Criminalistic Characteristics of Murder

Murder is the the act of unlawfully killing one human being by another.
Typically, criminal proceedings for murder are instituted in the following cases:
> of discovering a dead body with signs of violent death;
> of discovering parts of a dismembered body;
> of a person disappearing under circumstances suggesting a possible murder.
To give a criminalistic description of the crime and select methods of inquiry, it is essential to know whether it was an "open" or a "secret" murder.
An "open" murder is committed either in the presence of other persons by a person known to them, or in their absence but without any attempt on the part of the murderer to conceal the fact or his guilt. Qualified as "open" murders are also cases when the offender is apprehended on the scene of the crime as a result of got pursuit, or when he voluntarily gives himself up.
A "secret" murder is committed in the absence of other persons, the offender is doing everything possible to conceal his involvement in the committed with other persons being present but not being able to see the offender well enough and the offender being able to escape.
In the first case, the investigator concentrates on verifying the testimony of the accused and witness and its correspondence to reality, on finding out the motives and other circumstances of the crime. In the second case, the main objective of the inquiry is to trace the criminal.
An important part of a criminalistic definition of murder is information concering the manner of committing and concealing a crime.
The mode of perpetration may be surmised from the number of participants, the physical strength of the offender and the victim, and the offender's having or not having a weapon to commit a crime.
The mode of concealing a crime depends on the scene of murder (the offender's or the victim's domicile, neutral territory), the offender's distinctive characteristics (physical strength, certain occupational skills, age, sex, and other data) , the presence or absence of witnesses.
One of the factors determining the offender's choice of mode of committing and especially concealing a murder is the existence ( or absence) of personal relationship between him and the victim. A murderer unknown to the victim (if the crime is not committed in the home of the latter) normally tries to conceal only his involvement in the murder and does not take any steps to conceal the fact itself. To conceal his involvement, he tries to destroy all traces on his clothes, body and on the scene of the crime, after which he tries to escape. Occasionally, an offender employs surface camouflage to prolong the search for the body (dragging the body off the road, using branches, grass or snow to hide the body, etc. ).
If there has been some relationship between the offender and the victim, and he latter's death may cast suspicion of murder upon the offender, he will often select a mode of killing that would make it appear to be death from other causes (like drowning, poisoning, suffocation, hanging, falling from a height and the like). If an offender believes that there are sufficient grounds to suspect him of murder, he takes steps to conceal the crime by destroying or hiding the body or trying to prevent the identification of the victim. Sometimes he only tries to conceal the real cause of death--- he "stages" a murder by other people, homicide by misadvanture or in self-defence, etc.
Concealment of traces of a crime is, as a rule, concomitant with consciously incorrect explanations of the incident, with inducement and coercion of witnesses into misprision or perjury.
Murder is household tools, chance objects that happen to be at hand (like a stick, stone or bottle), firearms, or poison. A premeditated murder is sometimes committed with a specially prepared "non-standard" weapon or means. Its choice is primarily determined by the motives of the crime, the time when the criminal intent originated, and the scene of murder.
The scene of murder is in most cases that of an offender's or his victim's domicile (a flat, store-room, outbuildings or the like). Its establishment makes it possible to find traces elucidating the ways and means in which the crime was found on the dead body, on its clothing and on the details of the scene. They include: first, marks of the offender's hands, feet or other parts of the body, parts of his clothing, criminal weapons and other articles; second hair, particles of skin, blood, saliva, other secretions, details of the offender's clothes, and miscellaneous objects; third traces of his actions (inflicted injuries, damage to the victim's clothes, changes in the scene); fourth signs of struggle.
An indispensable element of a criminalistic description of murder is information about the time of its commission. The time is established within the limits of twenty-four hours or less, and sometimes within minutes. The establishment of the exact time may be required when an accused pleads an alibi and in some other cases.
An essential element of a criminalistic description of wilful murder is data showing the motives of the perpetrated crime. Rather often murders are committed from mercenary motives and hooliganism. Jealousy, revenge, the desire to get rid of a relative who has become an encumbrance, and other similar motives are characteristic of an offender personally related to the victim. Motives of murder are sometimes connected with a victim's official and social activity which affected the offender's interests.Wilful murders are also committed to conceal another crime or to remove obstacles to its perpetration. Wilful murder may be committed with malice aforethough of instantaneous. This manifests itself in different circumstances of the commision and concealment of crime (criminal tools used, degree of gravity and distribution of bodily injuries, time and scene of crime, etc.).