A woman is found dead in her apartment. There is no evidence of extensive trauma to the body. She shows no entry or exit wound from a bullet on her body, ruling out the potential of a shooting. There are no lacerations on her body, no defense wounds, and no ligature marks, which ruled out a fight or being bound. She was not stabbed nor was she raped. Her body is cold and stiff, implying that livor, rigor, and algor mortis has set in. The medical examiner estimates the victim has been dead between 2-3 days. After running a toxicology exam, she’s found to have Xanax, alcohol, and marijuana in her system. She did not have a prescription to Xanax and was not known to smoke marijuana. There are three potential suspects that are brought to court.
The first is the woman’s roommate. The second is the woman’s partner. The third is her jealous ex. The roommate has a prescription to Xanax and is known to smoke marijuana, but could not have done it because they were not in town at the time of the murder. The partner was supposed to come over, but was unable to because they were visiting their sick grandmother. The ex had motive and no alibi, but they could not match any potential DNA evidence to them.
After deliberation, the jury comes to a decision. They believe the partner was responsible for it. The roommate had a solid alibi. The ex had no ties to the crime scene. The partner had access to the Xanax, alcohol, and marijuana in the apartment, their alibi fell through as death records proved that their grandmother had died the night before, and they had motive after finding out that the victim was cheating on them with their ex. The judge agrees on the verdict on the grounds of alibi, evidence, motivation, and expert testimony. The partner is convicted of premeditated homicide and homicide in the first degree.
Sorry if this isn’t what you needed. My education is in forensic science, not so much in legal issues.
