[Shadowrun] Forensics and Serial Murder

[Serious Paul]

[OOC:What follows is an in character guess at what the world might hold in 2063.]


Imagine the advances in Forensic techniques and that defines what the modern serial killer would need to overcome.


Medium also comes into play. No longer is a serial killer limited to the one dimensional physical world. He now has the virtual world of the matrix and the mysterious world of Astral space, and all of its many planes. Even the task of physically killing some one changes witht he concept of drones and drone technology.


The fracturing of the Nation state is the serial killers ally, no longer do nations effectively communicate in a friendly manner. National borders aren't as well defined, and lack proper maintainence. Astral projection renders the idea of physical borders useless in many cases.


No longer does the FBI communicate or share its data with those nation states that the UCAS might consider hostile-and the birth of Megacorporations and their extraterritorality add a dimension of complexity to all investigations.


The birth of the Metaraces completely changed the way traditional investigators defined serial killer and profiled them. race hate is alive and well in 2063.


Lone Star Security Services has a single serial killer orientated task force that works full time, and only on Serial Murder cases, which aren't as profitable, but still high profile enough to make the Star spend the credit.

Knight Errant spends much more on investigating Serial Murders, taking an almost personal intrest in how the cases play out. Rumors abound of Damien Knight taking a personal intrest in the outcome of several cases, and that he has at times personally toured crime scenes and talked with investigators about the status of the crimes.


By far a Large in the UCAS the FBI handles the vast majority of serial murder investigations, rotating investigators every six months whther they want to be rotated or not.

The FBI also has the worlds premiere serial murder program at their Quantico Academy, which they opened to select outside candidates in 2057.


Internationally Atzlan also maintains an a well equipped well trained team of serial murder investigators, but little public information is available on what sort of cases they handle or how. Rumors in the law enforcement community claim that the Azzies are heavy in their use of Shamanic magic during investigations.


The Pueblo Corporate Council maintains the worlds premiere Matrix Serial Crimes Unit, known as Team 12. Team 12 has been immensely succesful in the last five years it has operated in tracking and capturing matrix criminals.


So far international cooperation has kept the Pueblos from having too much jurisdictional difficulties, but don't expect that cooperation to last, especially if it ever comes down to relying on Megacooperations for any help.


The Corporate Council has put a lot of heavy PR time into Team 12 and have offered their services in at least two dozen cases.


Speaking of Corporations, at least two corporations, other than those mentioned above, have some assetts in the serial murder division.


Mitsuhama and specifically Pentacle has subcontracted several of its laboratories to Law Enforcement agencies across the world for Forensic Thaumaturgical Research and Analysis.

They are very selective about which cases they take, and who they do business with.


Wuxing also subcontracts service to several agencies, but as of yet utilizes only one lab. Wuxing has recently released several studies on Geomantic Magic and Forensic Science.


Now lets turn our eyes to individual case studies....

[3278]

One immediate study that comes to mind would be the case of Juan Palimo, the Invisible Killer. For six years, Juan left a trail of dead bodies in the double digits, without ever seeing his victims face-to-face. He would, instead, collect garbage from random houses, and attempt to use them as material links to the residents of the house. If he was lucky he'd find a favorite doll, the hair from a recently cleaned brush, anything allowing him to link to the victims. Then he would murder them with ritual magic, utilizing blood magic rituals learned in his youth in Aztlan.

Let's be clear; this wasn't in the CAS, or in Aztlan; this was in Columbus, Ohio.

So many cases remain unsolved, suspicious deaths of people in the area, never properly explained. He's certainly responsible for the deaths of 37 people, and likely responsible for dozens more. No one will know, of course; after writing his confession - a litany of hate and dispair, results of his brutal upbringing as the son of a high-ranking Aztlan priest - he cast his last spell on himself.

It's rumored that the "Aztlan Makeover," that country's recent PR effort to reshape people's opinions about themselves and the corporation that's synonymous with them by eliminating the terrible rumored blood sacrifices of their recent past. Or, at the very least, sweeping them further under the rug.

Nevertheless, this case displays how /anyone/ can be a target of murder at any time, anywhere. This pervasive fear of death - and of magic, in particular - seriously alters the behaviors and responses of the people of our time.

[Serious Paul]

Magic has expanded the Serial Killers reach far beyond what many people realize. Advances in ritual magic, spells used in preservation and surveillance, spirits and creatures that defy traditional laws of physics all mean that todays Detectives have their work cut out for them.

In 2043 Detectives in the Manhattan Knight Errant began to find bodies horribly mutilated bodies in back alleys and dumpsters. From the begining it was clear these killings were related.

Victims were mutilated severely-extreme lacerations, multiple bite wounds, claw markings, all lead detectives to think it was the work of a wild creature, or a rouge spirit. Common patterns were checked and rechecked, but nothing immediately turned up.

As the case drug on, something became evidently clear-all of the victims had lost significant portions of their body mass, a literal pound of flesh. Something was eating people, with seemingly no discernable pattern.

Growing public concern combined with negative media attention pushed Knight Errant into doubling and tripling its task force on the investigation. Patrols were sent in force to various lower key areas with out success. Who or what was doing the killing seemed to have no fear, and in the publics eyes was uncatchable.

Then in December of 2043, six months after the killings began, Knight Errant announced they had killed the suspect while attempting to take "it" into custody. The worlds first Ghoul serial killer, a dual natured shamn of a twisted totem had met his end after trying to eat an off duty KE patrolman.

Details remain sketchy, as Knight Errant has refused all requests at pubicly exploring this case, but it is clear the Ghoul was the killer in question, and he had avoided detection using magical means.

[Kai]

Of course, with the advancement of crime there is the advancement of detectives. The paradigm shift from case specific to area wide has been slow in coming, but MIT&T's Astral Forensics program has helped the cause. Case in point, the BAST, Boston Astral Special Taskforce.

While many law enforcement agencies chase cases after a report, BAST uses its resources to read astral impressions on sites and objects. Many killers have found themselves confronted by a BAST unit before the crime has been reported or occasionally before the crime had been committed.

By keeping a roving astral eye on the area, and in specific potential suspects whether by tip or by a worried citizen who suspects they are a target, the units can quickly asess and sometimes prevent a murder. Serial killers have had it especially bad as the more highly trained members can take a small fraction of an imprint and build an astral signature, much like 20th century fingerprint construction, and then use it to track down the killer.

[Serious Paul]

Anyone who could jump start this for me, would be much appreciated.

[Ancient History]

There's a few more interesting variations, as remarked by these case files:

Luc Baptist
Formerly of Quebec, Luc emigrated to Boston to work as an environmental activist. Unfortunately, he was also a werebear and a shaman. After killing the CEO of a major corporation, mage-detectives with Lone Star attempted to track him down with Ritual Sorcery, only to discover the ritual samples destroyed in their vault. Luc racked up another CEO, and this time Lone Star used the astral signature left behind to try and track him. Luc, an Initiate, used Reverse Ritual Sorcery to destroy the ritual team with a Toxic Wave. Figuring they were dealing with a powerful magician, the next batch of Lone Star magicians attempted to track him astrally after his next assault...and suddenly had to go toe-to-toe with an Awakened bear on the Astral. Luckily, one detective survived the assault to report back. Lone Star called in a few favors and after a week of preperation sent a host of spirits and ritual magic down on Luc...all of which mysteriously failed. Everybody was at a loss until a Fire elemental reported back that Luc had somehow caught FAB III-delta and couldn't get rid of it. By the tiem the rituals had started, Luc was dead.
Total Body Count: 2 CEOs, 4 Lone Star Mage-Detective, 1 squatter apparrently eaten as food