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A loud explosion shook the neighborhood around 28 Poppy Lane in Palm Coast early this morning, drawing a response from the Flagler County Sheriffs Office, a road closure and the summoning of the St. Johns County Sheriffs bomb squad.

School buses were redirected from the area, and students asked to avoid it. Poppy lane is a relatively short street that connects to two ends of Poplar Drive, which branch off of Ponce de Leon in the citys P Section. The sheriffs Crime Scene Investigation unit was also at the scene, as was the Palm Coast Fire Department. The state fire marshal was also dispatched, as was a K-9 unit.

We did respond to a report of a loud explosion this morning, and when we arrived we found some evidence that thered been something occur, Palm Coast Acting Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill said. There was no active hazard. The scene was cleared to enable the sheriffs investigation to continue. The state fire marshal aside, the local fire department is not involved in the investigation.

The explosion, heard as far south as the areas of Royal Palms Parkway and Point Pleasant Drive, was reported shortly after 5 a.m. It wasnt initially clear whether it came from within the house or outside of it. Residents reported it smelled like fireworks. Transformers explode atop utility poles from time to time, with bright flashes and explosive bangs that can be heard throughout a neighborhood. In this case, however, a hole in the ground was reported in the propertys yard, and there were early indications that a makeshift device was the source of the explosion.

We saw nothing to indicate that it would be a transformer, Berryhill said. Were not in the determination business per se, once it gets in the investigation level.

Eric Robinson, 30, the resident at the Poppy Lane address, has been on community control, or house arrest, after failing to successfully complete a three-year drug-offender probation term for cocaine possession and tampering with evidence. Last July his probation officer filed a probation-violation report charging that hed not been making his required paymentshe was $360 in arrears, according to the reporteven though hed been working at a boat manufacturers in Volusia County. His probation was revoked on Aug. 5.

The property at 28 Poppy is adjacent to that of Carol Bacha, known as Mother Elizabeth, the former candidate for Flagler County School Board in 2020 and for Palm Coast mayor last July.

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Explosion Rocks Neighborhood Around 28 Poppy Lane in Palm Coast; Investigation Ongoing - FlaglerLive.com

The Bridgeport, Conn. police officer who was a supervisor on the case of Lauren Smith-Fields has retired amid a national controversy over the departments investigation into the 23-year-old Black womans death.

Detective Angel Llanos of Bridgeport Police Department retired on Friday,a representative for the department tells Rolling Stone, following Mayor Joe Ganims announcement on Sunday that Llanos and another officer, Detective Kevin Cronin, had been put on administrative leave. These suspensions came amid an internal investigation into the cases of Smith-Fields as well as Brenda Lee Rawls, both of whom died in December. Both of their families have said that they were not properly informed of the deaths, and alleged that adequate care was not put into the investigations. Llanos was the supervising officer in both cases regarding death notifications, the spokesperson said. When asked if Officer Llanos would still be eligible for retirement benefits, the spokesperson said that would be up to the Office of Internal Affairs and the detectives union.

Both officers are now subject of the Bridgeport Police Departments Internal Affairs investigation and disciplinary action for their alleged lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police procedure for both cases.

I want to express my condolences to the families of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls, said Ganim. It is an unaccepted failure if policies were not followed. To the families, friends, and all who care about human decency that should be shown in these situations in this case, by members of the police department Im very sorry. The officer who was in charge of overseeing these matters has retired from the department as of this past Friday.

Smith-Fields, 23, was found unresponsive in her home after meeting up for a date with a man she met on the dating app Bumble. Smith-Fields was reportedly found bleeding from her nose when the man called police. (The man has not been charged with any crimes, and is not considered a suspect in the case.) Smith-Fields family who learned of her death days later, after finding a note from the landlord on the door found a used condom with semen and an unidentified pill in her apartment when cleaning up her apartment over a week after her death. According to the family, detectives were unresponsive and did not conduct a proper crime scene investigation until over a week after Smith-Fields death. (After she was found to have been killed by an overdose of alcohol and fentanyl, among other substances, the states vice task-force and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration opened a criminal investigation into her death.)

