Criminal Investigation

Chapter 7

Scenario 5: Murder Crime Scene Transcript

You are a Special Agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and trained as a crime

scene specialist. The date is February 9, 2011; the time is 7:15 a.m. You arrive at 293 Stone Rd.

and see that the scene is secured with yellow crime scene tape. You meet with Deputy Sheriff

Ray Chandler and learn that two victims in the investigation suffered gunshot wounds. The

male victim is Steve Campbell. The female victim is Sherry Campbell. He tells you that each

victim was shot twice and that Steve Campbell was taken from the scene and died on the way

to the hospital. Sherry Campbell was dead in the master bedroom. Chandler tells you EMS

personnel entered through the front door and placed Steve Campbell on a stretcher. There are

drops of blood in the hallway of the residence leading out the front door and continuing to the

front yard. This blood trail was created as Steve Campbell was bleeding while he was carried to

the ambulance.

The sky is clear, and the temperature is 28°F. You use your Canon Rebel digital camera

to photograph the scene in its entirety. These photographs will be transferred to a DVD at a

later time and stored in the rear of the case file. A sketch is completed of the scene, including

measurements. The house is a wood frame, single-family dwelling with brown wood siding and

a shingled roof. It has a partially finished basement. The front door of the house opens to the

west, and a screened in porch with double doors is on the west side of the house. An above

ground swimming pool with a wooden deck is to the northeast of the house. A wood frame

barn is to the southwest of the house. An older model white and gray Chevrolet pickup truck,

tag number ALK0262, is in the driveway. It appears to be inoperable. There are a blue Ford

tractor and a blue Chevrolet Cavalier with Georgia tag 388AXP parked near the barn. A red Ford

Ranger pickup truck with Georgia tag 4672SB is in the front yard. A white Honda Odyssey

minivan with Georgia tag 415BRD is in the carport. You search these vehicles and the barn and

do not find any evidence.

In the carport, there is a door leading into the kitchen. The door contains nine separate

panes of glass. The lower right-hand corner pane of glass closest to the lock is shattered.

There is a laundry room located in the northwest corner directly north of the kitchen. A

black purse containing the identification of Sherry Campbell is on the top of the dryer.

A dining room is south of the kitchen. You search the dining room and find no evidence.

A sunroom is located east of the dining room with the exterior doors closed but unlocked. You

search this room and find no evidence.

The living room is to the south of the carport. There is no evidence recovered in the

living room.

There are two bedrooms located on the west side of the hallway traveling to the south

end of the house. In the first bedroom, you see a pair of men's blue jeans on the bed and a

wallet containing the identification of Steve Campbell on the dresser. A bathroom is in the

hallway; there was no evidence located in the bathroom. Another bedroom is on the southwest

corner of the house. You search this bedroom and find no evidence.

The master bedroom is on the southeast corner of the house. A drip trail of blood

extends from the southwest corner of this bedroom, out of the bedroom, and down the

hallway. You see an orange Old Navy extra-large shirt containing blood spatter stains hanging

from one of the handles on the chest. There is a pair of men's blue jeans and a pair of dark

colored men's slippers on the floor, each containing blood spatter stains. There are blood

transfer stains on top of the nightstand. There is a large pool of blood on the bed near a pillow.

One of the bedposts appears to have been shot, and you see wood splinters throughout the

bedroom. On the bed, there are numerous BBs from a shotgun shell. You collect 29 BBs from on

the bed and the floor as well as one plastic shotgun wadding. These were seized and appear on

property receipt number E532690.

The body of Sherry Campbell is lying on the floor just north of the bed. She has red hair

and is wearing light-colored pajama type pants and a white nightshirt. Her right arm is

extended, and you see an open wound just above her right wrist exposing broken bones. There

is a large open wound on the left side of her torso. There are blood transfer stains and blood

spatter stains on her face. At 11:53 a.m., the body of Sherry Campbell was placed in a dark-

colored disaster bag and removed from the scene by Kevin Roper, the Pickens County coroner.

At 12:30 p.m., you finish processing the scene and leave.

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