Homicide Investigation – Operation Lark Investigative Strategy Report PDF

Preview

Summary

Strategy report ...

Description

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

Homicide Investigation – Operation Lark: Investigative Strategy Report

Institute of Criminal Justice Studies University of Portsmouth, UK SID: 915075

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Science in Crime Science, Investigation and Intelligence Module: Managing Investigations DL 2019

Word count: 2.800 Date: 25/03/2019

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

CONTENTS: 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................... page 2 2.0 SUMMARY OF THE INVESTIGATION .................................................... page 2 3.0 INVESTIGATIVE AND EVIDENTIAL EVALUATION .................................. page 2 3.1 GAP ANALYSIS ................................................................................ page 2 3.2 EVIDENCE AVAILABLE .................................................................... page 4 3.3 FURTHER EVIDENCE REQUIRED ................................................. page 6 3.4 SCENES ........................................................................................... page 7 4.0 HYPOTHESIS............................................................................................ page 8 5.0 RISK ASSESSMENT ................................................................................. page 8 5.1 POLITICAL......................................................................................... page 8 5.2 SOCIAL ............................................................................................. page 9 5.3 LEGAL and ORGANISATIONAL........................................................ page 9 5.4 ETHICAL ........................................................................................... page 9 6.0 INVESTIGATIVE STRATEGY ................................................................... page 10 7.0 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATIONS ............................................................ page 11 8.0 CONCLUSION............................................................................................ page 12 9.0 REFERENCES .......................................................................................... page 13

1

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The investigative strategy aims to identify the suspect or suspects, the crime scenes, as well as gathering evidence that can support the investigation. Additionally, concluding the chain of events prior to the crime is of high importance as it will lead to concluding the investigation, which is the final outcome of the investigation in order to forward the case to the Crown Court.

2.0 SUMMARY OF THE INVESTIGATION On the 31 st of October, 2018, at 0730hrs the Police department receives a phone call from the Emergency Department in relation to a young black male brought into the ED by the ambulance and failing to respond to the resuscitation. The young male was found by a by-passer on an alleyway. The victim died seven hours after being admitted to hospital.

3.0 INVESTIGATIVE AND EVIDENTIAL EVALUATION:

3.1 GAP ANALYSIS As well as any other investigation, the process has a start point. Primarily, the objective is to find what information is available, the type of incident is being investigated, whether a crime has or has not been committed and if there is a suspect or a number of suspects (Murder Investigation Manual, 2006). Therefore, the 5WH formula (Who?, What?,

When?,

Where?, Why?, How?) is considered to be effective in order to

organise the knowledge in the early stages of the investigation. This method eases the initial steps of the investigation by helping pinpointing gaps that might suggest potential theories and lines of enquiry ("Investigative and Evidential Evaluation", n.d.).

2

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

Figure 1: Gap Analysis Matrix What is known

What is not known

Conflicts

Consistencies

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? ("Investigative and Evidential Evaluation", n.d.). Subsequently, different evaluative attributes will replace the main objectives with more specific ones, the can facilitate the identification of the suspect. This attributes can change according to the investigation, however, regarding the investigation in question, it is strategically advised to use the following links, detailed in Figure 2. Figure 2: Evaluative links Description Availability

Does the individual fall within the suspect parameters? Was the individual available to commit the offence within the

Physical

timeframe? Can the individual be linked to the crime through articles removed

Forensic

from or left at the scene? Can the individual be linked to the crime through forensic science

Identification

techniques? Can the individual be linked to the crime through victim or witness

Intelligence Behavioural

identification? Is there intelligence linking the individual to the crime? Is there anything about the individual’s previous behaviour that may link them to the crime? ("Investigative and Evidential Evaluation", n.d.).

3.2 EVIDENCE AVAILABLE The victim: According to the Post Mortem analysis, the victim was a young, black male, aged 14 or 15 years old, with no forms of identification. Forensic odontology revealed 3

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

that the victim had no European or British dental interventions. The pathologists’ report shows a severe fatal blood loss due to a stabbing in the abdomen as the cause of death. Any suspicion of suicide is ruled out. External forensic examination shows that the victim sustained three wounds in the abdomen during the attack, all caused by a sharp bladed instrument, presumably a knife. Additionally, there were signs of blunt force trauma to both lower limbs with multiple bruising, which suggest previous assault. Furthermore, there were signs of anal sexual assault by forced blunt instrument insertion over a period of time, which suggest a history of assaults from at least 5 years ago. Day 1: In the early hours of the 31 st of October 2018, the victim has been admitted to the Emergency Department of the hospital. After numerous interventions that aimed to preserve his life, the victim dies at 1400hrs. At 0915hrs the CSI team is called in for a full examination of the scene, alleyway and surrounding streets, as well as a POLSA search team, which had expanded the search to 20m radius from the initial scene. All the forensic evidence that was found was collected, packaged, sealed, labelled and submitted accordingly (Cook and Tattersall, 2016). Both paramedics that attended the scene and police staff have been interviewed in relation to the case. At 2100hrs the post mortem has been released and it revealed that the cause of death was severe blood loss due to sustaining a violent attack through which the victim was stabbed in the abdomen by a sharp bladed instrument (e.g. knife). Additionally, it was concluded that the victim was a black male, 14 – 15 years old, with diverse signs of past assaults. No identification documents have been found. At 2300hrs a CHIS intelligence report graded B/2/4 and dated 30 th of October 2018 revealed a witness statement from a barmaid working at the White Horse Public House, Sandford and a customer on the premises. It stated that she overheard two white men talking about ‘cutting up a spade kit’ whilst the customer referred to them as

