Case Study on Criminal Justice Analysis, Essay Example

The Enrique Camarena Case

Introduction

It was on February 7^th, 1985 that the DEA[1] special Agent Enrique Camarena became abducted in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Later a further officer was abducted and this set into motion one of the largest single investigations covered by the DEA.  During this process some very unusual forensic evidence was found resulting in a trial that was conducted in Los Angeles some time later.

The Investigation

The DEA officers in February 1985 went on a purge of investigations including that of an anonymous tip that a certain Drug gang’s ranch was holding the officers captive.  It turned out that this was a plot to mislead the investigation into finding two buried bodies on the ranch, being that of the abducted officers.   After a subsequent shoot-out all of the drug gang members were killed at the ranch. However the job was botched by the drug gang and instead of being buried the bodies were found dumped at the side of the road. It was later discovered in the investigation that a number of senior Mexican law enforcement officers had been bribed to carry out the plan.  The discovered bodies were partly decomposed in plastic bags and were subsequently sent to the morgue for forensic examination.

Forensic Investigations

The bodies at the morgue were identified as Enrique Camarina (fingerprint analysis) and that of Captain Zavala (dental records).  The FBI requested additional forensic information but the Mexican authorities refused to cooperate. Despite this the team extracted a number of samples that included cloth off the victims, hair samples and soil samples from the bodies. Returning to the crime scene the FBI Forensic team determined a number of important facts:

• The soil at the site was different from that extracted from the bodies – leading to a preliminary conclusion the bodies had been buried elsewhere, exhumed and dumped at this site;
• There were no body fluids evident at the crime scene.

Following a bizarre series of twists and turns in the investigation a large amount of additional forensic evidence was gathered and in July 1988 this went to trial in Los Angeles.

The Trial

The trial identified 881 Lope De Vega as the location where Enrique Camarina was held captive. The forensic team cited that two Mexican Citizens, namely Rene Verdugo and Sergio Espino-Verdin were at this location. The following forensic analysis was presented:-

• Forcibly removed head hairs found at the house
• Two types of polyester rug fibres

These were cross matched from the site to that of the deceased victims. (Malone, M.P. 1989)

In addition material samples from the pillow cases at the site matched that of the burial sheets located at the site where the bodies were discovered.  Further correlation between rug fibres from the site

Despite the Mexican authorities tampering with the forensic evidence there was sufficient evidence presented at the trial, after an 8 week deliberation period, to convict the defendants who were sentenced to lengthy jail sentences.

Works Cited

Malone, M. P. (1989). The Enrique Camarena Case : A forensic Nightmare. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 67-75.

[1] Drug Enforcement Agency in the USA