Case Studies with Questions and Answers
Chapter 05: Trace and Impression Evidence
The body of an unidentified female in her mid-twenties is found on the rocks at the edge of a creek below a bridge. The amount of blood at the scene where the body is located is minimal, leading investigators to believe that the victim was killed elsewhere and the deceased body deposited at its present location. A search of the bridge above the body reveals a few drops of blood on the ground and smeared bloodstains on the railing. Again, the lack of substantial blood evidence leads to the possibility that there may be another crime scene elsewhere.
Fingerprints taken from the victim reveal her identity as Jenine Anderson, age 24, an employee of an exotic dancing club at which she is known as "Jade." After contacting her employer, it is determined that she had worked the previous night until 3:00 a.m., when the club closed. Interviews with her co-workers reveal that she was seen leaving the club's parking area, and heading toward an adjacent hotel at approximately 3:15 a.m. with a well-known club patron, businessman Robert Gandolf. Gandolf, who is married and has two young children, had been asked by security to leave the establishment earlier that night due to his belligerent behavior. He was well known at the club for his excessive drinking, as well as for his fascination with Jade.
Investigators find a credit card receipt for a second-floor room Gandolf had rented the previous night. Videos show Gandolf and Jade entering the hotel at 3:22 a.m., but show him leaving the hotel alone at 5:36 that same morning. In an interview, Gandolf states that Jade had walked him to his room, where they talked for a short time before he passed out from his drunkenness. When he awoke, Jade was gone, and he has not seen her since. Interviews with hotel patrons in adjoining rooms reveal that loud voices were heard coming from the room, and then no sound for a couple of hours. One of the witnesses, who awoke early to attend a meeting, heard a window above him open and then what he described as a "thud." A subsequent search of the area below what was Gandolf's window reveals a large, brownish stain on the sidewalk, which is later definitively identified as Jade's blood.