Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator

Update Available. NIJ has released an update to this guide. The update is the result of a collaborative effort to present the most up-to-date information about the issues confronting death investigators today. View the June 2011 update Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator - Technical Update.

Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator describes a study that focused on the establishment of guidelines for conducting death investigations. The principal purpose of the study, initiated in June 1996, was to identify, delineate, and assemble a set of investigative tasks that should and could be performed at every death scene. These tasks would serve as the foundation of the guide for death scene investigators. This research was based on the collective knowledge of three multidisciplinary content area expert groups. The focus was on the death scene, the body, and the interactive skills and knowledge that must be applied to ensure a successful case outcome.