Coroner Talk™ | Death Investigation Training | Police and Law Enforcement

In this episode, I talk about the new MDI course as well as rant about some bad reviews. However, the meat of the show is about interviewing witnesses and how to get the information you want.  To learn more about the new MDI course go to ditacademy.org/mldi Please consider leaving a rating and review for the show.     

Is your  loved one missing?   Turn to Missouri Missing to help you navigate this path.  Each path is different in the unknown but they have walked in your shoes.  They can help you navigate the system.  They can create a flyer for you and reach out to the media to bring awareness to your case.  They are here to answer your questions. Theyare here to walk beside you from the missing phase until you...

The International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners (IACME) has over 85 years of experience in the presentation of educational seminars for the purpose of assisting Coroners and Medical Examiners and other forensic specialists in the performance of their duties. This commitment is enshrined in the Association's mission statement, "Dedicated to the promotion of excellence in medicolegal d...

Genetic or forensic genealogy combines direct-to-consumer DNA tests — like those purchased through 23andMe or Ancestry.com — with the age-old hobby of tracing a family tree with public records, such as birth certificates and land deeds. The technique relies on the simple principle that, if you go back far enough in history, everyone is related, and therefore has thousands of relatives. Assuming th...

In this episode, I talk with Adam Kinakin of the ILET Network. Adam and I discuss the current state of law enforcement and public service professionals training, and what the future of training looks like. We go in-depth as to what we should all be expected when it comes to training going forward in the post CoVid world. ILET Mission Our goal is to create a collaborative network of instructors, tr...

Many of us have one--a place where we store mementos that remind us of an earlier period in our lives--either happy or sad. Those ties to our past are commonly found in a similar place, hidden in a shoebox buried at the back of a closet shelf. It's called  The Shoebox Effect --where you "forget", intentionally or unintentionally, about the contents of the box and what they represent. Marcie Keithl...

In this episode, I discuss my current top five books I recommend every investigator should own or have access to. That list can be found below. I also talk at length about whether C/ME investigators should carry firearms. I make the case for why they should and address some known objections to the contrary. Top Five Recommended Books to Own Top five books click here

In this growing attack on law enforcement by the far left and the mass media is it any wonder that police officers are suffering more mental health issues than ever before.  Since the Michael Brown incident of 2014 in Ferguson Missouri, and the systematic destruction and division of the public trust toward police by then-President Obama and his staff, there has been a steady and growing attack on...

The role of the medicolegal death investigator is to investigate any death that falls under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner or coroner, including all suspicious, violent, unexplained and unexpected deaths. A death investigation is a process whereby a coroner or forensic pathologist seeks to understand how and why a person died. A coroner or forensic pathologist must answer five questions...

Nearly 40,000 people are killed in car crashes each year. In each of these crashes, there is evidence on the body in the form of injuries.  It is important for investigators to understand vehicle crash dynamics and how impact and movement cause injury to a human body. Knowledge of the dynamics of these injuries and how they are inflicted will help the investigator come to some conclusions as to in...

On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside of a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. The sole suspect, James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema minutes la...

We have all heard about the science of Botany, but have you ever considered just how important it can be in solving your case? For instance;  how plant cells from stomach contents can discredit an alibi, or how one seed in the shoelace of a suspect can bring an unknown serial murderer to justice, or just exactly what plant DNA can tell us about our victims last location. Using plants in criminal i...

Filicide  is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word  filicide  derives from the Latin words filius meaning "son" or  filia  meaning daughter, and the suffix  -cide  meaning to kill, murder, or cause death. "Filicide" may refer both to the parent who killed his or her child, as well as to the criminal act that the parent committed. Episode In this episode, I share a conver...

Hoarding is a psychological condition that results in a person accumulating an enormous amount of trash and things of little-to-no value, or worse, more animals than can be properly cared for. Hoarding of any kind can pose several dangers to the occupant and neighbors, and certainly to animals if they are involved. These hazards can be deadly, and all the more reason people with hoarding disorder...

Evidence collection in and around a death scene is conducted in much the same manner as any crime scene. We are going to look at some scene search methods, evidence collection techniques, and scene interpretation.  There is a difference in personal property and evidence. Let's look at the definitions of each. Personal Property Is property on or near the body that belongs to the body (or decedent)...

Crime scene investigation is an indispensable part of our work, which will have a direct impact on the success of the criminal investigation.  With technological progress and changes in social situations, scene investigation work is facing unprecedented challenges. The standardization of the crime scene investigation should be the goal of all police agencies. Therefore, promoting the standardizati...

Females in the United States accounts for 12% - 15% of ALL murders. Interestingly, women account for roughly the same percentage of serial murders. Most kill for gain - wives, Boarding-Home owners, etc, Caretaker killers - nurses and childcare workers. Family Annihilators - protecting their children Lust murder - extremely rare, usually at the  urging  of a man      Female serial murderers general...

It is important for death investigators to have a working knowledge of all death scenarios. You should have a basic understanding of the characteristics and/or non-characteristic of what makes a serial killer, as opposed to a mass or spree kill. In this way, you can identify the need for more expert involvement or discern if you may have a death committed by a serial killer in your area or one tha...

Subsequent to the original murder case  Cain vs. Abel , there has always been a small percentage of murders that were unsolved for a variety of case-specific reasons. There have also always been detectives who'd occasionally look back at "the one that got away," but the idea of dedicating a group of professionals to work solely on clearing these cases didn't originate until the 1980's. The Beginni...

Due to the very nature of sudden and/or violent deaths, many things can and do go wrong in the first few hours after discovery.  Death scenes have a way of bringing together many individuals with various responsibilities and experiences.  This unique group can consist of uniformed officers, detectives, crime scene investigators, forensic experts, coroner investigators, medical examiner investigato...

Suicides account for over 40,000 deaths in the United States annually, ranked the 10 th leading cause of deaths in America. This number has been on a steady increase since the turn of the 21 st century. By far the most significant manner of death a patrol or investigating officer will be involved in The definition of suicide is; the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and inten...

The scene of an autoerotic death can hold a wide variety of problems and issues for the investigator. Filled with deceiving information and abnormal behavior, these scenes offer challenges to even the most seasoned investigator. However, it is vital that you get these scenes worked correctly. First and foremost, it is your job to get the correct answers for the family, the victim, and any insuranc...

The assisted suicide movement is, if anything, indefatigable. Not only is it undeterred by its failures, but it is now more energized than any other time in recent years. By the end of March of 2015, bills were introduced in twenty-five state legislatures to legalize assisted suicide. Defining the Subject Many people remain confused about the exact nature of assisted suicide advocacy, sometimes co...