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| Evidence: Incident Report | |
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INCIDENT REPORT (SUMMARY)
DESCRIPTION: At 10:06 a.m., Dispatch received a 911 call regarding the discovery of a body at Rowan Oak. The caller identified herself as Shirley Capman, Office Manager at the University of Mississippi Physical Plant. Caller stated that Physical Plant staff members had found a body on the grounds of Rowan Oak and requested that she notify authorities. Unit #224 (Officer Steve Harding) was immediately dispatched to the scene. Detectives Armstrong and Murphy were assigned and proceeded directly to the scene. Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson was notified at R/I 's request to respond to scene. Reporting Officer (R/O) Steve Harding arrived at the scene at 10:13 a.m. At R/O's request, Unit #216 (Officer Kennon Winters) was dispatched to the scene to provide backup and assistance and arrived at 10:20 a.m. Reporting Investigators (R/I) arrived at the scene at 10:28 a.m. and found R/Os Harding and Winters had secured the area. Environmental conditions at scene upon arrival are as follows: Weather: clear/dry; Ambient temperature: approximately 74º F / 23º C; Relative Humidity: approximately 58 percent. FINDINGS: R/O Harding made the following verbal report, which is stated in summary and not verbatim, upon R/Is arrival. R/O Harding stated that he was met at the scene by an adult male, who identified himself as Tate Moore. The witness Moore escorted R/O Harding to the location of the body, where R/O Harding observed a second adult male witness, who identified himself as Scott Prein. R/O Harding confirmed the presence of the body and reported same to Dispatch. R/Os Harding and Winters then secured the scene and detained witnesses at the scene including Moore, Prein, and an adult female, who arrived on the scene shortly after R/Os and identified herself as Lorie Jones. R/O Harding further stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the following personnel have had occasion to enter the crime scene area and must be excluded by CSU personnel: R/O Winters, witnesses Tate Moore and Scott Prein, and himself. R/O Harding stated that witness Lorie Jones was not permitted to enter the crime scene area. After receiving the report from R/O Harding, R/I Murphy contacted Dispatch regarding the status of the Coroner's Inspector and the Crime Scene Unit. Dispatch indicated the Inspector's ETA was approximately 10 minutes and CSU's ETA was approximately 12 minutes. R/Is then proceeded to the location of the body. R/Is observed a lifeless human body, apparently a male in his late thirties, lying on the ground partially supported by a tree, approximately 50 feet southwest from the Rowan Oak museum building. Visual inspection indicated the victim was wearing a black medium to heavy weight coat, a white cotton t-shirt, black denim jeans, and black shoes. The body lay face up with the left arm alongside the body. The right arm was extended to the side at an approximate 45º angle to the body. The head of the body faced in an northeasterly direction and the feet in a southwesterly direction. The body displayed signs of trauma to the head. No other injuries were immediately apparent. Pending official analysis by the coroner's office, initial observation indicated the deceased was apparently the victim of a single, penetrating blow to the head. R/Is also observed a 35mm camera and a pickaxe with reddish-brown stains in the immediate vicinity of the body. R/Is also noted possible bloodstains on the ground within a 10-foot radius of the body. Coroner's Inspector Johnson arrived at the scene at approximately 10:41 a.m. and joined R/Is at the body's location. Inspector Johnson pronounced the victim deceased at 10:45 a.m. by visual observation that the victim was not breathing and by tactile observation that the victim did not have a palpable carotid pulse. Inspector Johnson noted that the victim did not appear to have entered rigor mortis. While she withheld an official estimate pending an autopsy, Inspector Johnson speculated the victim had been dead approximately 1 to 2 hours and the apparent cause of death was a penetrating blow to the head, possibly inflicted by the pickaxe found in the immediate vicinity of the body. Inspector Johnson indicated that further details would be available in the official autopsy report. After Inspector Johnson completed her initial inspection of the body, she stayed with the CSU team to ensure integrity of the body, while the team took photographs of the scene and performed preliminary analyses, until the body could be removed from the scene without destroying other evidence. Following inspection of the scene, R/Is interviewed the witness, Tate Moore, at the scene. A transcript of Moore's interview is attached to this report. Additional interviews with other witnesses are being scheduled. Before leaving, R/I Murphy instructed CSU to seal the scene upon completion or end of day suspension of processing. CSU to notify R/Is of progress by the end of this date. As of this filing, CSU is still actively processing at the scene. Body of the deceased remanded into the custody of Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson. Deceased was removed from scene at 11:21 a.m. and transported to the Coroner's Office for autopsy. A preliminary autopsy report is expected within fourteen days of this report. Evidence remanded into the custody of Forensics officer T. R. Douglas for transport to the state crime lab for routine analysis. CSU is expected to submit an inventory of items taken into evidence within fourteen days of this report, with detailed report(s) of their findings to follow at a later date.
ATTEST //Ted Armstrong, Yoknapatawpha Sheriff's Detective |
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