The Crime Scene

About the Author

Marilyn Miller

Marilyn Miller is a graduate of Florida Southern College  with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She earned a master’s degree in forensic chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and a Doctorate in Education from Johnson & Wales University in post-secondary educational leadership. Miller  is a tenured, associate professor in the Department of Forensic Science at  Virginia Commonwealth University. As a post-secondary educator for almost  twenty years, she teaches a wide variety of forensic science and crime scene  investigation classes to both forensic science and criminal justice majors at  the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is a Fellow in the Criminalistics  section of the American Academy of Forensic Science, the Southern Association  of Forensic Scientists and the American Chemical Society. Miller is a former  faculty member at the University of New Haven and the Henry Lee Institute of  Forensic Science/ National Crime Scene Training Center. She has presented and  taught as part of hundreds of forensic seminars across the United States and  foreign countries.  She is the author or  co-author for several textbooks or chapters concerning crime scene  investigation or reconstruction and forensic science. Before coming to VCU, she  worked as a supervisor and forensic scientist for law enforcement agencies in  North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida. She has testified over 400 times in  county, state and federal courts of law as an expert witness in the field of  forensic sciences and crime scene reconstruction. She has participated in  hundreds of crime scene investigations, both as an active investigator.  Currently, she also serves as a consultant  for both prosecutors and defense attorneys. Miller designed, opened and  operated crime scene units and forensic laboratories on the West Coast of  Florida for over ten years.

Peter Massey

Peter Massey embodies the true essence of what UNH strives for in an educator by combining a forensic science educational background with significant work and life experience in the practical application of his profession as a patrolman and detective.   Peter brings this training, skills and experience to his students allowing him the ability to enhance his lessons with first-hand knowledge and real-world application. Peter Massey began his career in 1983 as a police officer with the Hamden, Connecticut Department of Police Services.  Initially assigned to the Patrol Division, he  rose to the rank of Detective within the Detective and Identification Divisions  where he earned four Letters of Recognition, eight Certificates of Commendation  and two Unit Citations.  His work  included the investigation of various crime scenes from thefts and robberies,  assaults, suspicious deaths and homicides, as well as other major crime scenes.  After completing over twenty years of  service, Peter retired to become the Training Coordinator for the National  Crime Scene Training and Technology Center at the Henry C. Lee Institute of  Forensic Science.  During his tenure as  Training Coordinator, he was responsible for offering hundreds of advanced  training courses to the law enforcement community.  These courses included; Basic, Intermediate,  and Advanced Crime Scene; Shooting Reconstruction; Blood Patterns Analysis; and  Recovery of Human Remains.

A member of several professional organizations, he has been  a consultant for and appeared on the “On the Case with Paula Zahn” television  show.  He has traveled to the Bahamas,  Mexico, and extensively throughout the United States to various Police Departments  to train their patrolmen, detectives and investigators in the proper techniques  used as first responders and crime scene investigators.  Other specialty topics include shooting  reconstruction, blood spatter pattern analysis, trace evidence, and finger  printing. At UNH, Peter has taught several investigation courses in the  Criminal Justice Department and is currently a Lecturer for the Forensic  Science Department, teaching Crime Scene Investigation, Advanced Crime Scene  Investigation, and Introduction to Forensic Science. Peter received his MSc  degree from the University of New Haven in Forensic Science -Criminalistics and  is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice.  His dissertation will focus on crime scene  training. Peter has been qualified in court and is actively engaged in both  criminal and civil cases throughout the United States as an expert witness in  the area of crime scene reconstruction, crime scene investigation, and  fingerprint comparison.Peter is currently the project manager on a NIJ grant  entitled "The Impact of Forensic Evidence on Arrest and Prosecution."  He has also been a co-author on a chapter on handling of forensic botany  evidence in Forensic Ecology Handbook: From Crime Scene to Court.  Peter’s interests include examining the value of standardization of crime scene investigation training and methods and new technological advancements in crime scene investigation.

About the Book

A crime scene is a location where a crime took place (or another location where evidence of the crime may be found), and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by crime scene investigators (CSIs), forensic scientists or law enforcement personnel.

A crime scene is not necessarily where the crime was committed. Indeed, there are primary, secondary and often tertiary crime scenes. All locations wherein there is the potential for the recovery of evidence must be handled in the same manner. They must be protected from interference of any kind so as to preserve any trace evidence. The conditions at the crime scene must be carefully recorded in great detail, as well as conserved. Only when recording has taken place can items be removed for laboratory analysis.

The primary goal of this book is to provide visual instruction of the correct way in which to process a crime scene. By using photographs and other diagrams to show proper and sometimes improper procedures the reader will be able to identify the correct principles required in process the scene. An authored volume, The Crime Scene: A Visual Guide will present chapters on the following: the investigation, the various types of documentation, and putting the event together-scene reconstruction using scene evidence.

The authors have a combined experience of over 70 years in crime scene investigation, as primary responders and consultants giving testimony in all levels of courts in the U.S. In addition, both teach forensic science and crime scene investigation at the university level.

• Coverage of techniques, documentation and reconstruction at a crime scene

• Shows side-by-side comparison of the correct process versus the incorrect process.

Crime scene Animations

Student mock crime scene animation opens in new tab/window

Real Case Crime Scene animation opens in new tab/window

Laser Scanners

C10 Simulator opens in new tab/window Leica ScanStation C10 Manual Published opens in new tab/window

Bethlehem Steel Scanner Video opens in new tab/window

Laser scanner fly through video mock crime scene opens in new tab/window

Laser scanner fly through video at VCU opens in new tab/window