5 Concepts to Understand Before CrowdSolve

“We consider CrowdSolve attendees to be our fellow investigators.” — Det. Mickey Hamilton

Let us be clear: CrowdSolveInvestigators will, for all intents and purposes, become rookie detectives for the four days of the event. The experts and detectives on site to provide guidance will treat Investigators as peers. In short, we know the Investigators who signed up for CrowdSolve know their stuff and they’re coming to Seattle ready to get down to business.

CrowdSolve includes a significant education component. Investigators will spend part of the day in intensive educational sessions to learn about investigative concepts relevant to the Nancy Moyerand Karen Bodinecases. To get a head start on the basics, Investigators may wish to begin researching these five concepts:

Victimology is exactly what it sounds like: the study of victims and the circumstances that contributed to the offense committed against them. Victimology also examines the connections between the offender and the victim and understand why the victim was targeted.

Nancy Moyer and Karen Bodine both led very different lifestyles that may have contributed to their deaths. To be clear, victimology is not victim blaming. Rather, we will seek to understand how the circumstances around each victim’s death and how they may have attracted the killers to the victims.

Resources:
Victimology overview- West Virginia State University
Introduction to Victimology- Sage Publications
Victimology- Trusty ol’ Wikipedia

Language is an important tool in criminal investigations. The way suspects and witnesses explain their stories can tell a keen-eared investigator more than the words themselves. As CrowdSolve Investigators examine the statements given by Eric Lee Roberts when he confessed to killing Nancy Moyer (and when he subsequently recanted that confession), it’s important to know what to look for to determine if the statement is true or false. Similarly, as we examine witness interviews in the case of Karen Bodine, you’ll find that several people can recall the same event in very different ways depending on the words they use.

Resources:
Solving Crimes Through Language - Dr. Natalie Schilling, Professor of Linguistics
Analysis of Statements in Famous Cases - Mark McClish (Rabbit hole warning!)
Statement Analysis: What Do Suspects’ Words Really Reveal? - Susan H. Adams, M.A.

We don’t expect you to become certified crime scene technicians before October 17. Still, getting an overview of the basic procedures will put you ahead of the curve in understanding the Karen Bodine crime scene. In our recent sit-down, Det. Hamilton said “The way Karen was killed, the way she was displayed, and the way she was found -- it was all very strange.” There are pieces of evidence collected from the scene that may be red herrings and there are pieces that may be the smoking gun (so to speak).

Resources:
Crime Scene Investigation - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Discover Forensics - Future Learn (For the really dedicated! Future Learn offers two weeks of free courses in crime scene and forensic analysis)
A Simplified Guide to Forensic Investigation - Forensics Simplified

Behavioral profiling is a relatively new tool in the investigator’s arsenal. The concept was developed in the early 1970s by famed FBI profiler John Douglas and Agent Robert Ressler. Profiling seeks to understand why the perpetrator committed a crime in an attempt to identify their habits, behaviors, and motives. The profile is then used to narrow the suspect pool to the most likely culprits.

Profiling is not a perfect science and is not without its critics. Given the infinite spectrum of human behaviors and motives, it is nearly impossible to accurately predict one person’s behavior. Still, profiling remains a useful tool in focusing an investigation with a wide range of suspects such as the Karen Bodine case.

Resources:
Forensics: Profiling the Perpetrator - Dummies.com
FBI Method of Profiling: The 5 Phases - Wikipedia
Does Criminal Profiling Work? - Psychology Today

Karen Bodine’s body was discovered with a ligature around her neck and there is reason to suspect Nancy Moyer may have been strangled to death as well. While this is not an easy topic to research, understanding the processes that occur within the body as a victim is strangled to death may be helpful when examining the case files on-site in Seattle.

Resources:
What it Feels Like to Be Strangled - Ranker (Not an easy or enjoyable read, but includes fairly accurate information)
Facts Non-Fatal Strangulation Victims Need to Know - Alaska.gov
Death by Strangulation - Dr. Dean Hawley, Indiana University