Methodology for the investigation of murders. Article 105: Murder

Article 105 of the Criminal Code provides for criminal liability for committing especially dangerous crimes for society. Their disclosure requires the high professionalism of the ATS officers and operational investigators who assist them. The method of investigating murders - criminology - includes various activities to identify the perpetrators of the crime, to make a picture of what happened. The most important element of the characterization of acts is information on the methods of their fulfillment. Let's consider the details of the investigation of the murders.

Types of crime

Article 105 of the Criminal Code defines the categories of acts, according to which one or another measure of restraint is established. Among the crimes committed committed:

• On domestic soil.
• For mercenary purposes.
• Out of revenge.
• For the purpose of concealing another crime.
• From hooligan motives and so on.

Classification by methods of committing

The methodology for investigating murders is aimed at establishing how exactly the actions resulted in the death of the victim. Crimes related to the deliberate causing of death through the destruction of vital systems and organs are usually committed by causing bodily harm. For this, a piercing-cutting, gunshot, blunt and piercing cold, chopping weapon, as well as various heavy objects can be used. The death of the victim can be caused by bringing him into a helpless condition or using an inability to resist, with subsequent harm to health and life. In particular, it is about strangulation, abandonment in dangerous conditions, drowning, poisoning (gas, poison and so on). Crimes are committed by dropping a person from a height, throwing it out of moving vehicles, etc. The method of investigating murders involves ways to identify the area of damage that caused death. In particular, injuries can be multiple or single, they can lead to death immediately or after a time. In addition, crimes can be accompanied by cutting off limbs, body parts, cutting organs. Each such method is associated with subjects - potential suspects - and appears as an element of a common characteristic.

Circumstances to be established and proved

The methodology for investigating murders should focus on identifying the following facts:

1. Was the deed committed that caused death. If so, what is its mechanism, what caused the death, at what time it came.
2. Under what circumstances, where, when and by what means was the crime committed, how were the tracks covered?
3. Who is guilty of murder. If the act is committed by a group, what is the degree of involvement of each criminal, as they are characterized.
4. Are there any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
5. Who is the victim, how he is characterized, what his relationship with the murderer is.
6. The guilt, purpose and motive of the crime.
7. What is the size and nature of the damage caused.
8. Circumstances that contributed to the commission of the deed.

Stages of the investigation of murders

There are initial and subsequent operational-search actions. As urgent actions are:

• Inspection of the place where the crime was committed, corpse (remains, bones).
• Forensic examination of the body and physical evidence.
• Interrogation of persons who found the corpse or its remains.

The methodology for investigating murders includes measures to collect, summarize, investigate material evidence, items that are important for identifying the perpetrators and drawing up a picture of what happened. It happens that the body is not recognized. In these cases, the Homicide Investigation Department takes steps to identify the identity of the deceased. Various persons are invited to be identified, and applications submitted to the police for the disappearance of citizens of the same age and sex are checked. If possible, fingerprints of the deceased are taken, appearance is described, signs (tattoos, scars, etc.) are revealed. On the basis of the received data, the information bases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are checked.

Forensic examination

Forensic investigation of murders involves carrying out different procedures. The forensic examination is one of the key elements of the operational-search work. In practice, there are cases when mysterious murders occur. In such situations, the expert opinion is very important. Using modern methods, experts examine all the materials that can be obtained at the crime scene. However, it also happens that mysterious murders remain undisclosed. In practice, such cases are infrequent. As a rule, employees identify the perpetrators in the course of operational search activities and bring them to justice. It is not without expertise and the investigation of contract killings. Within the scope of the search activities, a tracological, ballistic study is carried out. Specialists study weapons, explosives, documents and other items related to the crime.

Interrogations

In some cases, the initial actions of the investigators are not the examination of the scene of the incident, but rather the interview of persons who are somehow connected with the deceased. They can be co-workers, relatives, acquaintances and others. In addition, other citizens are questioned, who may know something about what happened. Employees ask witnesses questions about the way of life of the victim, physical and mental condition, occupation, and so on. Interrogations make it possible to outline the circle of persons who might be interested in death. This, in turn, determines the direction of further action.

