Incident report

REPORTING OFFICER'S NARRATIVE (Brief narrative of the facts surrounding the offense and the arrest.)

At 11:34 a.m., Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a body found at Wall Doxey State Park in north Yoknapatawpha County. The caller identified herself as Debra Lane, a guest staying in Cabin 8.

Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Unit 209 (Officer P. Winston) and YCFD ambulance unit (EMTs Bill Harcourt and Ned Keller) were immediately dispatched. R/O Winston arrived at the scene at 11:59 a.m. Upon verification of the presence of a body at 12:02 p.m., R/O notified Dispatch and requested backup and detectives.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy were assigned and proceeded directly to the scene. At R/Is' request, Coroner's Inspector L. Johnson and a CSU team were notified to respond to the scene.

Reporting Investigators (R/Is) arrived at the scene at 12:37 p.m. and found Officer Winston had secured the area. Environmental conditions at the scene upon arrival are as follows: Weather: Cloudy; Ambient Temperature: 52°F / 11°C; Relative Humidity: 31%.

R/O Winston made the following verbal report, which is stated in summary and not verbatim.

R/O was met on the cabin road by an adult female who identified herself as Debra Lane, the 911 caller (Person 2). Lane directed him to a location outside Cabin 7, where R/O observed a deceased adult male with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The victim was subsequently identified as Spenser Brooks (Person 1).

At R/O's request, Lane waited in the rear seat of Winston's patrol vehicle. R/O said YCSD Units 213 (Officer M. Arborogh) and 221 (Officer M. Richards) arrived to provide backup at 12:22 p.m. and 12:25 p.m., respectively. While R/O and Officer Arborogh secured the scene, Officer Richards escorted Lane back to Cabin 8 and waited with Lane at that location for detectives.

R/O further said YCFD EMTs R. Peterson and J. Bilkey arrived at approximately 12:02 p.m., and after confirming the victim was deceased, withdrew from the crime scene.

R/O Winston further stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the following personnel had occasion to enter the crime scene area and must be documented by CSU personnel: witness Debra Lane, EMT Peterson, EMT Bilkey, and himself.

After receiving the report from R/O Winston, R/Is conducted a preliminary inspection of the scene. Visual inspection indicated the victim was wearing a multi-colored plaid shirt, blue jeans, a black jacket, and a black glove on the left hand. A black glove and a camouflage cap were on the ground approximately 18 inches from the body.

The body was supine with the right leg fully extended and the sole of the right foot to the south. The left leg was bent at the knee with the sole of the left foot to the west. The right arm was lying to the side of the body at an acute angle and was bent at the elbow with the right hand pointing to the west. The left arm was extended at approximately a 90° angle and was bent at the elbow, pointing in a northeast direction. The head was to the north. R/Is delayed further inspection of the body until the arrival of the Coroner's Inspector.

Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson arrived at the scene at approximately 12:51 p.m. and joined R/Is at the body's location. Inspector Johnson pronounced the victim deceased at 12:56 p.m. by visual observation that the victim was not breathing and by tactile observation that the victim did not have a palpable carotid pulse. Inspector Johnson visually examined the body and observed an apparent gunshot wound to the forehead. She speculated that the death may have been the result of that wound. Inspector Johnson indicated that further details would be available in the official autopsy report.

CSU arrived at the scene at approximately 12:34 p.m. R/Is instructed CSU to process the entire scene according to standard procedure.

After Inspector Johnson completed her initial inspection of the body, she stayed with the CSU team to ensure the integrity of the body while the team took photographs of the scene and performed preliminary analyses, until the body could be removed from the scene without affecting other evidence.

A preliminary search of the immediate area for the weapon(s) causing the injury to the victim met with negative results. CSU will conduct a more intensive search and report their findings.

R/Is left the scene at 8:56 p.m. Before leaving, R/I Murphy instructed CSU to secure the scene upon completion or end of day suspension of processing. CSU to notify R/Is of progress by the end of this date. As of this filing, CSU is still actively processing at the scene.

Body of the deceased remanded into the custody of Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson. The deceased was removed from the scene at 10:25 p.m. and transported to the coroner's office for autopsy.

Evidence remanded into the custody of Forensics Officer T. R. Douglas for transport to the State Crime Lab for routine analysis. CSU is expected to submit an inventory of items taken into evidence within fourteen days of this report, with detailed report(s) of their findings to follow at a later date.

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