Caitlin Owen
Current Event
25 November 2012
FBI top 10 arrested in Mexico
One of the people on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted list was apprehended late Thursday,
Nov 23, in Mexico. Jose Luis Saenz was wanted on murder, rape, and kidnapping charges. Saenz was a member of the most wanted list since October 2009. A reward in the amount of $100,000 was being offered to anyone with information that would lead to the successful arrest of the fugitive. Saenz allegedly committed four murders, including two people of a rival gang and his girlfriend in 1998, and another person in 2008. The accused charges also included the rape and kidnapping of his girlfriend, who is also his child’s mother (CNN Wire Staff, 2012).
Processing these cases would be a special case for the crime scene teams and for the police, because it would have an end result of connecting them all together under one perpetrator. Starting with the first two murders, the team would need to identify the type of weapon used in the case, which was not released in the story. If a gun was used, the ballistics would need to be collected, either from the bodies or the surrounding area, depending on the type of wound; the ballistics test would be run to link the bullets to a gun that may have been used in a previous crime, possibly linking it back to another gang, or even a particular gang member. If a knife or some other type of puncturing weapon was used, a cast of the wound would be taken so that it could be analyzed and compared to other tools to make an identification. The crime scene would need to be dusted for fingerprints and looked over for footprints to lift or cast. Any prints that are found would be sent out for analysis to be compared to other prints in the system to try and find the killer. For the murder that happened the decade later, the same protocol would be followed as the original two. For the rape, kidnapping, and murder of Saenz’s girlfriend would

follow a similar pattern as well, in regards to the murder. For the kidnapping, the area would need to be searched for anyone that may have witnessed the event, giving any leads to who took her and where they may have gone. To deduce that a rape had occurred, a rape kit would need to be done by the medical examiner during the autopsy. Any DNA evidence that may be found during the exam would be sent out for testing and identification by running it though the database to possibly get a hit on who committed the crime. During the course of these investigations, the evidence would need to all link back to Saenz, leading to his name being put on the FBI’s top 10 most wanted fugitives and finally his arrest
(Young and Ortmeier) .
References
CNN Wire Staff. (2012, November 23). Fbi top 10 fugitive arrested in mexico. CNN.com
.
Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/23/justice/mexico-fugitivecaptured/index.html?hpt=ju_c1 .
Young, T., and P. J. Ortmeier. Crime scene investigation. New York, NY: Prentice Hall, 2011.
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