Modus Operandi (2 page)

Now, why did he choose the kitchen table? The real reason was because he was obsessive-compulsive about germs — he constantly washed his hands and was constantly concerned about getting sick from germs. While he was incarcerated, he was known to take piles of toilet paper, magazines, books, paper towels or whatever he could and place them on the seat of the toilet so that his bare skin did not actually touch it. Also, he didn't like to flush the toilet with his hand on the handle, so he would use a disposable object, such as a stick. He would not even stoop to flushing the toilet using his shoe, because that would make germs on the bottom of his shoe which could possibly spread to his body.

In the early stages of these home burglaries, Joe noted that Nick would frequently defecate in the person's bathroom, and the detectives would find the toilet seat layered with many, many pieces of toilet paper. Coincidentally, Nick did catch an infection in his genital area. He attributed this to using the victim's toilet, although it was not a possibility because of the toilet paper placed on the seat. So from that point on, he simply defecated on the victim's kitchen table.

When this particular M.O. showed up, Joe simply went to Nick and casually confronted him. During a casual, approved search, to which Nick consented, the criminal's home was found to contain many items that were linked to the burglaries which had occurred weeks and months earlier in Brooklyn. This is a classic case of a criminal's method of operation leading the police to his capture.

In this book, you will learn how and why criminals operate. Their modi operandi, which, until now, were clandestine and known only to themselves and the police departments investigating them, are now known to you. So, let us step into the shoes of the criminals who operate day or night and learn the tricks of their trade. Be forewarned — the experience can be arresting!

Arson is the most underreported of all crimes because evidence that could be left behind is usually destroyed by the fire. Fire investigators are trained to determine the
origin
(where the fire started) and the
cause
(what started the fire). If an arsonist performs his craft perfectly, the fire investigator will find it extremely difficult to determine the origin and the cause of the fire.

Amateur arsonists attempt to fool the fire investigator by placing a flammable or combustible material in or near an electrical outlet. The arsonist thinks that the investigator will see the
burn pattern
(the direction that the fire burns, also known as the
V pattern)
at the electrical outlet and determine that the fire started through faulty wiring or electrical devices in the building. However, a trained fire investigator knows that for an electrical short to start a fire, certain other elements must be present.

These elements are a fuel source, an oxygen source, an ignition source or heat, and an uninhibited chemical reaction among the three. This is known as the fire triangle.

1. Fuel can be any type of flammable or combustible material—solid, liquid or a vapor.

2. An oxygen source is necessary so the fire can "breathe" and maintain a strong, steady rate of burn.

3. An ignition or heat source could be the striking of a match by the hands of an arsonist or an electrical malfunction which causes overheating and/or a spark.

4. The uninhibited chemical reaction is the above three elements —the fire triangle —coming together to start a fire.

The trained fire investigator must evaluate these four elements in deciding whether or not the cause of the fire is accidental or arson. By comparing these elements with other factors, the cause can be properly determined. For example, in dealing with the electrical short circuit, some factors, such as the wire beading up, or forming small balls of melted metal at the point of the short, or
sleeving,
the loosening of the insulation from the wire, will indicate arson or a malfunction. Also, a circuit breaker will "trip" off when the wire is overloaded. These are the tell-tale signs that an arson investigator will use to make his determination.

To incorporate arsonists in whodunits, the writer must first understand the legal definition of arson. A person is guilty of arson if he or she starts a fire or causes an explosion whether on his property or another. Arson is covered in the law by degrees, which accommodate different intents of the arsonists, such as causing death or bodily injury to a person or collecting insurance for destruction or damage to the property.

Cause

There are two types of fire causes. The first is accidental. An accidental fire is caused either by someone's carelessness or by equipment malfunction.

The second fire cause is the incendiary fire. This fire is started on purpose by an individual with the intent of destruction. An incendiary fire may have indications of multiple fire origins, and a flammable or combustible material used to start the fire may also be found. There may be few, if any, contents remaining in the building, but valuable or irreplaceable items, such as photographs, insurance papers or money, will not be recovered, as the arsonist may steal such items thinking they will be presumed lost in the fire rather than stolen.

Origin

Origin and cause are closely related. When considering using arson and fire investigators as part of your plot, keep the following rules of fire in mind:

1. The cause of the fire will be found at the point of origin.

2. The fire will burn longer at the point of origin than at other places to which the fire has spread.

3. If any flammable or combustible materials were used to ignite the fire, a sample should be found at the point of origin.

4. The fire will spread from the point of origin to the rest of the building (this is known as the
direction of fire travel).

5. Determining the point of origin will either confirm or refute the stories of the principals involved.

Obviously, there are many ways to start a fire. Here are some of the most common, along with other attendant terminology.

Dynamite
is basically used to blow up an object, but it could be used in conjunction with another fuel source, such as gasoline, to create not only a blast but a fireball that would spread the fire quickly. Sticks of dynamite are short and fat or long and thin. They are stamped with a product

name (gelatin dynamite), a date-shipped code, and the manufacturer's name.

