Earl Conrad Marblett Case Study

Case Study: Earl Conrad Bramblett
The case study that best embodies many of the techniques learned throughout Crime Scene Investigation class is that of Earl Conrad Bramblett. Without almost every technique discussed in the course, a cold, calculated, violent pedophile may have gotten away with one of the most heinous crimes to grip the state of Virginia, again.
The case begins with a report of a house fire in a Virginia suburb. When firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames, they made a horrible discovery. All four members of the house were dead. 41-year-old Blaine Hodges, 37-year old Teresa Hodges his wife, and their two young daughters, 11-year-old Winter and Anah who was just 3 years old. Investigators arrived and interpreted the burn pattern. They also discovered the presence of an accelerant. They determined that the cause of the family’s death was not an accidental house fire. This immediately shifted the focus from an accident to something more sinister.
One reoccurring principle discussed in Crime Scene Investigation is “let the crime scene tell you a story.” When applied to this case, the story was a sad tale of a depressed husband who killed his

family and then himself… at least at first. An additional principle taught in Crime Scene Investigation was to be methodical, so we will start from the beginning of the house, the front door.
Upon entering the home investigators found Teresa Hodges (wife) strangled to death on the living room couch.

An empty fuel container lay overturned nearby. As the investigators moved upstairs they encountered what looked to be patches of hair on the staircase. In the children’s room shared by both Winter and Anah, they discovered both sisters dead in their beds. They were shot to death with a small caliber weapon. In the master bedroom lay Blaine’s body. He was on the bed with a gunshot wound to the head. A .22 caliber revolver was located on the floor next to the bed. So far, the manner of death along with the physical evidence present, point the investigators at Blane being responsible for the murders as well as the fire. This is further corroborated with a look into Blaine Hodge’s

