ANALYSIS: Don’t Be Too Quick To Conclude It Was A Suicide Case; This Is Why

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 27- Death investigations are usually conducted as murder investigations until facts prove differently. Homicide detectives must not assume anything and instead do it right the first time since they only get one chance.

Ordinarily, a suicide note is a direct communication indicating intent to commit suicide and the reasons.

However, detectives must always seek to establish if it was indeed genuine and was voluntarily written by the deceased.

One of the ways is by obtaining an exemplar -known handwriting of the deceased -for comparison.

They will also have to establish if the notes indicated suicidal intent; whether they are coherent and legible or were written under the influence of alcohol or drugs or coercion.

Reports indicate that there have been cases where autopsies have revealed that the victims were actually murdered and did not commit suicide.

In some cases, investigating officers have assumed that such deaths are generally not criminal incidents that do not require serious investigations.

Some deaths have been found to be murder, but were staged to appear to be suicide, accidents or natural causes.

Detectives do not put so much emphasis on such cases especially when initial reports indicate it is suicide. They should not assume anything as any preconceived theories or notions are very dangerous.

Officers must keep an open mind not to be influenced by initial reports or presentation in the crime scene.

Detectives should look for the presence of the weapon or means of death like a rope, poisonous substance and weapons among others.

However, the absence of a weapon does not necessarily indicate that the death was due to homicide. It could have been stolen or thrown away before arrival of the detectives. In some cases, relatives conceal weapons or suicide notes for insurance purposes.

The nature and position of wounds and injuries must be clearly described and establish if they are self-inflicted or not. In most cases they are usually similar. Stab wounds, for example on the back would certainly not be a case of suicide.

Detectives should also dig for any prior warning signs, recent deaths in the family, indications of recent upset or stress, or whether the deceased had attempted suicide before.

Detectives must always look to eliminate a staged scene through close physical inspection to look for extraneous signs of trauma that are not consistent with suicide.

There are instances where victimology can be used to ascertain the motives, suspects and risk factors. Detectives need to get to know who the victim was, and what was going on in his life. Close relatives, friends and neighbours can give good information.

Victimology is conducted to establish if suicide was consistent with observable depression, trauma, or loss in victim’s life. If they are inconsistent with the current and observable state of mind of the victim like optimism and happiness based on testimony of friends and family members, this should sound an alarm.

It is important to note that the mechanical aspects of the death like the motives and methods, wound structures, crime scene reconstruction, blood stain pattern, manner and time of death are some of the issues to be considered during such probes.