That same day Rawls, 53, died also after visiting a male acquaintance who lived near her. After not hearing from her for approximately two days, her family went to her home and then to the home of the man who she said she was visiting last. It was then and through the acquaintance that they learned of her death. When Rawls family called the police they had no information, it wasnt until they called the Connecticut Medical Examiner that they were able to confirm Rawls death and locate her body.

In both cases, the families accuse the detectives of not responding to phone calls and providing information regarding their deceased loved one. In the case of the Smith-Fields family, they say they were told by their detective to stop calling.

Insensitivity, disrespect in action or deviation from policy will not be tolerated by me or others in this administration, Ganim concluded on Sunday. Ganim noted that both Smith-Fields and Rawls investigations are actively open and have been reassigned to personnel in the department.

The Mayors statement yesterday is a step in the right direction, Darnell Crosland, family attorney representing both Smith-Fields Rawls, wrote to Rolling Stone. The city is liable for the behavior of its police department and its officers. I am pleased that the Mayor has accepted that liability publicly and has apologized to the families for the suffering they have endured.

While the Mayors sentiments may show progress, Crosland says, he is still pursuing a lawsuit on behalf of Smith-Fields family for punitive damages. As of now, Rawls family has not confirmed whether or not they are filing a lawsuit. The family has had to grieve and advocate for justice at the same time. That is unfair and unacceptable.

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Supervising Detective on Lauren Smith-Fields Case Retires Amid Suspension, Internal Affairs Investigation - Rolling Stone

On July 31, 2015, the Pensacola Sheriffs Office made a welfare check at the home of Richard Smith, a 49-year-old IT specialist for the Department of Homeland Security.

His boss had reached out to officials when Richard failed to come to work for three days. No one answered the door of the home Richard shared with his mother, Voncile, 77, who was widowed and retired, and his brother, John Smith, 47, who worked at Walmart.

Police contacted Richards half-brother, Donald Wayne Hartung, who gave them permission to enter the house. Inside, authorities found Voncile, Richard, and John dead.Each one was buried separately under a mountain of clothing and blankets, investigators told Family Massacre, airing Fridays at 9/8c on Oxygen.

Once the medical examiner investigators arrived on scene, we pulled the blankets off, and you could tell that they had been there for at least a couple of days, said Wayne Wright, an investigator with the State Attorneys Office.

John and Voncile both had injuries to their heads and gashes in their necks. She also had defensive cuts on her hands and part of her pinky finger was missing. Richard had been beaten, stabbed, and shot in his right ear.

A bloody hammer and paper towels, as well as cigarette butts, were collected at the scene. Hartung was transported to the Sheriffs Office, where Escambia County Homicide Detective Matt Infinger hoped he could shed light on the brutal triple homicide.

Hartung, Vonciles son from a previous marriage, said he last saw his mother and John three days earlier when he cooked dinner for them at their house. He was their caretaker. Voncile had trouble walking and John had special needs. Hed left a plate of food in the oven for Richard, he said.

Donald agreed to give us a DNA sample, said Infinger, adding that he had no criminal record and was being cooperative. We had no reason not to believe him. He was not a suspect.

Because the bodies were covered the medical examiner couldnt pinpoint when the murders happened. It was estimated that the family was killed at least two days before their discovery.

An internet search turned up the idea that during cult or ritualistic slaying, blankets and clothes are heaped on bodies to warm them. A blue moon, used by pagan and Wiccan followers to guide rituals, occurred around the time of the murders, which added heft to this theory.

There was some speculation that maybe the bodies were to be kept warm until the actual blue moon occurred, which would have been in a few days, said Wright.

At a press conference outlining the crime, a sheriff stated that the method of the murder positions of bodies led us to believe that there's a potential that was a ritualistic killing.

