19 replies to this topic

[Fabbrizio]

Okay, here's how it works. I tell out a scenario. Anyone who wishes to participate can ask questions about the crime scene, evidence, and profile information about suspects.

The one to close the case (as in, point out the right person, and to prove it so as to weed out guessing) gets to make the next case.

There are five case levels, in order of difficulty. All cases MUST be rated so that people know how deeply they should look at the case, or whether or not they should even try at the current case.

Deputy: Your average cop case, pretty easy for anyone who knows how to solve a case.
Private consultant: Cops have to bring in a detective for the case. Slightly beyond those at the deputy level.
Private Investigator: Private consultants are stumped. These guys notice the little things.
Adrian Monk: Notice the obscure, ask about things that make sense only to you until the resulting evidence becomes clear. Long story short, predict what direction the case is going, and predict a couple of steps ahead.
Sherlock Holmes: Adrian Monk's inspiration. Basically, you have to be a detective genius.


I'll make the first case. This is a deputy level case, to get people into the game

In Atlanta, GA, a male caucasian by the name of Gregor Lithgow is murdered in the back room of a convenience store. The autopsy showed head trauma with a flat object. No gunshot wounds. There were, however, several burns across his arms. Family says that the burns weren't there when he left for work that morning. No sign of poison in his system.

So far the suspects are:

Simon Williams-A co-worker of Lithgow. Was gambling with Lithgow three nights ago. Gregor managed to get $1K in debt to Williams, but never payed up. Williams has been known to get buzzed during work hours, and has access to the storage room in the convenience store.

Jan Lithgow-Gregor's wife. The two of them have quite a few problems. She claims she was at home, but no one can confirm her alibi.

Jackson Halvorson-A customer of Lithgow in his part time job, carpentry and roofing. A shoddy job on Halvorson's garage last year caused the roof to fall in on Halvorson's brand new convertable. Not a solid motive, but he can't prove his whereabouts, so we can't rule him out.



And...
GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!

[sigtau]

Mr. Halvorson obviously did it--he's a carpenter, correct? He must have used his tools. Burns from a powersander, and head trauma could have possibly been another tool, perhaps the nail-remover part of a hammer?

CASE CLOSED!

[Fabbrizio]

Mr. Halvorson obviously did it--he's a carpenter, correct? He must have used his tools. Burns from a powersander, and head trauma could have possibly been another tool, perhaps the nail-remover part of a hammer?

CASE CLOSED!

Wrong. The victim was the carpenter.

Good try though, I didn't see that angle.

About 36 hours into the investigation, the CSI teams find Mr. Halvorson dead at the Lithgow residence. No fingerprints or DNA other than those of Mr. and Mrs. Lithgow, and Mr. Halvorson, were found.

Now whodunit? And why was Mr. Halvorson at the Lithgow residence?

[sigtau]

Halvorson must be with Mrs. Lithgow, she's cheating on her husband! Mr. Lithgow must have killed Halvorson when he caught his wife with him.

[LostInHyru1e]

You said we can ask questions? I'm curious about the burns.

What degree were they? Were they burns or scalds? From friction or from heat? Did they char the skin?

Do suspects 1 and 3 have Alibis?

[CastChaos]

Willams and Halvorson both hadnegative feelings towards Mr.Ligthgow, so they teamed up. Williams grabbed a hot, flat object and beaten Mr.Lightgow to death. According to the deal, Halvorson's duty was to kill Mrs.Lightgow, but only a day later than Mr.Lithgow's death probably to toss Mrs.Lithgow into despair before killing her. Halverson attempted to kill Mrs.Lithgow, but the she killed Halverson instead. She haven't told the investigators about it, not having evidence of self defense and so would risk prison upon telling about the case.

[Linkus]

Eh. Lithgow got the burns during work; he is a roofer, and the burns are obviously sunburns resulting from long hours atop someone's roof. Although, they could be rope burns from being tied up.

Blunt head trauma is a bit too obscure, but given that, it the to ask here is, "where is the evidence for the blood spatter pattern?" If we don't know that, then we can't determine the tools used for the job.

But the question here is motive; my guess is money. Mr. Lithgow didn't have it, Halvorson apparently had lots of it, Williams demanded Lithgow to pay back, and Mrs. Lithgow had no apparent intentions to gain it.

Even if the murder did occur at the Lithgow residence, it could be clear that a situation did occur between Mr. or Mrs. Lithgow and Mr. Halvorson. My guess is that Halvorson is Mrs. Lithgow's father, which may explain why he may have been at the Lithgow residence--Gregor could make a deal with Halvorson in order to pay his gambling debts off to Williams, but Mrs. Lithgow did not know the situation. But, I digress.

