Recognition, Protection of Evidence Are Basic Steps to Arson Prosecution

Recognition, Protection of Evidence Are Basic Steps to Arson Prosecution

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AMERICA'S MALIGNANT CRIME

There is a long established judicial requirement that the corpus delicti of the crime of arson must be established before prosecution can take place. It follows that if an arsonist is to be successfully prosecuted, it is necessary that an early identification of the incendiary origin of the fire be made, followed by step-by-step photographing of physical evidence and the preservation of that evidence for laboratory examination.

When we speak of evidence, we refer to specific objects—physical, tangible indications of arson. We are not concerned with abstractions, inferences and theories, althougk we know that these may become important as an investigation proceeds.

In an arson investigation, we look for something that will help solve this crime and also aid the prosecution of the person responsible. We usually find this evidence at, or closely connected to, the point of origin of the fire. Therefore, we must exercise great care in examining the point of origin and the immediate vicinity. Also, care must be taken to avoid the many pitfalls that may be encountered. At all times, bear in mind that the person who started the fire has done his utmost to arrange things so it will appear that what really happened did not happen at all.

Recognizing evidence

Keeping these guidelines in mind, how are we going to recognize physical evidence when we see it? Every fire investigated has its own individual characteristics, but physical evidence will be recognized in spite of this.

Everything combustible is capable of being used to commit arson. There are unlimited possibilities for causing a fire by using ordinary household fixtures, appliances or utilities. Fires resulting from the misuse of these necessities frequently can, and do, occur accidentally. They may also be used as an effective means to start a fire by design, which may result in a clean bill of health for the perpetrator unless the investigator is vigilant and observant. The manner in which they are used or found will largely determine whether they were contributory factors to the cause of the fire.

They should be thoroughly looked into and eliminated if possible. If it is found that they were contributing factors in the fire and the investigator believes they were used deliberately, then it will be necessary for him to show in what fashion they were used. Sufficient corroborative evidence also is necessary to indicate that the fire was incendiary. An exhaustive investigation, in most instances, will reveal whether the fire was caused accidentally or intentionally.

Irregular burn patterns indicate flammable liquid use at fraud fire.Severed fuel line let oil spill on floor and feed fraud fire.

Easily recognizable cases

However, we will run into some situations where the cause of the fire is readily ascertainable. This may occur when the fire for some reason or other fails to propagate, leaving the device or means used in starting the fire easily recognizable. Where a fire has not destroyed the materials used to start it, we have frequently found that we were dealing with the unusual, or something out of the ordinary. This modus operandi may include the separate noncommunicating fires and trailers made of black powder, dynamite and gasoline or oil-soaked rags or paper. Mechanical, electrical and, in some instances chemical, devices or contrivances have been used and setups using matches, cigarettes, candles or light bulbs have also been found.

We may also observe electric heating elements placed in such a way as to ignite nearby combustibles. An electric iron may be left in the “on” position or there may be deliberate overloading, fusing or bridging of electrical circuits. Disturbing the functioning of heating appliances, such as stoves, ranges and furnaces and the pipes connected to them, may be noticed. Such things are not impossible to recognize as physical evidence of arson.

Jimmy marks helped convict factory owner.

In an arson case, the recognition of physical evidence carries with it an imperative rule that must be observed for every type of evidence that forms part of a chain in circumstantial cases. Namely, the evidence must be consistent with the facts of the case and it must be incapable of explanation by any other reasonable hypothesis than that of arson.

Evidence must have value

For instance, it would not do much good to attempt to show arson by producing some rags soaked in linseed oil when it could be proven that in the type of business where the fire occurred, the use of such oil-soaked rags was common. Such evidence would not be subject to the single explanation of deliberate ignition because the rags could have ignited spontaneously. So extreme care must be taken to ensure that the evidence you obtain has evidential value and that the courts will be able to recognize it as such.

