Three Ways To Solve A Crime: Part 2— Witness Testimony
This is part two in a three-part series overviewing how investigators solve crimes. If you haven’t read my post covering the role of evidence in criminal investigations, I recommend you start there first!
Outside of a video recording of a crime in progress, a solid witness who saw what happened is the next best thing. In fact, locating and interviewing witnesses is a fundamental skill that all investigators must possess. Show me an investigator who’s not good with witnesses, and I’ll show you someone who’s probably not a very good investigator.
Witnesses generally fall into one of two categories: those who know they possess useful information and those who possess useful information but don’t know it. Imagine walking down the street and watching as a teenager ripped a purse off the arm of an old lady and then ran away. You would probably recognize that you had just witnessed a crime. You would likely go check on the victim to make sure she wasn’t injured, and possibly even call the police and help her report the crime. All the while, there would be no doubt in your mind that you possessed valuable information that could help catch the thief. You would know that you are a witness.
Now imagine walking downtown past a street-corner vendor and stopping to take a look at some of the merchandise. A beautiful silver bracelet catches your eye, and you decide to buy it from the polite young teenage salesman. After all, he looks like such an industrious young fellow and he should be rewarded for all his hard work, right? What you don’t know is that the bracelet came from a stolen purse and that industrious young lad is the thief who stole it. You are also unaware that you have just witnessed a crime — possession of stolen property. You now have valuable knowledge that could be used to solve that crime, but you just don’t know it (although you probably should have known better than to buy street-corner jewelry to start with).
In both of these scenarios, the witness’s knowledge is of equal value to the investigator. But tracking down the latter witness is often more difficult because they’re oblivious to the fact that they saw anything out of the ordinary. Witnesses who know they’re witnesses commonly seek out the authorities to report what they have seen. But those who don’t recognize their status as a witness must be located by the investigator.
Locating Witnesses
One of the best places to start when locating witnesses is at the crime scene. In addition to utilizing physical evidence to identify witnesses as discussed in the previous post, stand at the same location where the incident happened, look around, and start by asking yourself, “Who could have seen or heard something that happened here?” Residential areas often provide a plethora of nearby neighbors. Industrial settings can be rife with co-workers, people working at adjacent businesses, and customers — any number of whom could help you uncover the next piece of the puzzle. Knock on doors, introduce yourself, and get a feel for who frequents the area. What does normal look like around there?
For non-homicide crimes against people, the victim is often the best witness of all. In addition to providing a detailed narrative about what they experienced, victims can often provide investigators with leads on other people who may have seen (or have further information about) the crime. A victim’s level of cooperation with investigators is often indicative of the success or failure of the investigation itself and should not be taken for granted.
The important thing to keep in mind when identifying witnesses is that it’s usually a numbers game. The vast majority of people you approach are not going to have information pertinent to the investigation. But you have to talk with everyone to find out who does have the information you need. This means that you’re going to spend a lot of time talking with people who know nothing in order to reach those who do know something. For every ten people you interview, only one or two might actually be witnesses. But there’s often no other way to find them than by the process of elimination. Locating witnesses has little to do with precision, and is more about casting a wide net.
Interviewing Witnesses
Once you’ve located your witnesses, the next step is speaking with them to ascertain what knowledge they have about the crime under investigation. You should enter this endeavor with as few assumptions as possible. Witnesses will generally talk to you about what they think is important. This may not always align with what you think is most relevant to the case, but patience is key here.
Let’s say you’re speaking with a neighbor who lives next door to a crime scene and she keeps harping on the fact that the homeowner’s vehicle was parked on the street in front of the house the night before the crime was discovered. To you, this may seem like an irrelevant detail. After all, the vehicle is registered to that address and it’s perfectly normal for people to park in front of their house. But what you don’t realize is that for the past ten years this neighbor has lived next door, she has never seen the homeowner park on the street in front of their house. They always park in the driveway. This is something that definitely warrants further digging and could be easily missed if you go into the interview with the wrong mindset.
A solid approach to witness interviews is to begin by providing the witness with a general summary of the issue under investigation. Follow that up with a few open-ended questions to get them talking about what they observed or might know. During this initial part of the interview, avoid questions that are likely to elicit a simple “yes” or “no” answer. Those won’t do you much good right now. Aim for something more like, “Tell me about anything you remember happening outside your house yesterday between lunch and dinner,” and, “Tell me about anything out of the ordinary happening in the neighborhood the past few weeks.”
As the witness is answering these initial questions, allow them to speak freely and go in just about whatever direction they feel is important. While you’ll likely get trapped by the lonely old cat lady recounting a 50-year history of her neighborhood from time to time, you’ll also uncover some really solid leads of which you were previously unaware. While listening, make a mental note of any items the witness touches on but need more clarification. Be careful not to interrupt them, but rather circle back to these items after they finish speaking to ask whatever pointed questions you feel are necessary to flesh out these items.
One of the more enjoyable ways I like to end witness interviews is by appealing to their inner amateur detective and asking them something like, “If you were in my shoes and had to figure this thing out, how would you do it? What am I missing here?”
You’d be shocked how many people over the years have provided me with really good ideas and investigatory approaches. Among other things, I’d routinely receive responses such as, “I’d go talk with Joe, he’s always over at that house,” or, “You’ve got to talk with the ex-girlfriend that drives that little red convertible.” Often, this would be the first time I had ever heard of Joe or the convertible-driving ex-girlfriend. Had I not asked this question, I likely never would have identified them as potential witnesses so quickly.
Like most things in life, the key to locating and obtaining information from witnesses is a little patience and a lot of hard work. If you’re diligent enough with your investigation to find them, even a single witness can crack a case wide open and help you get the answers you need.
