Hammertime

During first hour, an accident, or homicide occurred. The victim, Sally Jones, was struck fatally
in the head, and the blow lead to a fall over the stairwell balcony. Upon discovery by a witness, Madison
Street, it was believed to be an accident, until the realization that it was a brutal homicide set in. The
weapon, a hammer, was found at the bottom of the stairwell with the victim. Once homicide was
apparent, suspects and motives were investigated. Jonathan Knoxville, the victims boyfriend, was the
first suspect. Their relationship was known to be strained at the time and they were seen arguing
frequently. The second suspect was Sallys ex best friend Angela Dawn, because the two had recently
ended the friendship. An unknown visitor to the school was the third suspect; he had made his way on to
campus for unknown reasons. Mrs. Aspen was another suspect, she was a teacher who had left campus
early for health reasons and who often argued with Sally in class. The final suspect was Albert Smith,
who was not in class at the time and therefore had no alibi. He was also known to have a history of anger
problems and drug involvement.
As police put the evidence together, they constructed what they believe to be the entire scenario.
It was estimated that while the last people were trickling into first hour, around 8:15 am, an altercation
occurred on the stairwell between the victim, Sally, and the perpetrator. The perpetrator and the victim
had been fighting and there was evidence of a physical struggle, though it didnt immediately turn violent
because nobody heard it in the surrounding classrooms. At this point the perpetrator obtained and pulled
out the hammer, and struck Sally in the head once. This blow however was not the immediate cause of
death, it only caused the fall over the stairwell and contributed to injuries. Sally then hit the ground
below, and sustained another head injury, which was fatal, as well as other contusions.
Much of the evidence obtained from the crime scene was not originally visible to the naked eye.
Only the hammer and Sallys shoe were apparent and in the open. The hammer, which contained
fingerprints from multiple people including three of the suspects, was obtained from shop class. The shoe
belonged to Sally and had made some of the scuff marks found in the stairwell. Other evidence included
Hammertime

fabric fibers under Sallys nails, which indicated physical struggle, along with the blood on the hammer
and the scuff marks from two different kinds of shoes.
The hammer could have been a key piece of evidence but because there were so many
fingerprints, it became obsolete as a definitive piece of evidence. The scuff marks belonged to Sally and
were made by the shoe found at the bottom along with her body, as well as an unknown shoe belonging to
who the police believe is the perpetrator. A lack of concrete evidence, and conveniently, cameras in the
school, made the polices job extremely difficult. The fibers under Sallys nails could easily be matched
to the shirt of the perpetrator, but how could they track them down? Circumstantially this became a tough
case to solve for investigators, and with limited evidence in hand, they had to look closely at the motives
and whereabouts of the suspects.