Examination of the corpse

From him begins, as a rule, the investigation of the crime scene. Inspection of the corpse is primary if an investigation is being made into serial killings. Such cases are connected by common signs. For example, murders can be committed after rape or a criminal, killing a victim, cuts off a certain part of the body. The corpse is examined by a forensic expert. In his absence, the examination is performed by another competent doctor. The whole body and its natural openings, the clothes of the deceased are examined. During the examination of the fragments, the smallest microscopic traces are revealed, which subsequently allow us to determine not only the mechanism for the commission of the crime, but also to identify the killer, but also the scene of the incident if the body is found in another territory. During the examination, specialists pay attention to various, including negative factors, which may indicate a dramatization. In particular, this may be a discrepancy between the clothing of a corpse of the season, the absence of contamination inherent in such kills, an artificial change in the situation, and so on.

Interrogation of the suspect

At the next stage of the investigation, when a citizen being brought in as an accused appears, the number of witnesses increases, additional expert examinations are performed when new evidence and traces are found, and the testimony of the accused (suspect) is checked. During interrogations, operatives need to obtain information that they can then use to clarify and supplement the information available. The officers of the investigation department check the characteristics of the accused's personality, the facts referenced by the persons involved in the crime disclosure. One of the most important sources of information is the testimony of the suspect. The tactics of questioning this person are based on the materials already collected against him. If there are gaps in evidence, the task of operatives is reduced to the most thoughtful use of already available information in order to obtain the largest possible new volume.

An Important Moment

Interrogation of the accused has features. The tactics of the conversation are built depending on whether the person recognizes his guilt partially or completely or denies it. In the first two cases, investigators, detailing his testimony, reveal facts that only the criminal can know, and circumstances that can be verified and confirmed by available evidence. All this allows you to establish guilt, even if subsequently the accused refuses his words. In the case of an alibi, it must be carefully checked. When the evidence is changed to the accused, the next interrogation will be structured in the same way as when confessing guilt.

Psychiatric analysis

This type of forensic examination is considered one of the most significant. It is carried out at the next stage of the investigation, as, as a rule, the killers have certain deviations. The need for psychiatric expertise is usually determined by simulating a nervous illness, staying in a relevant clinic in the past, and also in the absence of motivation, common sense, and the presence of particular cruelty in the actions of the offender.

The Importance of Action

As the main investigative measures are inspection, interrogation of witnesses, accused and suspect, examination, face-to-face rates. Carefully prepared, timely examination of the place where the crime was committed or a corpse is found, several times increases the detection rate. These actions must be carried out at the initial stage of the investigation. They allow you to document the signs of a crime, collect all available materials and evidence, and often find the culprit in hot pursuit. All of these activities require promptness and attention from the investigators. This is important, in particular, in cases where the offender has taken certain measures to conceal the traces.

Fighting crime

Positive impact on the effectiveness of measures to prevent serious crimes can be a complex of administrative and organizational and legal measures. In particular, it should be:

• Adopt and implement normative acts regulating the issues of ensuring the safety of victims and witnesses.
• Eliminate in forensic practice cases of the initiation of only those cases that are guaranteed to be disclosed.
• To conduct in the authorized bodies a full accounting of all information that is of interest to operational services.
• Equip expert criminalistic units with the necessary materials and equipment, increase the level of knowledge of employees.

Finally

The article considers the general methodology for investigating serious crimes. Specific activities in this or that case, the experts choose independently, relying on experience and taking into account the need for a comprehensive study of the case. This, in turn, requires employees to have high professionalism, responsibility and deep knowledge of their work. Undisclosed murders will testify to the low quality of operational activities, insufficient level of training of employees, their low qualification. The key to the effectiveness of the investigation is the consistency in the actions of authorized employees. Of particular importance here is the degree of interaction between the tracing officers and the investigator, which consists in analyzing the initial data, developing versions, planning and implementing a complex of operational actions.