every now and then. Working cold cases is a little bit different. If they were easy, they would have been solved the first time around.

Paladin: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as a death investigator?
LE: The hundreds, if not thousands, of death investigators I have either taught or influenced in some way through the publication of Death Investigator's Handbook or through my lecturing endeavors. I hope we have solved some cases that otherwise wouldn't have been.

Paladin: Tell us about your work at the Pentagon following 9/11. How did it impact you?
LE: My lasting impression from the Pentagon scene is not the destruction I saw or the sudden realization of how vulnerable our nation is when I first arrived at the smoldering military icon. It is not how totally exhausting 12-hour work shifts became or how much I detested putting on biohazard gear or waiting in the heat of the afternoon sun to rip it off while standing in the decontamination line. I certainly remember the fear of running at full sprint to a nearby underpass, away from the Pentagon, when the shrill sound of an alarm warned that an unidentified plane was approaching our location. And I remember the bodies. But what I remember most is how this nation came together. I remember the heart-felt thanks from strangers who had left their own homes and families in far-away states to sleep on the floor of a near-by church and use their waking hours to prepare meals for us. I remember walking past army soldiers deep within the Pentagon who stood shoulder to shoulder and removed rubble, piece by piece, assembly-line style. When their shift was over, they slept on sleeping bags laid out on the adjacent street. I remember all the calls and e-mails I received from people checking on me and volunteering their services. I remember all the volunteers who did come to the site. They made sure we were fed and had dry clothes. They gave us sunglasses when the sun was shining and rain gear when the weather turned stormy. We were never hungry or thirsty. I was so very proud and privileged to witness firsthand what makes this country so great-its people!

Paladin: Since 9/11 and the anthrax scare, bioterrorism is a concern for many Americans. Is this fear justified? Are emergency responders adequately trained and equipped to handle a bioterrorism scare?
LE: The threat of terrorism is very real. Emergency personnel are not adequately trained yet, but the Homeland Security Department is making significant progress in this arena. Many agencies are working very diligently to reduce this threat to our nation, but it is a war that must be fought both abroad and, unfortunately, on our shores. It will not be easy.

Paladin: The field of forensic investigations is very hot right now. CSI is the most popular show on TV; mystery writer Patricia Cornwell, whose protagonist is a medical examiner, is one of the most successful authors in America; and Court TV, where sensational murder cases are broadcast live to millions of viewers, seems like it is here to stay. Why are people so fascinated by murder investigations? Does it seem like everyone has become an instant expert in your field?
LE: Certainly, the few good things that come from these types of programs, I believe, are that they demand more professionalism on the part of law enforcement and set the bar for a certain level of sophistication in investigations. Incompetent investigations need to be identified and corrected. If the media is the conduit for this metamorphosis, so be it. I was recently lecturing at a conference attended by a fairly large group of police investigators. I asked the audience to indicate, with a show of hands, how many have heard of CODIS. I was amazed that the vast majority of these police investigators had not heard of this forensic application of DNA. How are these people doing their jobs? At this point, I don't care how these investigators become educated: they need this information quickly.
There is a drawback, however, with the popularity of these shows. The general public is now somewhat "educated" about forensics, and they have become more demanding of the police in applying forensic techniques in solving cases. This has to be considered in jury trials. I remember a jury setting a rapist free because police did not take tire casts from a dirt road adjacent to a house in which the victim was living at the time she was raped. The jury felt a better identification of the suspect's vehicle could have been made if tire casts had been made from the dirt road. The prosecutor did not explain that literally hundreds of cars used this roadway and there was no way to distinguish which tire treads may have been attributed to the suspect's vehicle.

Paladin: So does the media have a role to play in death investigations?
LE: Investigators have to realize that handling the media, sometimes, is just as much a part of their investigations as processing the evidence. Regardless of whether investigators cooperate or not, the media is going to cover the story. Identifying those areas in which the media may be helpful in solving your case is the challenge to the investigator. The media does solve cases. Look at the successful cooperation of law enforcement and the media with "America's Most Wanted" hosted by John Walsh.

Paladin: Does CSI accurately reflect real-life homicide investigations?
LE: I'm afraid to admit this, but I haven't actually ever watched the show. I hear it's a wonderful show though.

Paladin: Do you watch any police shows, or do you avoid all of them?
LE: I stay fairly busy and do not have much time for television. I do enjoy police-type movies.