The leader of a local Wiccan group, however, said the victims were not associated with any of the area's pagan or Wiccan organizations,reported the Associated Press.

But at the press conference, the murders were called the Blue Moon Killings. Suddenly this was making headlines not just in Pensacola, Florida, but throughout the world, said journalist Mollye Barrows.

Investigators dug deeper into the background of the Smiths, who, sources said, stuck to themselves.Detectives considered the possibility that Richards hush-hush work with Homeland Security could be tied to the crime, but a thorough investigation cleared this as a line of investigation.

We conducted another interview with Donald Hartung and during the interviews with Donald I learned that he practiced Wicca, said Infinger. This was a red flag.

Police obtained a warrant to search Hartungs home. They found a prayer room and some books about witchcraft but no weapons or anything connected to the triple murder.

Just because somebody has an alternative belief system doesn't necessarily mean that they're doing anything wrong, said Wright.

But Hartung remained a suspect and investigators explored his background. A coworker told them that Hartung bragged of his familys wealth and that he stood to inherit that fortune.

An interview with a relative of the Smith family suggested that Hartung, whod been portrayed as a caretaker, had another side.

He was mean, said Faye Haas, Hartungs cousin. If he saw a weakness in you as a child or something, it would pick on that weakness. People also said he was jealous of Richards success and had regularly sought financial help from his mother.

Investigators found that Voncile Smiths estate was worth close to $1 million. Although Hartung had been excluded from the will, he would be the sole heir if his half-brothers were deceased.

Investigators interviewed the Smiths neighbors to check Hartungs account about his comings and goings before the bodies were found. He said that hed left the home before sundown. Neighbors recalled seeing his car there later than that and added that when he drove away, he kept his headlights off.

Detectives hoped that DNA evidence collected from the crime scene could move their case forward. Hartungs DNA was found on cigarette butts mixed in with paper towels covered in Vonciles blood.

On October 27, 2015, Hartung was arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff's Department on three counts of first-degree murder.

Evidence against Hartung was mostly circumstantial, though. But as the trial approached, investigators received a letter from a jailhouse informant.

Hartung had talked to the cellmate because hed expressed interest in the Wiccan religion, investigators said. The informant claimed that Hartung told him he piled blankets and clothes on top of his family to make it harder to determine when they died.

The informant also volunteered shocking information about Vonciles missing fingertip. Donald told him he had to torture his mother to get the combination of the safe in the home, said Infinger. We never even found it during the crime scene investigation.

Investigators concluded the murders werent part of a ritual but were motivated by money. Hartung had been written out of his mother's will and believed he would never get the money nearly $900,000 unless his family members died, prosecutors said, nbcmiami.com reported.

During Hartungs trial, the cellmate testified to the gruesome way he killed his family: beating them with a claw hammer, torturing his mother, slitting their throats, all while after making dinner for them, said Barrows.

Hartung, 63, was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in February 2020 without the chance of parole.

He is currently serving his sentence at the Graceville Correctional Facility in Jackson County, Florida.

For more on the case and others like it, watch Family Massacre, airing Fridays at 9/8c on Oxygen, or stream episodes here.

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Blue Moon Killer Tortured Mom And Murdered His Own Family After Making Them Dinner - Oxygen

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The crime scene investigator returns the microphone to its clip and begins the drive to the latest assignment. A crime scene investigation begins well before the CSI enters a structure, an open field or wooded area. Usually the radio dispatch message is brief and seldom reveals the full nature of the incident. Most often this is done to avoid drawing on-lookers and the media who may be monitoring the dispatch frequency. As the CSI turns onto the street in question, his first obligation is to "turn on" his powers of observation. He may make a mental note of what he sees, hears and smells-or better still-records them on a digital voice recorder. His first reaction to the scene must be, "Does anything look out of place? What odors may be noticeable and are there unusual sounds.

