Page 20 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)
Returning to the homicide team office, DI Chapman asked the assembled detectives and civilian staff members to introduce themselves by rank and name and briefly describe their team roles.
After DC Dawn Owens introduced herself as the family liaison officer, Chapman told her that Jessica had met Michelle De Klerk, so it would be good for them to have a private discussion afterwards.
Jessica was surprised at how young Dawn looked, probably in her mid-twenties.
There was a large TV screen on the wall, and Jessica asked Chapman if she could plug her iPad into it to show the crime scene videos and photographs.
He helped her set it up and switched the TV on.
She used Google Earth to show the exact location and streets surrounding the De Klerks’ address.
‘Although they only moved in recently, Michelle De Klerk had been pestering her husband to get security cameras and a video doorbell. We found estimates from security companies and it was obviously something De Klerk intended following up on but unfortunately, he never did. The house is at the end of the terrace, and there’s no CCTV on Homer Road overlooking their wall or where they park their cars.
Mrs De Klerk’s car keys were in the hallway, so I assume that is where her husband kept the Range Rover keys and the intruder grabbed them on his way out.
The lack of security at the house could be why it was targeted for a burglary, but I’ll get to that later. ’
‘Have the house-to-house enquiries turned up anything?’ a DC asked, and Chapman answered.
‘Taff Jones, our footwear and fingerprint expert, concluded that shoe marks in the garden flower bed, kitchen, living room, basement study and hallway came from the same trainers, which he believes to be Adidas size ten. He didn’t find matching foot-marks in the main bedroom or other first-floor rooms, so it seems unlikely the intruder went upstairs.
There were also visible blood-stained footprints in the kitchen and a couple on the living room carpet leading towards the hallway from the same trainers.
We did luminol tests in the hallway, revealing the same bloodstained footprints.
’ She brought up the photographs. ‘As you can see, the tread marks are quite clear and lead to the front door, which was the intruder’s escape route. ’
‘Looks like a blue glow stick,’ one detective observed.
‘Glow sticks, like luminol, are based on chemical reactions that produce light, known as chemiluminescence. When used at a crime scene, we darken the room first and use long-exposure photography to record the blue glow, which lasts about thirty seconds.’
‘Using luminol must make your job a lot easier and speed things up,’ the detective said.
‘Yes and no. Luminol will also react to animal blood, bleaching agents and other oxidising compounds, such as those found in urine or saliva, so a positive luminol test doesn’t necessarily confirm human blood.
We still have to take samples and do more specific tests at the lab to identify human blood suitable for DNA testing. ’
Jessica played the video showing the garden’s exterior and side gate entrance, explaining the intruder’s entry route from Homer Road.
‘We believe the intruder climbed onto the neighbour’s low wall and gate, then up onto the De Klerks’ wall, and lowered himself onto the raised bedding area, where he left a shoe print. ’
‘He must be pretty fit to have climbed up and over a wall as high as that,’ an older detective commented.
Jessica agreed and had more to add. ‘Taff Jones believes a right-hand glove mark on top of the neighbour’s metal gate may be of evidential value.
’ Some team members looked puzzled, and a detective questioned how a glove mark could be helpful.
Jessica brought up photographs of the glove prints.
‘Woollen gloves can leave fibres behind. But in this case, Taff suspects the marks were left by touchscreen gloves that allow the wearer to use smartphones and tablets when wearing them.’ Jessica explained that different kinds of conductive material are woven into the fingertips and thumb of touchscreen gloves.
She said it was usually copper yarn, but some glove makers use aluminium or thermal paste.
‘The marks from the palm were consistent with a decorative stitched silicone pattern that could be unique to the glove, though, with wear and tear, the original pattern of the touch screen fingers and silicone changes, and the more they are used, the more the pattern will alter from the one left at the crime scene.’
‘Is it the same principle with shoe marks?’ DC Owens asked.
Jessica nodded. ‘We will do further research on the silicone pattern to identify the make of the glove and suppliers. We know a jemmy, or something similar, was used to force open the patio door and the safe, but from the striation marks, it appears a different implement was used on each.’
‘Does that mean there were two intruders?’ another detective asked.
‘The footmarks and other evidence we recovered indicate a lone intruder, but I can’t rule out more than one person was involved.
We also believe he may have used a rucksack or other kind of bag to carry a jemmy or other tools to break open the safe.
If he put the rucksack down on the carpet, there may be fibres from it on the carpet or soil if he put it down outside. ’
Chapman stepped forward. ‘When we identify a suspect, we obviously need to do a thorough search for the items Jessica has just mentioned.’
A detective asked if they knew what was stolen from the safe.
Jessica said Mrs De Klerk didn’t know what her husband kept in it, and only Johan could answer that question, if and when he recovered from his injuries.
Next, she informed them about the disturbance in the living room relating to the coffee table and items that could have fallen from it during a struggle between De Klerk and his assailant.
‘Taff examined the carpet and floor leading from the living room to a knife block in the kitchen. He found barefoot marks, which we believe to be Mr De Klerk’s and on top of some of them were the Adidas imprints.
This infers that at some point during the struggle in the living room, Mr De Klerk moved towards the knife block in the kitchen, followed by his attacker.
’ She brought up the photos of the area one by one.
‘Jesus, it’s a bloodbath,’ someone commented, and Jessica noticed a pale-looking Dawn put her hand to her mouth as if she was about to be sick. Jessica leaned towards Chapman and spoke quietly.
‘As you assisted Diane, would you like to explain her blood pattern analysis and interpretation to the team? I’ll project the close-up photos as you speak.’
He looked pleased as he removed his pocketbook from his jacket.
‘I made notes, so I’ll give it a go, but tell me if I go wrong.
’ Chapman spoke slowly as he repeated everything Diane said about the blood distribution in the kitchen and the likely course of events.
Then, using the photographs of the bloodstains, pooling and knife block, he described De Klerk’s movements and how he was repeatedly stabbed with one of his own household knives, which was embedded in his back before the assailant stepped in the blood and then left the house.
The team listened in silence, amazed yet appalled, as Chapman detailed the ferocity of the attack.
He added that if it hadn’t been for the quick attendance of the paramedics, De Klerk would have undoubtedly died at the scene.
When he finished, he looked at Jessica, wondering if he’d explained everything correctly.
She nodded her approval. Jessica continued. ‘Diane didn’t find any blood droplets from the kitchen to the hallway, suggesting the assailant hadn’t received an injury that bled. However, he could still have been scratched, bruised or injured in some way.’
Jessica displayed some of the electrostatic footprint lifts on the TV screen.
‘These shoe prints were recovered in the living room by the ransacked drawers and the basement study. As you can see, the tread mark is the same as the other suspect marks. No traces of blood were found in them, which implies the drawers and safe were opened before Mr De Klerk was beaten and stabbed.’
‘Do we know if anything was stolen from the living room?’ DC Owens asked.
‘Not at present, but the opening of the drawers and scattering of some of the contents may have been staged. Only the top drawers had their contents removed and thrown around the floor . . . the other drawers were open but undisturbed.’
‘I don’t get how that’s staged,’ the young detective queried.
‘I would have expected a burglar searching for hidden cash or items of value to look in all the drawers and even go upstairs to look for jewellery. He didn’t, which suggests the intruder already knew the location of the safe and maybe the contents but staged the living room to cover the fact.
I can’t say specifically what woke Mr De Klerk or made him go downstairs.
I should also add that Mr De Klerk was due to be in Lancashire over the weekend at a christening with his wife, but he pulled out at the last minute due to a problem with his wine importation business. ’