Paladin: The producers of CSI have a new show in production about cold cases. Is this the new "hot" field in law enforcement?
LE: I hope so. I would hope the public demands that we take a fresh look at some of these old cases, especially in lieu of the technological advances of forensic sciences. Please understand, there are unsolved murders out there where the murderer's fingerprints or other pieces of DNA evidence that have never been processed or submitted. Some of these cases would be very easy to solve with just a minimal amount of work.

Paladin: You are very active in cold case investigations. How did you get interested in these? What percentage of cold cases actually gets solved? Do most police departments have officers who specialize in cold cases?
LE: I am interested in cold cases because of all the bodies I have put into body bags through the years. They are all mysteries seeking resolution . . . and justice. I have a case in which a beautiful young woman was brutally beaten as she slept. Every few years or so I get a call from her mother, who doesn't say a word to me but I know who it is. She can't speak to me because she is sobbing uncontrollably. I don't try to make her stop to talk. I just give her the update on her daughter's case. She hasn't forgotten her daughter. The years haven't dulled her pain. I am blessed in that I work for an agency that pays me to pursue these types of cases. Most agencies do not have cold case squads or do not dedicate detectives specifically to work cold cases because they are financially challenged in just keeping with their "hot" homicide case load.

Paladin: There used to be a saying that if homicides didn't get solved in the first 72 hours, they probably wouldn't get solved. With the technical advancements and renewed interest in cold cases, is this still accurate?
LE: Cold cases takes an entirely different approach than the "hot homicide" philosophy. Where time is the hot homicide's enemy, time is the cold case's friend. Certainly technical advancements are a consideration, but cold case investigators also look at the effect time has had on relationships. Witnesses may now come forward who wouldn't initially. People get divorced, get religion, get off drugs, or get older, and that often makes them more amenable to discussing an old murder case more honestly.
It is also more important to take a team approach on cold cases. Successful cold case investigation utilizes the input from all segments of the investigative process. When we present these cases for investigative consideration, we try to have medical examiners, prosecutors, crime scene technicians, lab specialists, profilers, psychologists, and seasoned investigators present.

Paladin: There have been a lot of child abductions and murders in the news lately. Is this more common now, or is it just more widely publicized?
LE: They are probably more widely publicized, and the reason why is that the public is crucial in solving these types of crimes. Certainly when an abduction occurs, we now recognize how important it is to get the message out to the public. Police know that statistics indicate that the child will likely be killed within 3 hours of the abduction. How long the police take to respond to these types of crimes is critical to the well-being of the child. Police know if they arrive on scene and have to figure out what to do, it may already be too late. Such agencies as the National Center for Missing Center for Exploited and Missing Children in Alexandria, Virginia, are a wonderful resource for these types of cases. Through their efforts, the police, the media, and the general public have been educated about child abductions, and through this education process, a greater awareness of these cases has evolved. The National Center has also instituted a program employing cold case protocol in looking at some of these older cases involving missing children. They will bring to Washington, D.C. the detectives responsible for the investigation of a child abduction or other types of missing children (homicide, unidentified, etc). The case will be presented to a group of experts and investigative plan will be created to try and find the child.

Paladin: Are most child murders done by strangers or someone closely associated with the child?
LE: Statistics tell us a majority of these cases do not involve strangers. Identifying those cases quickly is critical to their resolution.

Paladin: You have worked for both police and military criminal investigative agencies? Are there differences in the way they approach death investigations?
LE: Perhaps the greatest difference in the military is its approach to suicides. Suicides are worked as diligently and as exhaustively as a homicide. In some police departments, a suicide can be closed on the same day of occurrence. There is one major metropolitan area that does not send a homicide detective to the scene. A suspected suicide is worked by the patrol division. Also, complaints of investigative incompetence in the military go before Congress. A Congressional inquiry committee is not a very comfortable place to present a less than competent and thorough investigation. As a result, death investigations in the military are sometimes overworked. A natural death can be open for a year. A suicide can be open for three years.

Paladin: In what kind of cases is profiling most helpful?
LE: Those cases where a psychosexual homicide is evident.

Paladin: What assistance does the FBI offer to local and state agencies?
LE: The FBI does an excellent job of contributing resources, manpower, and technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies. We very much encourage forming cold case coalitions in local areas between small and large areas where resources can be shared, along with expertise. The coalition does not have to be only specific to cold case investigation. Hot homicide and questionable suicide cases may also be better served with a team approach. Pooled resources may also be more efficient for equipment and training.

