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29 March 2024

How Dubai Police's forensics solved murder concealed as suicide

Dr. Fawzi Abdul Salam bin Imran, Director at the Forensic Medicine Department in Dubai Police (Al Bayan)

Published
By Staff

The role of forensic evidence in detecting crimes is highly significant because it leads to arrest of culprits trying to conceal evidence.

Criminals often try to misguide investigators by hiding the evidence to make it look like a suicide – not a  murder.

In one such incident, Arabic daily Al Bayan reported that the forensic medicine team of the Dubai Police succeeded in solving the mystery murder of a foreman working in a private company where the crime scene looked like it was a suicide rather than a planned murder.

Evidence at the crime scene suggested that it was a suicide and not a murder because the foreman’s body was found hanging by a rope tied to the door of the office, which was also used as a residence by him.

Dr. Fawzi Abdul Salam bin Imran, Director at the Forensic Medicine Department in Dubai Police, confirmed that forensic evidence uncovered  the mystery of the crime.

Details of the case show that the Command and Control Room of the Dubai Police received a tip-off  from a woman about a suicide in the company she works in.

The female employee was shocked when she entered the office in the morning, finding the body of the supervisor hanging from  the door.

The Dubai Police quickly reached the crime scene and then Dr. Fawzi bin Imran inspected the site.

After examining the body of the victim and gathering evidence from the crime scene, it was concluded that the criminals tried to hide the crime and it was not a suicide.

According to Dr. Fawzi, the murderers strangled the supervisor to death and then tried to hide the crime to make it look it was a suicide.

During the body's examination, it was noted that the button on  the victim’s shirt was broken as a result of fist fight, giving an indication of violence against the victim as he tried to defend himself.

Another evidence that came to light during the forensic observation was that the criminals went to the foreman’s room and unplugged the phone cable in order to prevent him from seeking help.

“I also noted that the carpet was curled when a large table was moved to the middle of the room – giving me another reason to suspect that it was not a suicide. Another thing I noted there was blood on the victim’s mouth; there was a blood clot formed towards the top of the face,” Dr. Fawzi said.

Since the victim, he revealed, hanged himself to the door, so the blood coming out of the victim should flow – not upward – but downward in accordance with the law of gravity; but the blood clot formed on the victim’s face showed it was formed in an upward direction.

During the forensic examination, the examiners noted not one but two separate marks of ropes on the victim’s neck.

“How can a dead person move and pull his neck firmly creating two marks on the neck,” questioned Dr. Fawzi, hence increasing his suspicion about the involvement of criminals in the suicide.

There were bruises also on the leg of the victim apparently hit by a big table during the fight when culprits were struggling to suffocate him.

Finally, Dr. Fawzi and his team concluded that the victim was strangulated with a rope and then was hanged with the same rope to make it look like a suicide.

Dubai Police began the investigation as a murder after it was confirmed by forensics team that it was not a suicide but a murder. Police then questioned employees and arrested four from the company working with the supervisor.

They confessed to killing the foreman and then hanging him with the rope to make it look like a suicide in order to mislead the police because the foreman used to report to the owner of the company about their poor performance with regard to their duties.

Dr. Fawzi said forensics reveal secrets of the crime and help eliminate ambiguity in evidence. Forensics also help in giving justice for the victim and punishing  the perpetrators.