Betrayal in Blue by Mark M. Bello

Author:Mark M. Bello [Bello, Mark M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 8Grand Publications
Published: 2019-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

Crime scene preservation and recordation, witness statements, forensic reports, and crime scene photos are crucial for any investigation upon which a trial is pending. On the one hand, the results could indicate murder. On the other, Breitner’s death could be classified or ruled as a suicide, and Jack would win an acquittal.

Following the evidence dump, Micah’s forensics team descended upon the crime scene. The fact that so much relevant evidence was submerged in the lake was problematic for both sides. Unfortunately, the cops had their guy and far less interest in finding the proverbial “smoking gun” that would reveal the truth.

Micah was hoping there was evidence the police failed to look for or hadn’t found. The most critical piece of this type of evidence, the Holy Grail so to speak, would be anything (shrapnel, the pin or part of the pin, etc.) that had Bart Breitner’s fingerprint on it. Micah’s suspicions were correct: there was plenty of “leftover” evidence found at the crime scene. Even so, was any of it the crucial link to freedom for Jack Dylan?

***

Divers were going in and out of the water all day long, recovering boat residuals, small body part pieces, body fluids, bomb materials, and engine components. They worked in teams of two. While one recovered, the other was an eyewitness and processor of that recovery.

The evidence retrieval specialists were surprised at the small amount of blood and fluid found floating around the perimeter. The police didn’t retrieve much DNA evidence either. The divers were not surprised by the government investigators’ minimal findings, because those investigators presumed Jack’s guilt. An attorney of Zack Blake’s skill would have a field day poking holes at the forensic investigation at trial.

Micah’s principal underwater forensic investigator was a man named Lyle Manor. Because of his stellar reputation in the scientific community as it related to underwater evidence recovery, it was Lyle, rather than Matt Jordan, who supervised the treasure hunt. To determine whether evidence literally floated away, Manor secured and dispatched a helicopter with a high-powered scope attached in order to survey a two-mile radius from where the explosion has occurred. Unfortunately, the search produced nothing more than a few boat and engine fragments.

Manor was concerned, but hopeful, about the quality and preservation of the evidence already collected. Processing underwater evidence is unique in that it must be dried out, kept separate from other pieces, and then repackaged. While Manor and his team were adept at the process, they could not be sure government investigators shared a similar skillset.

There were two crucial issues for which the evidence recovery and analysis team were to focus. The first was the sheer volume of evidence. They found so many pieces of evidence; Zack could persuasively argue the police’s crime scene recovery techniques were lax and/or inadequate. Second, comparisons of defense-discovered evidence to police-discovered evidence might provide more significant pieces of the puzzle. Larger pieces could prove more susceptible to the testing needed to exonerate Jack.

As in all of Micah’s cases,

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