Forensic Science Activity: Deductive Reasoning Introduction: Once a crime has been committed, police investigators collect and evaluate all evidence from the scene of the crime. All the information they gather is compiled and placed in a criminal case file. As new evidence becomes available, it is added to the file. Police investigators rarely learn about events in the same sequence in which they took place during the crime. Usually leads are acquired in random order. Once a large portion of information has been collected, investigators sit down and put the pieces of the puzzle together. They use a process known as deductive reasoning. In deductive reasoning, investigators utilize logical and critical thinking skills to reach a conclusion. Objective: You and your partner will use deductive reasoning to interpret the evidence and determine who committed the crime. Procedure: 1. Read the background information and the special notes that police gathered while investigating the crime. 2. Complete the data table to help organize your data, and then follow the instructions in the prompt. Background Information: On Saturday August 6th, 2016 at 6:05 am the body of a 28 year old white male was discovered in the woods off the bike path in Slater Park. The victim was found face down with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. The bullet exited the front of the head and was later found embedded in a tree trunk. According to the autopsy, the trajectory of the wound and the presence of stippling around the entrance wound indicated that the victim was shot close range and was sitting or kneeling when he was shot. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death as a homicide. The medical examiner estimated that death occurred at approximately 9:00 pm on the previous night. As investigators scanned the crime scene, they made the following notes: ▪ Paper plates with partially eaten fried chicken, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes were located on a red picnic blanket near the victim’s body. ▪ An open bottle of wine was found in the picnic basket and a partially filled glass of wine was located near one of the paper plates. ▪ In the surrounding woods, investigators later observed an empty glass of what looked like wine and the glass had a smudge of red lipstick on the rim. ▪ A shell casing from a .45 handgun. ▪ A recently smoked cigarette butt was found near the blanket. ▪ A chewed piece of gum was found behind a tree near the blanket. ▪ Shoe impressions from the road to the field were those of a Men’s size 9 and a size 7 women's sandal. An impression of the shoeprints later identified the size 9 sandal to be that of men’s Adidas sandal, and the size 7 as a Teva women's sandal. ▪ The only shoe impressions in the direction from the field back to the road were the size 7 Teva sandals. ▪ Tire impressions were found on the road near the field. The car was not found at the scene. Upon Investigation ▪ The victim was identified as Gary Google, a science teacher at Tolman High School. ▪ Gary drove a 2015 Red Ford Mustang Convertible. ▪ Tire impressions found at the scene matched the tire tread patterns of tires used by the manufacturer of the car. ▪ After questioning family and friends, it was discovered that the deceased had been dating six different women; Lisa, Vanessa, Janice, Stephanie, Allison, and Brianna. Special Notes gathered through police investigation: ▪ Stephanie works as a hairdresser at a local hair salon where Gary gets his hair cut. ▪ Allison and Brianna are both high school math teachers, Allison teaches at Tolman and Brianna teaches at Shea. ▪ Allison & Brianna are roommates, living together in a two bedroom apartment in Pawtucket near Slater Park. ▪ Vanessa teaches English at Shea. ▪ Lisa lives in a condominium in Lincoln that she bought over the summer, business at the bank must be good. Prior to that she lived in the same building as both Vanessa and Gary. ▪ Janice is a physical education teacher at Jenks junior high school, where Gary worked for 5 years before transferring to Tolman. ▪ Janice lives in Pawtucket with a roommate. She lives 3 streets away from Allison and Brianna. ▪ Vanessa, Allison and Brianna recently quit smoking and chew a lot of gum. ▪ Stephanie works part time as an aerobics instructor at Planet Fitness. She teaches a 7:00 pm step aerobics class each Friday night and has not missed a class in two years, but was absent on Friday August 5th, 2016. ▪ Brianna is deathly allergic to grapes. ▪ Brianna hates fried chicken and has become a vegetarian after watching a documentary detailing the treatment of chickens by KFC! ▪ Allison attends the aerobics class that Stephanie teaches. She has not missed a Friday night class in nine months, but no one can recall seeing her on Friday. ▪ Lisa works at a local bank as the branch manager. It happens to be the bank that Gary deposits his very large paychecks every two weeks. ▪ Allison’s father owns a gun club. ▪ Stephanie is allergic to all species of flowering plants and has severe asthma. ▪ Brianna works part time on the weekends at a florist shop where Gary buys flowers for his recently deceased mother’s grave. ▪ Lisa and Stephanie have never met. ▪ Lisa & Vanessa are allergic to poison ivy. ▪ Janice played center for the women’s basketball team while in college. Now she coaches the team at Jenks with Gary. ▪ Both Allison and Janice have anger management issues and are attending a court ordered class. Lisa was convicted of road rage when she ran an old woman off the road on the way home from a very stressful day of shopping in Wrentham for school clothes. Janice was accused of assault while breaking up a fight at school. The administration is making her attend the class. She is appealing and has vowed to never break up a fight again. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Vanessa lives in a studio apartment on the East Side of Providence in the same building occupied by Gary. Lisa belongs to a bike riding club and rides 30 - 50 miles every weekend. Brianna is a member of a gun club and owns a .22 & a .45 caliber Pistol. She shoots at the club every Saturday. Janice is a long distance runner. Allison and Brianna have become the best of friends. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Stephanie lives in Cumberland with her parents because she can’t afford a place of her own and doesn’t want a roommate. Most of the girls wear a size 7 shoe, except Janice who wears a size 8½ and Lisa who wears a size 6. Vanessa sells Avon for some extra cash. Janice and Vanessa recently joined the same gun club as Brianna to relieve some stress and anxiety. Allison grew up target shooting at her father’s gun club. Forensics Name _______________________________________ Key terms: ● Motive: ● Means: ● Opportunity: ● Trajectory: ● Stippling: ● Deductive Reasoning: Prompt: Write at least a two paragraph account that describes what you believe happened on the night of the murder. Explain how the couple got to the murder site, why they went there, what happened while they were there, and how the murderer escaped. Identify the motive, means, and opportunity.
