A crucial part in acquiring more evidence and solving a case is following up on leads. From the evidence collected from the scene, we can build a forensic strategy to see if there is any leads from the evidence such as anything the criminal may have left behind which could show a location of where he hangs out. House to house enquirers are a good lead to follow up on as any neighbors may have seen something or someone suspicious or know of any recent strange happenings. Gathering intelligence on the victim can also help, by talking to their friends or relatives, finding things out about them and what they would do in their day to day life which could hold a key to any weird activity or anyone that they may have been seeing, or things they might have said.
Searching local CCTV surveillance can help in case anything was caught on camera, if so we may be able to capture an image of the criminal to release into the public for information. Pathology results showing how someone died, or what happened, for instance if results came back and a murder victim had inhaled a specific type of flower pollen if they were murdered outside, it could be linked to specific locations to search.
Looking into the victim again at their financial situation, maybe they had debts that would give someone motive against them, interviewing someone that you think may be a suspect.
A strategy that could be used here is trace, interview and eliminate, tracing a suspect, interviewing them and then eliminating them from the suspect list if they are no longer suspected after the interview. Also following leads to what the witness or victim have said (if possible)
In my case, the police received witness's saying that they saw a man with obvious mental difficulties, and a scar on his face hanging around the Jenkin's family home around the time of the accident. When investigated they found this man was at the shopping centre at the same time as Lois and was described as weird by shop workers whom he'd spoken to and was later seen walking toward alexandra park opposite the Jenkin's, Many people came forward about this man, an unsolved assault case were a 12 year old girl had been the victim to by a man with a scarred face also appeared, linking these two crimes together. The man was identified and arrested.. Later to be released he did not fit the profile of a violent killer, and was sent to a mental ward.
The jenkin's family themselves provided the police with information of a prowler stalking Billie Jo, this was the next lead that followed.
This stage is an important stage as it can, in most cases, benefit the case majorly. This stage of following up leads can lead to further more crucial information. It can potentially provide more background information to help piece together a case. For example, in a murder where the motive is unclear, following up leads that show the person had a gambling addiction, could lead to further information of the person having debts with certain people who may of taken law into their own hands. This can then lead to a successful outcome in court by providing all this evidence to the CPS to build a case against the defendant(s).
In my case, the investigation of leads from the public, resulted in the arrest of an innocent man which could have been a major error as this man could have taken the blame for the case and the real murderer would be allowed free which can have detrimental aftermath, like re offending. However, this man was released after an alibi came forward for him. If they had not have followed this lead up further to provide an alibi, then the case would have been closed and the crucial evidence used to convict Sion Jenkin's would not of been found.
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