Hopefully the first responders haven't caused too much disruption to any potential physical evidence. Before even stepping inside the structure, ingress and egress to it must be controlled. Sentries at all possible entrances should be put in place. The CSI, after learning the basic facts-in this case it appears that a white male appears to have a single bullet wound the head and rigor has set in-- this from the first responders, so the CSI will establish the boundaries of the crime scene. Then out comes the crime scene tape.

Again before entering the structure an exterior survey is needed. This may be nothing more that walking around the exterior of the structure to see if any obvious evidence is apparent. This would include open windows, damaged doors, ladders and the like. The question the CSI is asking is how was entry made to the structure?Once indoors, the CSI will make a visual survey of the actual room in which the incident reported took place. This is a good time to also take overall photos of the scene. He will then survey adjoining rooms to determine if these spaces may have information relative to the incident.Most law enforcement agencies conduct such investigations of an unattended death (no physician present) as a possible homicide-until it is determined otherwise.Unlike some TV dramas, the CSI is on site for the purpose of finding, evaluating and collecting physical evidence. In most agencies, statements from witnesses and survivors are handled by the investigators/detectives.

Of course, during this entire survey period, the CSI is taking notes and/or recordings of his sensory observations.

The very nature of what appears to be obvious should trigger the thought-processes of the CSI. What happened here, when did it happen and what sort of evidence should be present? Questions that should be answered initially are:

Each crime scene may well generate other questions to be answered by the CSI. The above list is simply the most obvious questions.

The CSI's notes can serve as a very critical part of the overall physical evidence available from the scene. The investigator must keep in mind that months or even years later this case may go to trial. Your notes must present the full story of what you saw and any impressions the evidence gave you. Avoid speculation as to what occurred unless you have physical evidence to back it up.

Be certain to have overall, medium range and close-up shots of any potential physical evidence. Be certain to include scales in the close-up shots.

Many CSIs will prepare the rough sketch at the scene and will complete a detailed sketch back at headquarters. The rough sketch should contain no more or no less than the final, detailed sketch. It is always recommended that an assistant help out when taking measurements, and it's a good idea is to have this individual verify each measurement to avoid questions later.

Go over every square inch of the scene in an attempt to locate even the smallest particle of evidence. (This brings to mind a recent case wherein a woman was brutally beaten to death in her bedroom. Several days after the crime scene was released to the family, the victim's sister found a tooth from the victim on the bedroom carpet).Many crime scenes warrant the use of an evidence vacuum in the scene to collect any potential microparticle evidence such as hair and fibers. This step should be performed prior to any close in inspection of the victim.

As potential evidence is located it should be recorded on the crime scene sketch as well as in photographs. If your agency offers the luxury of having a videographer on hand, video often tells a compelling story to a jury.

Crime scene evidence is useless unless it is properly marked and packaged and a Chain of Evidence is begun from the time it is picked up. Use the proper type of containers for all evidence collected. Never package objects wet with blood or other physiological fluids in plastic bags, as this will accelerate decomposition. Label and identify all evidence collected, including the notes taken by the investigator.

Of course, the digital age we live in takes note of electronic devices like computers and cellphones. This type of evidence requires special handling and only experts trained in working with digital items should be permitted to handle and collect these items.

Be certain that every package containing physical evidence is collectedleave nothing behind. Make a final walk-through to be certain that all potential evidence is bagged and tagged.

While it is normal for others having an interest in the property to want to regain access, the CSI should not be rushed, coaxed or bullied into releasing the scene until the job is done.

Don Penven has more than 35 years direct and indirect experience in law enforcement. He currently serves as a technical support representative and technical writer for Sirchie Finger Print Labs. He maintains the Blog: http://www.CSITECHBLOG.com and can be reaced at dpenven@sirchie.com

This article was first posted athttp://www.csitechblog.com/2012/10/basic-stages-for-a-crime-scene-investigationpossible-homicide.html

Article submitted by the AuthorArticle posted: November 1, 2012

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Basic Stages for a Crime Scene Investigation - Possible ...