evidence

KN, p. 299 “Happy 11th Anniversary!”

In 2010, I finished writing a novel featuring Charlie and Sheila Kerrian as a dedicated police detective and his equally dedicated educator wife. I also wrote a few articles in 2010 developing back story for the happily married couple experiencing life while Charlie recovered from an on-the-job-injury. He had time on his hands between rehab sessions, so he kept a notebook while he looked into crimes in the greater NY area and opened up about their lives in general.

 

I did this as a marketing tool to get the word out about the book and was delighted when readers asked for more. While attending Writers’ Police Academy that year, I was encouraged to start a website and put the articles out there to a wider audience. The book was never published (very long story) but more than 300 posts later, we are celebrating eleven years of Kerrian’s Notebook, with an international audience that happily keeps growing.

 

Along the way, I had a slew of requests for the posts to be combined into books, and Kerrian’s Notebook, Volumes 1 & 2 were created. Find them on Amazon, in e-book form.

Kerrian’s Notebook, Volume 1

Kerrian’s Notebook, Volume 2

 

Here are the ten most popular posts from the eleven years, as decided by you and all the readers around the world. You are a mix of law enforcement officers, professional writers, and civilians who love to read the behind the scenes info found on KN. Click on the titles to read the posts again or enjoy them for the very first time.

 

#10 – What Does a Texas Ranger Do?

 

#9 – How Big Is That Jail Cell?

 

#8 – CSI Techs – What Is That Smell?

 

#7 – What Does A Firefighter Wear?

 

#6 – The Stokes Basket Rescue Method

 

#5 – Underwater Evidence and Body Recovery: Lakes and Bodies of Water

 

#4 – What Happens in an Ambulance?

 

#3 – How Many Bodies at the Scene?

 

#2 – 100 Ways to Die an Unnatural Death

 

#1 – How to Become a Texas Ranger

 

Here’s some great news to begin year #12:

 

There will be a special Anniversary Drawing in honor of sharing eleven years of fun, facts, and a few dead bodies. If you’re a subscriber to the newsletter, details will be included in the next one. If not a subscriber, sign up now and be eligible to win a mystery, novel of suspense, or thriller.

 

Thank you one and all! I couldn’t have done it without your fabulous comments,  suggestions, and continuing readership.

 

Stay tuned for the next Kerrian’s Notebook.   🙂

 

KN, p. 283 “Twelve Calls from Dispatch”

Some light-hearted fun for the holidays – sing it to the tune of that famous song “The Twelve Days of…” and change the number of the Dispatch call to fit the verse. You know how it goes. 

LOL

 

 

On the first call from Dispatch, our first assignment was…
A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the second call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the third call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the fourth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.


On the fifth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the sixth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.


On the seventh call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the eighth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the ninth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the tenth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the eleventh call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Eleven Techs collecting

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

On the twelfth call from Dispatch, our new assignment was…

Twelve lawyers advising

Eleven Techs collecting

Ten cops patrolling

Nine chocolate donuts

Eight P.I.s searching

Seven suspects fleeing

Six burglars climbing

Five… rescue… calls…

Four murder scenes

Three accidents

Two running thieves and

A stranded kitten up in a tree.

 

May 2022 be crime-free for you and yours!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

KN, p. 264 “Crime Scene Dioramas – ‘Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death’ “

 

F.G. Lee Diorama “Attic”

Miniatures have always intrigued and impressed me, whether individual glass creations or furniture/decorative pieces made for dollhouses. The detail and craftsmanship needed for the exquisite designs requires a steady hand, lots of patience, and really good eyesight. A great magnifier comes in handy as well.

 

Not long ago, I binge-watched an old police procedural show, Rizzoli & Isles, that usually got the details right and often featured interesting forensic tools used during the investigations. One of the episodes showcased crime scene dioramas, an item new to me, but not to the field of forensics.

 

I researched the method of replicating specific scenes as shown in R & I and found that the technique originated back in the 1940s with Frances Glessner Lee, a woman fascinated by, and well versed in, miniatures. The first woman police captain in the U.S., she devised the dollhouse sized true crime scenes to “find the truth in a nutshell,” and to assist in training investigators to search for details they might otherwise miss. Her work in this area earned her the name of “mother of forensic science” as well helping to found the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard University, where the dioramas were kept and studied.

F.G. Lee Diorama “Living Room” detail

 

The dioramas are so true to life that they contain details like teeny bullet holes, blood pools, headlines on newspapers, ‘rope’ made from thread, made-to-scale (one inch to one foot) bodies with accurately placed wounds, fully stocked kitchens, and much more. This fascinating way of studying grim crime scenes, preserved the information gleaned from the evidence in a way that no other method at the time did. Some crime scene photographs were taken back then, but not with the inch by inch digital coverage or video that we employ today. Lee took meticulous notes at the actual scenes and transferred that to her dioramas, sometimes taking five years to complete.

 

After Lee’s death in 1962, the nineteen remaining dioramas were transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland, and were on display at the Smithsonian in 2017-18. Modern day homicide investigation trainees can still benefit from these re-creations and in fact participate in classes where they study the dioramas and come up with solutions to the crimes depicted. Emily Rancourt, former police crime scene investigator now teaching at George Mason University, toured the Smithsonian exhibit with colleagues and said, “You don’t want your first time coming on a crime scene to be a real crime scene.” Trainees have an opportunity to develop observational skills before having to do so in the field.

 

The 21st century has brought a renewed interest to crime scene dioramas. One person in this specialized arena, Abigail Goldman, creates modern day ‘Dieoramas’ that have been featured in art galleries, on radio shows, and in newspapers in the United States. She has worked as an investigator for the public defender in Bellingham, Washington, re-creating murder scenes. Her larger dieoramas are 1:87 scale — the human figures in each work are under an inch tall. The scenes range from 8 inches square to more than 3 feet long.

 

A. Goldman Dieorama

 

Interested in making a diorama of your own? Some high schools and colleges assign the projects, requiring the work to be done with miniatures readily available in toy stores and to be presented in shoe boxes. If you do make one, let us know the challenges in doing so.

 

 

*Dioramas by Lee photos: courtesy of the Smithsonian

*Rancourt quote: Washington Post, November, 2017. “Can bloody dioramas show how to investigate a murder? These forensic experts say yes.” By Tom Jackman

*Abigail Goldman – check out her website http://abigailgoldman.com/

 

 

 

Scroll to Top