4

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

‘EDL wankers’ – English Defence League, a far-right Islamophobic organisation in the UK. Day 2: A Crime Stoppers report from an anonymous source has been received, dating from the 27 th of September 2018. Within the report, it was said that presumably in July or August, every week a Blue BMW X5 was parking at a house on Haymarket Street, Sandford. Some suspicious activities have been witnessed, such as a few ‘black kids’ would regularly load the boot of the car with bags and boxes from the house. Day 3: The toxicological preliminary results have been released: traces of methamphetamines have been found, however, it was not believed to be fatal doses. Under the Prum agreement, the victim’s DNA has been sent to France, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Italy, after finding no results in the UK’s National Database. CCTV footage was received from the area surrounding the body deposition site showing that on the 30 th of October 2018, Day 0, a BMW X5, dark colour, partial registration number plate _ _ 16 TV_ was parked at the entrance to the alley at 2305hrs. Two males appeared to be dragging a what-appeared-to-be dead/unconscious person from the boot of the vehicle. It is visible on the footage that the driver, the third male, was using a mobile phone handset. Day 6: Italian police have confirmed a positive DNA profile match, the name of the victim being Amadi Adeyeme. During an unofficial telephone report, it was detailed that: June 2018 – Adeyeme was arrested for petty crimes (pickpocketing tourists) in Tropea, Italy. During the interview, he stated that his name was Amadi Adeyeme, ages 15 years old, travelled from Benin, Nigeria to Salermo, Italy with a group of 12 boys, some even as young as age 7 years old. They were accompanied by men who fed them and looked after them (‘some were kind, some were not’ it was added in the report). It was stated that the reason for travelling was money and that Adeyeme was in debt to his former employers. On arrival, he was given cannabis to smoke with the purpose of relaxing, however, it made him sick. 5

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

At the time of the arrest, Adeyeme did not have any forms of identification, therefore he was given a temporary refugee card, identified as an illegal migrant and put into a migrant hostel, from which he disappeared two days later. 3.3 FURTHER EVIDENCE REQUIRED  Due to the fact that three different vehicles have been identified as being potential vehicles involved in the crime, further evidence will be requested:  ANPR focused on identifying the BMWs X5 that was on the main street adjacent to the alleyway where the body was found, matching the partial number plate and the colour of the one from the CCTV, on the evening of the 30 th of October 2018.  Live facial recognition report will be requested from the CCTV footage in order to identify the three males ("Live Facial Recognition trial", n.d.).  On the CCTV footage recovered it is visible that the driver was using a mobile phone handset – the phone will be tracked to the nearest tower or base station through the use of directional antennae that pinpoints its location by the strength of the signal. The phone number corroborated by the already known exact location will ease the identification of the owner of the phone (in case the phone was not a ‘burner’ phone) ("What the police can get from mobile phone tower data", 2014).  A covert police team on Haymarket Street, Sandford;  CCTV from the street (if available) – mainly to observe if the vehicle described by the eyewitness to have been seen on the street is the same as the vehicle seen on the CCTV footage from the deposition site.  House to house enquiries in order to see if there are any more eyewitnesses that can describe the activities that have taken place in the prior months at the given address.  Additional forensic evidence (from the car and the property on Haymarket Street).

6

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

3.4 SCENES: 3.4.1 Body deposition site – the scene at which the body was found by the bypasser at the early hours of the 31 st of October 2018. The CSI team, as well as the POLSA team, have conducted searches in order to collect the forensic evidence; however, nothing of evidential value that can support the investigation has been found. 3.4.2 Actual murder scene – where did the assault take place. This scene is yet to be found and it is one the primordial focuses of the investigative strategy. As soon as the scene is found, crime scene investigators will be deployed at the scene in order to collect any forensic evidence that is considered valuable to the investigation. 3.4.3 Car that transported the body – from the assault scene to the deposition site. The results of PNC Vehicle On-Line Descriptive Searching (VODS) revealed three different cars that potentially match the partial number plate of the vehicle visible on the CCTV: a. BMW X5, Blue, RE 16 TVL b. BMW X3, Black, KL 16 TVG c. BMW X5, Black, DE 16 TVR 3.4.4 The body – it can be classified as an individual scene due to the evidence collection strategy put in place by the forensic pathologist at the beginning of the post mortem examination. 3.4.5 The property on Haymarket Street, Sandford – a police team will be deployed to the scene to recover any evidence of value that can support the investigation once the property has been observed by a covert team and confirmed to be of evidential value to the investigation.