Much of the evidential value of the physical evidence you find will be recognized after finding it. For instance, you find a can in the debris of a dwelling fire and analysis of the residue determines that it contained gasoline. The owner denies any knowledge of the can or its presence in the house, but later investigation traces his purchase of gasoline in that specific can.

To better illustrate this point and present a more graphic picture of the physical evidence to be found at a fire scene, we will cite actual arson cases. The three cases involve the motives of revenge, fraud and concealment of another crime.

Revenge fire

About 2:15 a.m., a revenge fire was discovered at a grade door of a twofamily frame dwelling. The fire had extended through the door into the building, causing extensive damage to the hallway and kitchen. The fire department called for the arson squad.

Upon arrival, the investigators noticed a strong odor of gasoline around the door. The irregular pattern of burning on the door and jamb indicated that a flammable liquid had been used. A small rug in front of the door also smelled strongly of gasoline and apparently was saturated with it. Questioning of the dwelling occupants failed to reveal any reason for such a fire.

While searching the neighborhood, a one-gallon glass jug was found in an alley two doors away. This jug had a small amount of liquid which smelled like gasoline. The contents was taken to a laboratory for analysis, and it was identified as gasoline.

The rug was subjected to vacuum distillation to extract flammable liquid, and this liquid was also identified as gasoline. A latent fingerprint was also found on the jug.

Gasoline seller found

Members of the squad canvassed all the gasoline stations in the area that were open late at night. They were fortunate in finding a station attendant several blocks away who recalled a girl with a gallon glass jug who tried to buy gasoline on the night of the fire, explaining that her car had stalled.

Marks on door match jimmy and paint flecks on tool came from paint on fraud fire door.Rough edges on blades of pliers match copper tubing marks.Missing windows show effect of blast where murder occurred.

The attendant refused to sell the gasoline in the jug, so the girl left only to return a few minutes later to buy a gallon of gasoline in a red can the attendant supplied. She reappeared three minutes later and returned the can for her deposit. She apparently had gone down the alley and poured the gasoline into the jug.

A sample of gasoline was taken from the station tanks, analyzed and found to be identical to the gasoline contained in the jug as well as the gasoline extracted from the rug.

With the information, the occupants of the house were questioned further. It was learned that a young man roomed with them and under questioning he stated that he quarreled with his girl friend the day before the fire.

Girl identified

The girl, who was 22 years old, was arrested and the gasoline station attendant identified her in a lineup as the purchaser of the gasoline.

In this case, the following physical evidence was collected and retained:

  1. Photographs of the scene of the fire showing an irregular pattern of burning similar in nature to that found when a flammable liquid is used.
  2. Glass jug.
  3. Sample of gasoline from the glass jug.
  4. Photograph of latent fingerprint on the glass jug.
  5. Sample of gasoline from the gas station.
  6. Rug and fluid extracted by vacuum distillation.

The quarrel established a motive for the fire, and the laboratory analyses of the various samples made an excellent court case. The girl was found to be mentally incompetent and was committed to an institution.

Fraud fire

A fraud fire occurred at about 10 p.m. in a one-story brick and frame building occupied by a plastics fabricating company. Upon arrival, the fire department found that a front door had apparently been forced open, and the officer in charge immediately radioed for the arson squad. A fog line was used to extinguish the fire. This tactic was helpful in the investigation since few of the contents were disarranged.

The investigation revealed five separate noncommunicating fires and one setup that failed to ignite. A trailer had been made for one fire by unraveling 6 or 7 feet of a roll of wrapping paper which sat on a shelf. The trailer extended to a pile of papers on the floor.

A large open cardboard box filled with oil-soaked papers was found on the just inside the main entrance. An open packet of matches was found on top of the papers with a lighted cigarette placed between the matches. The cigarette had apparently gone out before reaching the match heads. A major portion of the shop floor had also been saturated with fuel oil. The irregular burning patterns indicated a flammable liquid was used.

Fuel line cut twice

A copper fuel line from a tank to a small oil stove in the center of the shop had been severed in two places. A wire support at the front of the front of the tank had also been cut, allowing the tank to tip downward to facilitate the flow of oil through the severed fuel line.

