The story of people who 'make regimes' for corpses

(Baonghean) - They are officers and soldiers of the Criminal Techniques Department (PC54) of the Provincial Police, who have always been silently behind each case and project. With a sense of responsibility, passion for the profession, and human conscience, the secrets of the crime scene, records, and corpses have been revealed, contributing greatly to helping investigative agencies at all levels quickly solve cases.

Decoding the mysteries

After many appointments were interrupted by a busy work schedule, I finally had the opportunity to meet Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Nhung - Captain of the Crime Scene Investigation Team (PC54). Just returning to the room after a business trip, Lieutenant Colonel Nhung started the conversation with us with a relieved smile.

He said that his job was like that, he was out all day, so it was normal to make appointments and then break them. Sometimes, he promised his wife and children that he would be home for dinner that night, but only 5 minutes later, he had to call his wife to apologize and then go on his mission.

Provincial police officers and soldiers entered the crime scene in Phong village (Tuong Duong) to conduct an investigation. Photo provided by the police

With nearly 20 years of experience in crime scene investigation, Lieutenant Colonel Nhung said that he has spent more time with the dead than with the living. Every time there is a murder, traffic accident, fire, theft, etc., they set out with the sole mission of clarifying the cause, helping the investigation agency quickly solve the cases accurately and objectively.

“The crime scene is a broad concept, it can be on the road, in the deep forest, in a car, in a room... so it is difficult to describe all the specifics of my work. Crime scene investigation is an activity in the criminal proceedings stage. Many times, this is the key to opening the investigation and clarifying criminal cases” - Mr. Nhung said.

During his working time, Mr. Pham Van Nhung has not forgotten the theft of 100kg of ivory in the evidence warehouse of the Vinh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Department. When arriving at the scene, Mr. Nhung saw that the window had been broken, but the main doors to the warehouse were still locked with 3 layers. Inside the window was a heavy iron cabinet that was still standing upright, not falling over. Mr. Phan guessed that if the thief had crawled through the window, the cabinet would have to be moved and possibly knocked over. Observing the bottom of the cabinet, he saw that there was movement, the layers of dust did not match each other.

From those establishments, he asserted that the thief could not have entered through the window, but must have entered through the main door. And the subject either had the key, or had the collusion of the security guard. From those observations, the investigation agency clarified that the real thief was Dinh Thi Tra Giang (warehouse keeper), Dang Ngoc The (office worker) and Ta Duc Anh (security guard) of the Vinh City Civil Judgment Enforcement Office.

Officers and soldiers of the Criminal Police Department appraise the seal to serve the investigation. Photo: PV

But those are the scenes that have not changed much, for murder cases or traffic accidents, the crime scene investigation is much more difficult. Because many victims are discovered months after death, combined with the weather, the scene has changed. Or there are cases of fire, all the objects have turned to ashes, so finding the cause is not a simple matter.

Like the case of the murder of 4 people in Phong village (Tuong Duong), the crime scene was located in a deep, remote forest with few people passing by, so finding the cause was very complicated. However, with the goal of clarifying the method, manner, and means of committing the crime, the officers and soldiers who conducted the crime scene investigation did not miss any evidence, even the smallest ones such as fingerprints, blood stains, skin cells, etc. From there, many key points were revealed as a basis for other departments to determine the right direction to investigate the case.

Make a "regime" for the dead

People often say that “death is the end”. However, for the officers of the Forensic Investigation Team (PC54), “forcing” the corpses to speak up is both a duty and a matter of conscience so that the deceased do not have to bear the injustice of the perpetrators being at large. Forensic work is simply understood as performing an autopsy to find clues of the crime left on the victim’s body and determine the cause of death.

With 17 years of experience in the profession, Captain Tran Van Hai - Head of the Forensic Examination Team (PC54) has participated in the dissection of thousands of corpses. On average, he has to participate in the dissection of 300 corpses each year. As if to prove it, Captain Tran Van Hai flipped through his work book and said, it is not yet the end of August but he has participated in 200 cases. There are days when he has to deal with 2-3 corpses so he does not dare to go home. "Everyone knows that this is a difficult and arduous job, dealing with many toxic things, but someone has to do it. If I don't do it, someone else will, so I have to work hard," he shared.

Young officers and soldiers of the Criminal Techniques Department diligently study, innovate, and conduct scientific research to fulfill their assigned tasks. Photo: PV

While having dinner, a telegram was sent to tell them to leave; in the middle of the night, in the bitter cold, sneaking out of the house to travel hundreds of kilometers into the deep forest to “handle a case” became a daily routine for them. Sometimes, many cases occurred in one day, so they had to run from one locality to another. For corpses that died in the forest, died for a long time, and were decomposed, finding the cause of death was very difficult.

“Difficulty is not impossible, sometimes we have to race against time to keep the body from losing traces, so that the perpetrator has not had a chance to escape far. Or sometimes when the victim’s family chooses a good time to embalm, we also have to take advantage of the whole night to examine. Like the two recent accidents that killed 6 people in Quy Hop, our brothers worked from afternoon to the next morning,” Captain Hai confided.

Only by sitting down and talking can we fully understand that your work always requires caution, precision, objectivity, and comprehensiveness to serve the investigation and solving of cases. If you miss even the smallest detail during the crime scene investigation or autopsy, the process of finding the culprit will encounter many difficulties.

However, with a sense of responsibility and passion for science and creativity, the Criminal Police Force promptly discovered and processed traces and evidence and provided important information to help investigative agencies at all levels quickly investigate and solve cases. The conclusions of the appraisal agencies have become important and indispensable evidence documents in handling crimes and violations of the law on security and order in the area./.

Pham Bang