7

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

4.0 HYPOTHESIS The main hypothetic scenario is believed to be a human trafficking operation with the purpose of drug dealing and smuggling. This scenario is corroborated by the already existing evidence and the chain of events known at the given time. As the investigation is believed to be related to human trafficking with the purpose of drug dealing and smuggling, there has been made further research into determining any other related cases; one of them being the investigation of the highly active Nigerian criminal network linked to the EIYE brotherhood, which operates in clandestine groups all over the world. The Spanish Guardia Civil collaborated with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) from Nigeria and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in order to dismantle the criminal network. The victims were transferred from Nigeria to Europe via Libya and Italy, similar to the Amadi Adeyeme case ("Trafficked by voodoo threats: one of the largest operations in Europe rescues 39 Nigerian women", 2018).

5.0 RISK ASSESSMENT 5.1 POLITICAL In terms of the risk assessment of the investigative strategy, it is important to take into consideration the political side of it, due to the European Authorities affiliated to the case, under the Prum Treaty – cross-border European cooperation, established on the 27th of May 2005 with the purpose of combating terrorism, crime and illegal migration. This agreement gives the countries involved reciprocal access to national databases containing DNA profiles, fingerprints and vehicle registration data (European Union Committee, 2015). 5.2 SOCIAL Within the investigative strategy, community factors have to be considered and are equally important as the political ones. It is to be acknowledged if the incident is likely to 8

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

escalate into a critical incident, as it is already known that is escalated from a previous offence. It has to be considered the sensitivity regarding the individuals involved and how much it will affect the general public. Last but not least, the media interest is likely to increase as the investigation develops; therefore, it is of high importance that critical information remains unknown to the media as it can be exaggerated through means of mass communication, such as internet, social media, newspapers, radio and television (Newburn, 2013). 5.3 LEGAL and ORGANISATIONAL As far as the legal and organisational side of it is considered, it is crucial that all the legal powers and policies are followed, that any multi-agency protocols are considered and that both the police officers and the crime scene investigators, as well as any other member of the team involved in the investigation, are following the guidelines on legal obligations and all criminal procedure rules and criminal practice directions detailed in Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). On the same note, all the guidelines thoroughly expressed in the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA) have to be considered and followed accordingly (gov.uk, 2018). 5.4 ETHICAL At all times during the investigation, it is required that all the authorities involved, including the police officers, have to act under the Human Rights principles, stated in The Human Rights Act (1998) which is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) ("Core principles", 2013).

6.0 INVESTIGATIVE STRATEGY The investigative strategy is based on multiple strategies with the purpose of concluding the investigation and identifying the perpetrator(s). The following strategies will be used with the aim to locate and gather material:

9

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report



SID: 915075

Search – identifying and locating the sources of material, locating the evidence in order to support a prosecution, gathering intelligence, depriving criminals of their resources;



House – to – house enquiries – identifying the suspects and gather information from witnesses in areas connected to the crime, identification purposes, proving reassurance, gathering information and intelligence;



Intelligence strategy – using different sources to collect relevant information about the investigation, such as: police national database (PND), covert listening devices, probes and tracking devices, human intelligence sources (victims, witnesses, suspects, colleagues, members of the community), covert human intelligence sources (CHIS) and undercover officers, physical evidence, telephone downloads, CCTV;



Passive data generators – CCTV, computer-based electronic evidence, telecommunications information and customer information;



Communications strategy – partner agencies and community networks;



Financial strategy;



Physical Evidence strategy – crime scene evidence collection, forensic evidence, pathological evidence;



ANPR (ANPR, 2018). ("Investigative strategies", 2013)

7.0 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATIONS Search

-

Deploy CSI teams at the additional crime scenes as soon as they are accurately located

House-to-house enquiries

-

Collect all the relevant forensic evidence Enquire about the property on Haymarket Street, 10

Artefact 1: Investigative Strategy Report

SID: 915075

any activities, any vehicles seen to be parked in the driveway, any people going in and out and how many - all these would facilitate the investigation by Intelligence strategy

-

supporting the intelligence side of the strategy Covert teams set in key locations, such as nearby the property on Haymarket Street

-

Metadata collection from the mobile phone handset

-

Further information from Italian authorities about the other boys that travelled with Amadi Adeyeme and, if possible, the adults that travelled with them

-

Intelligence collected from the Nigerian authorities about Amadi Adeyeme and his former employers to whom he is in debt

-

CCTV from the port of Salermo, Italy on the day of the victim’s arrival (if possible)

-

CCTV from the street adjacent to the alleyway where the body was found - mainly to observe if the vehicle described by the eyewitness to have been seen on the street is the ...