You see, Halvorson, Mr. Lithgow, and Williams were all friends--They played poker together at the Lithgow residence. Mr. Lithgow told Halvorson about his debts, decided to help Lithgow through a free roof replacement, did a shoddy replacement thus collapsing, Halvorson decided to not pay off Lithgow's debt after that, Williams killed Mr. Lithgow after not being able to pay because of the roof collapse, and Mrs. Lithgow killed Mr. Halverson after he told her about her husband debts and denial to pay after the roof collapse.

So, after putting this all together and deducing on who did it, it was the orangutan with the razor. No, it was probably double suicide.

Or perhaps, just to say it, it's a cold case. The evidence is too unclear to deduce who did it, actually. I blame a lack of planning and detail.

[LostInHyru1e]

Oh, yes, another question-

"Head trauma with a flat object" is not all the police would gather. There are differences between different flat objects. Was it metal, wooden or plastic? Was the weapon left at the house or is it missing from the scene? Is there any indication of a point or some other indication of what object could have been used? This could be the key information in the case.

Remember, people, we're supposed to ask questions and "Investigate", PowerBracelet knew that the information above was not enough to solve it on.

[CastChaos]

Question: How did Mrs.Lithgow react on the news about Mr.Lithgow's and Halvorson's death?

[Mitchfork]

How did Mr. Halvorson die?

[Fabbrizio]

Halvorson must be with Mrs. Lithgow, she's cheating on her husband! Mr. Lithgow must have killed Halvorson when he caught his wife with him.

Yes and no. The ME said that Mr. Halvorson's body was only about six hours old when they found it.

What degree were they? Were they burns or scalds? From friction or from heat? Did they char the skin?

They were actual heat burns. Not sunburns, either. Something either electric or flaming touched Mr. Lithgow there.

Do suspects 1 and 3 have Alibis?

1 was at work with Mr. Lithgow, which makes his alibi the key to a lack of an alibi. But we have nothing but that and a motive, and we can't nail him without real evidence.

Blunt head trauma is a bit too obscure, but given that, it the to ask here is, "where is the evidence for the blood spatter pattern?" If we don't know that, then we can't determine the tools used for the job.

There was no actual blood. The culprit probably cleaned up the scene before leaving. Though what the ME found on the body was more like a bruise...the tissue is too dark to make out the texture of the surface, though it was probably very smooth and hard to break...no result yet on leftovers from the murder weapon, and it wasn't at the scene.

Question: How did Mrs.Lithgow react on the news about Mr.Lithgow's and Halvorson's death?

She was nowhere to be found after the murder occurred.



@ Linkus, this is a deputy-level case. You're thinking about it too much. The stuff you're talking about would be more useful in a Private Investigator or Adrian Monk level case. And yes, there is a real answer.

EDIT:

How did Mr. Halvorson die?

He was stabbed.

Here's a hint: We assume Halvorson walked in on Mrs. Lithgow.

Edited by Powerbracelet, 17 July 2008 - 03:46 PM.

[CastChaos]

She was nowhere to be found after the murder occurred.

You said in the first post "She claims she was at home". This quite contradicts that you now say she wasn't found anywhere since then.


Had Mr.Lithgow life insurance and if yes, who was the one receive money upon his death?
Was it usual that Halvorson went into the Lithgow residence, can we know about close friend relations?

[Fabbrizio]

You said in the first post "She claims she was at home". This quite contradicts that you now say she wasn't found anywhere since then.

Had Mr.Lithgow life insurance and if yes, who was the one receive money upon his death?
Was it usual that Halvorson went into the Lithgow residence, can we know about close friend relations?

The cops contacted Mrs. Lithgow via cellphone. They asked her to come down to the station. Yes, asked, as she wasn't a suspect. When she didn't, the cops, fearing something else had transpired, went to her home and that's when they found Mr. Halvorson. Hope that clears things up, I realize now how those details would clash to someone who didn't have the whole story.

Mr. Halvorson was insured, but it was a minimal policy. Mrs. Lithgow would get it, but it was not enough to kill over.

Other than the affair that The MasterSwordsman uncovered, Mr. Halvorson had never been to the Lithgow's.

Mr. Lithgow had some drinking buddies, and a group he gambled with as I mentioned earlier. Other than that he really kept to himself.

Edited by Powerbracelet, 17 July 2008 - 05:15 PM.

[CastChaos]

Do Williams still want the money from the Lithgows or now that Mr.Lithgow is dead, he forgot about the debt altogether?

[Fabbrizio]

I honestly don't know. I didn't think about that. Let's just say he forgot the debt.