NCJ Number
127085
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 34-37
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Arson is one of the most difficult crimes to prosecute due partly to its nature (it leaves very little direct evidence) and also to the reluctance of prosecuting attorneys to try arson cases.
Abstract
Circumstantial evidence is commonly dismissed as too inconclusive, although the courts have ruled that it carries the same probative value as direct evidence. The arson investigator's job is to weave the web of circumstantial evidence so tightly that the prosecutor will feel comfortable trying the case. Investigation requires hard work and unique expertise. Investigators must come up with possible motives and suspects that piece together circumstantial evidence such as timely insurance coverage increases, removal of items from the scene, and off-handed remarks. Guilty business owners may have tried to remove suspicion by filing for bankruptcy, making unusually large supply orders (knowing that they will not pay for them), and making future plans without intending to carry them out. In one case, a business owner doubled his fire insurance a full year before committing the arson. Other circumstantial evidence helped make his guilt indisputable. Ninety-nine percent of all arson charges are proved circumstantially.