Discuss the issues that would confront a homicide investigator in the following cases:
1) A farmer has found a greatly decomposed body in one of his fields.
While plowing the field for the first time in two years, he ran over the body and the plow brought the body to the surface.
2) A male, aged 20 to 40, has been found in an alley in the bar area of
town. There is no obvious cause of death. The body was found when a janitor came out of a bar at approximately 4:00 a.m. When the officers arrived at the scene they checked for signs of life and canceled the ambulance. At that time, according to the responding officer, the body was warm to the touch, about 90 degrees. Based on what appear to be scuff marks, it is possible that the body was dragged into the alley.
3) A female, aged approximately 15 to 25, has been found in a fraternity bedroom. The victim is lying on her side on the bed. The responding officers have learned that the fraternity had a party the night before and that she was one of the students at the party. The bedroom is a mess, but this might or might not indicate a struggle, as other rooms in the same hallway are also disordered. However, some of the bed covers are on the floor, which may indicate that something out of the ordinary went on. There is no visible blood in the room.