Cast boosters
are small and stronger than dynamite. When detonated, cast boosters look like soda cans. These explosives are used to increase or support other explosives, and they can be used like dynamite to spread the fire faster. They are stamped with the product name, size, weight, and a date-shipped code.

An Electronic Detonator or Blasting Cap
is an aluminum-shelled primer —a smaller explosive used to ignite a larger blasting agent —about the size of a small rifle cartridge. This aluminum shell has two wires at one end. The aluminum shell is placed into the explosive, either dynamite or plastic, to begin a chain reaction once the primer is set off. The wires exiting the aluminum shell of the primer are attached to a pair of electrical wires and then to a detonating device.

Black powder
is basically gun powder, similar to what was used in single-shot muzzle-loading rifles and pistols. It can be compressed in a container to cause an explosion. These containers become pipe bombs. Black powder can also be used to refill inert fragmentation grenades which can be purchased through military surplus stores.

Cartridge count
is the total strength of an explosive composed of the explosive's weight, density and strength.

Detonation
occurs in three ways: manual (lighting a fuse), electric/electronic (sending a current), or mechanical (pulling a pin out of a grenade).

Military explosives
are compact, waterproof and olive-drab, shipped in cardboard containers or coated by a Mylar film package.

Commercial explosives
are more brightly decorated than military explosives, stamped with a description of use, and safety warnings.

Primacord
(also referred to as detonating cord) is a spool of multicolored fabric-covered wire. Inside the fabric covering is a high explosive used to send a detonating wave. If you wrapped the cord around a tree and detonated it, the tree would be cut in half where the cord rested. Primacord is utilized by the military to quickly clear LZs (landing zones) or to cut through bridge supports.

A delay mechanism
can be either an electrical, chemical, or mechanical time-delay element. This device can be used alone or in combination with others. It could be as simple as a burning cigarette resting on a book of matches or a wristwatch wired so that when the hands come together an electric circuit is completed.

Incendiary material
burns with
a
very hot flame for a certain period of time and is used to set fire to other material and eventually the structure itself. These materials need not be sophisticated or scientific; they could be as simple as a cigarette.

Automobile and Other Vehicle Arson

Automobiles
seem
to be very combustible. As you are quite aware, they contain flammable liquids, have many electrical circuits, and their interiors are made of combustible material. Combine that with a careless smoker and you have a vehicle fire, or so you would think. But actually, with new technology, most interiors are fire resistant—a cigarette will seldom ignite a seat cover or floor mat, the fuel systems are designed with safety in mind, and the electrical circuits are shut off by fuses and other interrupt devices.

Accidental vehicle fires do occur, but the fire generally remains in one compartment, i.e. engine, trunk, glove compartment or interior. As with all things, an accidental vehicle fire can also engulf the entire vehicle. Mauro investigated one such occurrence when a teenager, who decided he could make it home with a flat tire, drove home on the rim. He did not realize the rim was a magnesium alloy, and the friction of driving started a fire of unbelievable temperature, which consumed the vehicle in a short time.

There are two types of vehicle arsonists: amateur and professional. An amateur is usually behind on his car pay-merits and desperate to rid himself of the car. He knows that the vehicle must be declared totaled by his insurance company, so he will go for mass destruction. The professional is not necessarily a professional arsonist but a professional criminal who uses vehicle arson to conceal other crimes: stolen cars used during the commission of a crime, or a homicide, for example.

In general, after driving the car to a remote location, the arsonist will completely dowse the interior and exterior of the vehicle with a combustible material such as gasoline or lighter fluid and set the fire. A one- to five-gallon gas can is generally found at the scene. Using five gallons is quite dangerous, and the arsonist may end up like the car because of the flammable vapors that have saturated the area.

The arsonist might make what are known as
trailers
by pouring a stream of gasoline from the vehicle to a location he feels is far enough away from the vehicle to ignite it safely. These types of fires are easily tagged as arsons because of the evidence left behind. Sometimes, the fire will be started by a road flare, which can easily be thrown from a safe distance into the vehicle.

Vehicle fires for profit or to mask a crime are not limited to automobiles. Small trucks, large trucks, buses, vans, planes and boats all could be set ablaze in the manner described above. The bigger, more exotic vehicles, such as airplanes could be equipped to blow up or ignite while flying. This is done so that a crash appears to be caused by mechanical problems rather than caused deliberately.

In vehicle fires when the insurance money is important, the fire will be started in or near the engine compartment to make it look like an equipment malfunction. If it is to cover up an additional crime or evidence, the whole vehicle will be set ablaze with a flammable substance. The same is true with boats and planes. Often the fire is started from a trailer.

We can all remember the tragic bombing of the airliner over Lockerby, Scotland, which killed all passengers. The incendiary device was placed in a small AM/FM cassette-radio brought onto the plane through a series of elaborate cargo shipping procedures. The radio was placed on one plane in a nonterrorist stronghold where security procedures were weak and did not detect it. Once aboard the plane, the radio was placed with the other cargo, and through either altitude or time delay, the explosives were set off. The small amount of explosives that the radio contained was enough to create a small hole causing the plane to crash.