After taking photographs of the several different fires and overall views of both the interior and the exterior of the building, the investigating officers gathered all the evidence available, which consisted of:

  1. Broken pieces of two one-gallon glass jugs.
  2. Three unbroken glass jugs—two of which were capped and contained fuel oil. The other was uncapped and had a residue of fuel oil.
  3. A five-gallon metal can full of fuel oil.
  4. Pieces of the severed fuel oil line from the oil stove.
  5. All books, bills, orders, papers, etc., pertaining to the business, including a new insurance policy increasing coverage from $5000 to $10,000.
  6. Part of the door showing jimmy marks.
  7. The oil-soaked cardboard carton and plastics with the paper matches and cigarette—a delaying mechanism to establish an alibi.
  8. The trailer of wrapping paper.

Owner arrested

Before the investigation left the scene, a police guard was established to keep out all unauthorized persons and to arrest the owner if he appeared on the scene. The owner was arrested about an hour later. His shoes were taken from him and a chemical test proved that the spots on them were oil stains. He was also smoking the same brand of cigarettes and had matches in his pocket with the same advertising as those used in the setup.

His car was searched and a small crowbar and a pair of cutting pliers were found and held for laboratory examination. The next day, the business books were audited, and at the same time, an authority on plastics manufacturing was called in. He made an inventory of the raw stock and finished material and came up with an appraisal of $900.

A microscopic examination of the jimmy showed that the markings on the tool fit the depressions where the door had been pried. Flecks of paint on the tool were examined spectrographically and were found to be the same as the door paint.

Pliers yield evidence

The same type of microscopic examination was made of the pliers, which had rough cutting edges. The marks on the edges corresponded to the marks made in cutting copper tubing. A spectrographic examination of the scrapings from the cutting edges showed that they were copper scrappings identical to the copper in the tubing.

During the trial, the defense attorney tried to establish that the fire was set by competitors to put the defendant out of business and that his client had been operating machinery day and night to fill a large number of orders.

The first part of his defense was easily refuted by the evidence already obtained. The later part was rebutted by the presentation of a photograph showing the electric meter and the position of the dial needles. A representative of the electric company testified that the company records showed that the amount of electricity used at night was not sufficient to keep a 75-watt bulb illuminated.

Needless to say, the owner was found guilty by the jury and sentenced to prison.

Concealment of crime

An explosion and fire occurred about 1:20 p.m. in a hat cleaning and shoe repair shop on one of the main thoroughfares of the city. The explosion blew large plate glass windows into the middle of the street.

A member of the arson squad working in the area heard the alarm broadcast and went directly to the scene, arriving at the same time as the fire companies. At this time, the fire appeared to be centered in the rear of the store.

When the fire was extinguished, the investigator entered the building with fire fighters and they found a man’s body lying in the center of the floor. There were several things about the position and surrounding conditions of the body which attracted the investigator’s attention:

  1. The body was lying on its back.
  2. It was lying in the center of the cement floor.
  3. The clothing was all consumed by the fire.
  4. The body was badly charred.
  5. There was no evidence of any combustible material surrounding the body.
  6. Under ordinary conditions in a fire similar to this, the body would not have been so badly damaged.

Position of body

The finding of a body in a fire is not in itself unusual, but the position in which it rests may make it so. It is well known that a person trapped by a fire will either make a desperate attempt to escape or will try to protect himself in some way against the flames by crawling into a corner, into a closet or hiding under some object.

The exception to this is when a person is asphyxiated and therefore is unable to make any attempt to escape. Here was a body badly charred lying on a cement floor with no physical evidence of any combustibles around it. The explosion preceding the discovery of the fire could be indicative of illuminating gas or flammables being present.

After the body was removed to the morgue, the investigator began digging in the debris where the body had lain and discovered the remains of the man’s trousers containing his wallet. This part was not burned, indicating the possibility of the body having been on the floor before the fire. However, the cloth and the contents of the wallet smelled strongly of naphtha. In the wallet were some identification papers, including an immigration card with a thumbprint.