Paladin: Is the Internet a useful tool for death investigators?
LE: There is an incredible amount of information available online to the death investigator. I have some personal favorites that I use on a daily basis. In the revised Death Investigator's Handbook I dedicate a whole chapter to online sources.

Paladin: What is the most pressing area in death investigation today?
LE: Getting information about cases and criminals entered into databases. Investigators have the greatest chance of solving difficult murders and rapes by using CODIS, the computerized national database run by the FBI. The more cases and convicted offenders there are in the system, the better the chances of resolving cases. Currently there is a backlog of cases to be entered because of funding problems. There must be a dedicated effort to enter these cases. These cases comprise the predators of our society. Any delay in the identification of these predators means additional rapes and murders.
Another pressing area is child deaths. In most cases, police departments are ill-prepared to work these incredibly difficult cases. Realistically, we are missing some child homicides. I have included the very latest recommendations on child deaths in the expanded Death Investigator's Handbook.

Paladin: Being a homicide investigator must be stressful. What do you do to relax?
LE: Read on the beach, ride a bike, attend sporting events, go to movies.

Paladin: Do you have any more writing projects under way?
LE: I am currently working on a cold case book that will be in a different format than Death Investigator's Handbook.

PRAISE FOR
DEATH INVESTIGATOR’S HANDBOOK

“This book is much more than a ‘how-to’ reference book for the novice investigator. It is a valuable reference book for the experienced investigator, both police and medical.”

—American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology

“I am now using my second Death Investigator’s Handbook. The first I kept in my car and used it as an investigative guide and reference source. It literally got used up, and I got a second book, which I now keep on my desk.”

—Special Agent/Profiler Larry Ruby
FDLE, Jacksonville, Fla.

“Lou Eliopulos exemplifies the epitome of the investigator. If Lou signs his name to it, you best go with it because he’s a genius at what he does.”

—Philip J. Levine, D.D.S., M.S.
Chief Forensic Odontologist
District One, State of Florida

“A must-read for both new and experienced investigators. Lou Eliopulos captures the heart of a forensic reading of a crime scene.”

—Gerry Nance
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

“Death Investigator’s Handbook is an indispensable tool for training new death investigators and an invaluable reference for experienced investigators. It is the only book available that categorizes major types of death and then utilizes a concise checklist format to detail the relevant questions that should be asked during a death investigation. It is issued to each investigator as part of their formal training program.”

—Dr. Jason H. Byrd
American Board of Forensic Entomology

“In [Australia] Lou Eliopulos is a legend. His knowledge and advice extends beyond national jurisdictions and is as applicable in Australia as it is in the United States and other parts of the world. For years, Lou’s Death Investigator’s Handbook has been a part of my homicide on-call kit and regularly used as a guide when the need arises. . . . Much of Lou’s recent chapter on cold case homicide is cited in my proposal for the establishment of an Unsolved Homicide Squad in New South Wales.”

—Bret Coman
Detective Sergeant, Homicide Squad
NSW Police, Australia

“An outstanding, clear, and thorough book on death investigations. Lou is the best!”

—T.L. Williams, Commander
20th Military Police Det. (CID)
Camp Casey, Korea

“An excellent resource with detailed references that cover the topics every investigator should know. The text weaves together the many components of any death investigation and shows that while they work independently, they must also coalesce for the correct resolution to be made. Its manual-style approach is useful for the reader to follow and allows for more experienced death investigators to skip the appropriate stage of the investigation to get to the resources necessary. For the beginner, the step-by-step method lets the information and detail unfold in the manner of an actual investigation. By following the material in this fashion the reader is unlikely to miss any of the information presented and is brought from the scene to resolution. This style enables this text to be used as a laboratory manual and is easily adapted for any classroom setting.”

—Dr. Anthony Falsett
Director
C.A. Pound Human ID Lab

“Unlike numerous other books I’ve read on the subject [of death investigations], this one doesn’t simply provide information; rather, it is designed to be used to assist you in the field, while you are actually going through the process of sorting our the enormous amounts of information that every scene presents. . . . I can unabashedly recommend this book to anyone working homicide, be they novice or crusty veteran.”

—NJ Cops
New Jersey’s Law Enforcement Journal