Monday 26 March 2012

If You Were Murdered In Your Home


Sleep isn't coming easily to me still, so my posts are appearing few and far between. I'm sorry for not keeping up with people very well lately. I know I have to try and get my head into gear as the A to Z April challenge is less than a week away and I'm signed up for doing it.

Anyway, to todays post. I was watching a crime drama on the television a few days ago and it brought a question to my mind. The scene involved the murder of a young woman in her home and officers in attendance were going through her life to get a feel for who she was. Conjecture and assumptions were made as well as facts from evidence found.



If you were found murdered in the place you live, your home, people you didn't know would be entering your private space. Those people would be police and crime scene investigators. And while they're in your personal living space, as the victim, they want to know an awful lot about you and your life.

What you have on your shelves, food in the refrigerator, hidden items long forgotten shoved in drawers. What secrets are you hiding? Why did someone enter to kill?

From my home, they would see I like books, writing - piles of printed out manuscripts I used for editing, and I'm not the healthiest of eaters.

What conclusions would a police investigator make of your home if they had the unfortunate chance to do this.

What do you think the people investigating and going through your things, would think of you?


20 comments:

  1. This idea actually freaks me out. I occasionally lay in bed worrying about what police officers would make of my life if they were investigating my death.

    Of course, I'd obviously have more on my mind than being embarrassed over my control underwear being uncovered.

    I have an over-active imagination.

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  2. They would find a somewhat cluttered, lived-in home, with lots and lots and lots of books and music and crafty stuff from which they would be able to deduce all sorts of things about me and my life. As long as they got some of it right, I'd be happy.

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  3. that I'm a terrible hoarder - and I just know that my most prize possessions would look like junk to them. They' never really be able to get a feel for me at all.
    Great post and question!
    Lx

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  4. I think they'd see a woman who hasn't quite settled - my house actually looks as though I'm ready to move out. (This is a stunningly accurate analysis of my mindset, and I'd never considered my house reflected that!)

    Great post Rebecca, and a little bit freaky!

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  5. I've often asked myself this question. There is no doubt they would quickly guess I'm a writer and an avid reader. They'd also see I'm a hoarder!

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  6. Hehe! I wonder often the opposite thing. Like if they find my fingerprint at a crime scene, even though I had nothing to do with the crime.

    They would see a lot of books in my room too. I'm not sure what they would make of them, though. (Lots of mysteries, horror, and YA!)

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  7. Oh God! I shudder to think! They'd likely come to the conclusion that I'm a disorganised mess who eats too many Twizzlers.

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  8. You think I haven't thought about this many times!? Every night as I discard my dirty underwear I stop and consider that a policeman might have to sift through these things. I shudder at the thought - not of me being murdered so much as him having to lift my dirty knickers with a gloved hand and a grimaced face - and I put them in the washing basket. (It's not easy living in my head!)

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  9. It's the stray thought of policemen entering my home that brings me out in a cold sweat and has me racing around Tidying Up. They'd discover that I love dogs, that I have more books on serial killers than is healthy, that I don't dust very often, that I exist on junk food ... it's a frightening thought. :)

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  10. Wow -- I honestly haven't thought of this before, even with all the horror I've written. Guess I focus more on killing my characters. =] Well, they'd find plenty of books, DVDs, CDs, and file boxes full of manuscripts and rejection letters; but hopefully, they'd check out my blog or facebook page to find out more.

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  11. What a fun question! Um... like you, they'd find that I don't eat amazingly healthy. They'd also find a ton of notes and Post-Its for all kinds of things that probably wouldn't make sense to them. (Though, being a crime drama watcher myself, you know they'd look through those and think, "Maybe she had a meeting with the killer?")

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  12. Creepy thoughts! I'm just stopping by to say hello before the A-Z challenge begins. Glad to see you'll be playing along. I'm a new follower here :)

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  13. As well as all the books and paper laying around, they'd find out that I don't like housework, and I never throw anything away :-)

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  14. I've thought about this myself when reading mysteries or watching crime dramas. It is a very creepy thing to imagine! I would only hope that my place was clean while people were investigating LOL. I hope they wouldn't think, what a slob she was. :D

    I'm sorry you have been having trouble sleeping, I can relate to that. Hope you feel better, and I'm looking forward to your A-Z posts!

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  15. Yikes, what a morbid thought. I don't have the stomach for crime shows. They'd probably wonder why I wasn't more organized.

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  16. I'm unorganized, I LOVE sewing, We are computer and video game people, I'm fighting a battle between eating great and sneaking in junk,I'm awful at keeping up with laundry, My kids have FAR to many toys (most given by family or were mine as a child) We have been fighting a losing battle with mold in the master bathroom (grrr scrubbing the grout with a tooth brush before or after every shower...still not winning).

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  17. Made me think. I have to be more organised now. Well at least I'll try to be!

    Riya

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  18. They would think we read a lot, eat very healthy, are sporty and are a bit boring :)

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  19. I absolutely loved these answers, thank you so much for responding! There was a lot of chuckling and head nodding happening as I read them. Thank you!

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  20. My goodness. They would think I was a huge trekkie, obviously - but then they would go into my drawers and see books and pages filled with numbers... just numbers from one to infinity in tiny little writing, and then books filled with the same sentences over and over again... and they would think I was psychotic or something. And THEN they would find the (animal) bodies I keep in jars of isopropanol.

    And hopefully my Mother would be there to explain, "she just really likes biology and has Aspergers - she's not crazy, really."

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