Identification made

The coroner’s officer refused to conduct an autopsy until the body had been identified, although it was burned beyond recognition. The left hand had been entirely burned away, but fortunately the right hand and a few fingers remained, although hard and leathery. One of the fingers was amputated and placed in a solution to soften it, and an imprint was taken. A search of the identification files revealed a fingerprint arrest card through which the man was identified. These prints also coincided with the print of the immigration card. The coroner’s office accepted this as sufficient identification of the body.

Before starting the autopsy, a curious, unrecognizable bulge was noted around the victim’s throat. At the investigator’s request the coroner began cutting it away and disclosed a length of twine wrapped several times around the neck. An examination of the skull showed depressions made by a round, blunt object.

An examination of the stomach contents disclosed some undigested food. There was no carbon monoxide content in the blood stream, and the windpipe was clear.

Body lying in center of shop floor was found by fire fighters.Amount of fire in shop is indicated by alligator char on rear wall.Depression in skull of murder victim is shown just below point of forceps.

Witnesses found

Now the investigators realized they had a murder on their hands. Witnesses were found who saw a man, apparently the victim’s partner, running away from the scene just before the explosion. Another witness, who left the store about 20 minutes before the explosion, saw the victim seated at a bench at the rear of the store, eating a sandwich and drinking a bottle of beer.

Several other witnesses stated that the two partners were having difficulties, because the victim had paid attention to his partner’s wife.

A further search of the building produced a ball of twine similar to that found around the victim’s neck, a ballpeen hammer, the remains of a partly eaten sandwich, a half bottle of beer, and three cans which had contained naphtha.

Naphtha purchase

Bills in the store showed that three gallons of naphtha had been purchased the day before. The supplier stated that this was very unusual as previously the partners had purchased only one gallon at a time. The victim usually made the purchase, but in this instance the three gallons were purchased by the victim’s partner.

The ball-peen hammer was taken to a laboratory where traces of blood were found on the hammerhead. The seat of the trousers was subjected to vacuum distillation, and the fluid extracted was identified as naphtha.

In the meantime, the partner had been arrested and identified by witnesses as the man seen running away from the scene.

In reviewing this case, the important factors were recognizing, comparing, and tying together the different pieces of evidence which enabled the investigator to reconstruct the crime. This evidence, coupled with the motive of jealousy, was sufficient to obtain a verdict of first degree murder.

Circumstantial evidence

Many things may be discovered in arson cases that we can term circumstantial physical evidence. Such evidence will be recognized by investigators through observation at the fire scene or the questioning of witnesses and fire fighters. This evidence may include anything devised as to delay the discovery of the fire or to impede extinguishment by the fire department.

An arsonist can do this in a dwelling by pulling down shades, boarding up windows, nailing doors shut, or arranging furniture to prevent or delay the fire fighters from gaining entry. In a store, merchandise may be placed in the way and in a warehouse or industrial plant, packing boxes and machinery may be shifted to impede fire fighters.

The investigator must also be aware that not all physical evidence will necessarily be what we might term positive evidence. Evidence may be obtained in what might be termed a negative manner. We may notice reduced quantities or total absence of items we normally expect to find in the type of buildiafe burned. This is again largely circumstantial. For instance, we search a home after a fire and fail to find personal articles, such as jewelry, clothing, silverware, photos, letters, legal documents, insurance policies, etc.—things of monetary or sentimental value.

In a business fire, we may find the absence of normal stock, or old and cheaper merchandise replacing it. Possibly all the business records, orders, and books are missing with perhaps the exception of the accounts receivable. Failure to find such things may be termed the negative establishment of physical evidence of arson.

By now we have at least established a trend of thought-to follow in the recognition of physical evidence. We cannot pretend to have covered every possible type of evidence that could be recognized as physical evidence of arson as we have merely scratched the surface of a very broad subject.

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