background.
At the time of the family’s death, Blaine was going through hard times. He was recently fired from his job at the Post Office and convicted of embezzling $4,600. This would also include a stint in prison and a restitution payment of $9,200. Money Blaine did not have. This would most likely mean the family would lose their home. This fact, coupled with the hard evidence present at the initial examination of the crime scene, is a compelling motive for a murder-suicide that is not uncommon at all. In fact, “in 2009 there were three family murder-suicides attributed to financial loss in southern California alone” (Glaister, 1). To further clarify the picture that the crime scene is painting, more physical evidence is needed. For this, investigators turned to the bodies of the deceased.
During the autopsy of Teresa Hodges medical examiner Dr. William Mussallo confirmed that the manner of death was strangulation. Also, transfer evidence of hair found on the staircase by a crime scene investigator was confirmed to be Teresa’s. Further scrutiny of the body showed no soot or evidence of smoke inhalation in her throat or lungs. This seems to indicate that there was a struggle near or on the staircase, and then she was strangled and murdered on the couch before the fire was started. The same lack of soot and smoke inhalation was present in the children as well meaning they were deceased before the fire was ignited. All evidence so far still fits into the initial theory of family murder-suicide. However, during the autopsy of Blaine Hodges the same results were found. No evidence of soot or smoke inhalation was present. Furthermore, Blaine’s body was shown to have decayed more than his family’s bodies. This lack of trace evidence in the lungs combined with the advanced state of decay completely obliterates the picture that was pretty clear up to this point. Just like that, the investigation shifts and another important topic that was discussed in class takes precedent. That is the suppression of pertinent forensic information to those not involved with the investigation.
With the murder-suicide theory debunked the importance of even minute forensic details about the crime scene became very important. Homicide investigators, C.S.I. personnel, and the murderer were the only ones who know these details. For this reason, even the families of the victims were told only that their loved ones passed in a house fire. Suspicion is now focused on individuals close to the family. Relatives brought up one person’s name repeatedly, Earl Bramblett.
An interview with Bramblett, as well as any neighbor who was home at the time was in order. Only one neighbor saw something suspicious. The witness said she observed a red truck speeding away from the house at around the same time the fire was detected. Next, investigators turned their attention to Earl Bramblett.
Family members described Bramblett as a close friend of Blaine’s, and a frequent houseguest. Going back to the importance of being methodical, investigators again examine the person of interest’s background. What they found was alarming. In 1977, Earl Bramblett was a suspect in the disappearance of two young girls from Roanoke Virginia who’s bodies were never found. Seven years later he was accused of molesting a young girl. It is unknown if the Hodges’ knew of Bramblett’s sordid past.
Upon interviewing Mr. Bramblett, the importance of investigators following protocol and withholding information about the crime scene paid off. Bramblett stated, ”That sorry son of a bitch (Blaine Hodges) had a beautiful family. He did them then did himself.” This immediately made Bramblett a suspect. Now it was up to forensic science to verify or refute the investigators suspicions, and the crime scene will play a crucial role.
After obtaining a warrant, the search for physical evidence linking Mr. Bramblett to the crime was on. The possible motive for the crime is also unknown at this point. Investigators search Mr. Bramblett’s motel room, his truck, and his work meticulously and collect many items. Some relevant items collected were: .22 caliber shell casings recovered from the truck, blue jeans found soaking in water along with his hand-written time card (with a section blacked out) from Bramblett’s work. In the trash at his work were some suspicious drawings. Also taken into evidence were unfired .22 caliber cartridges, books, and receipts from the trash from his home, and biological evidence such as DNA from a buccal swab, as well as pubic and head hairs from his person.
Analyzing the evidence
Firearms evidence
Using Calvin Goddard’s advanced technique regarding firearms identification, the shell casings found at the crime scene were compared to the shell casings found in Bramblett’s truck. Under a comparison microscope, the unique class characteristics imparted on the breech-face from the firing pin were identical on both the known sample from the crime scene and the sample in question from Bramblett’s truck. Furthermore, a look into the lead content of the projectiles recovered from the victims matched the content of the projectiles in the unfired cartridges found at Mr. Bramblett’s residence.
Document evidence
When investigators examined Bramblett’s time card, they noticed the time of his arrival on the day of the murders was blacked out with permanent marker. A forensic document examiner used a video spectral-comparator to recover what was blacked out. It showed that Earl Bramblett arrived at to work at 5:08am. This was 20 minutes after the fire was reported, which is the same amount of time that it takes to drive from the Hodges home, to Bramblett’s work place. Also extracted from the time card was a know sample of Bramblett’s handwriting.
The suspicious drawing found in the trash at Bramblett’s work depicted what looked like an amateur crime scene sketch of the Hodges home. It had two small stick figures with arrows pointing to their heads. A bigger stick figure that had a circle around it’s neck, along with marks that appeared to represent fire. Writing on the lower portion was compared to Bramblett’s known handwriting; it was a very similar match. But how would he know what a crime scene sketch looked like? Some of the books recovered from Mr. Bramblett’s home were on Crime Scene Investigation Techniques.
Arson accelerant evidence
Arson investigators examined the blue jeans found at Earl Bramblett’s work place and noticed stains. They employed a technique taught in Crime Scene Investigation class. They utilized Vapor Concentration. This involves, “purging the vapors from the container and passing them through a tube filled with a trapping agent such as charcoal. The concentrated vapors are analyzed with a gas chromatograph” (Ogle, 195). The composition of this vapor was compared with a known specimen of the accelerant used in the Hodges fire. Both vapors were identical. This proves that the accelerant present in the gas can next to Teresa was also present on Bramblett’s pants.
Trace evidence
Diligent crime scene investigators found trace evidence consisting of different types of hair in the bed containing Anah and Winter’s bodies. These hairs were examined under a stereoscopic microscope and found to include both head, and pubic hairs. The pubic hairs were then placed in a comparison microscope along with known standards pulled from Bramblett. The examiner indicated that both pubic hairs were from the same person.
Motive
The evidence now paints a very different picture than originally depicted. This evidence is crucial in helping find out who did this crime and how, but it does not give investigators a motive for someone to commit said crime. Or does it? Upon looking through Mr. Bramblett’s trash, a notice of late payment from a storage unit was discovered. When investigators executed a search warrant on the unit, they found a tape recorder and numerous audiotapes belonging to Mr. Bramblett. On these tapes were graphic pedophilic fantasies involving 11-year-old Winter laid out in great detail by Earl Bramblett himself. Also on the tape was a possible motive.
In one recording Bramblett states how Blaine is setting him up. Bramblett believes that Blaine was using his young daughter Winter to seduce him. Blaine was then going to frame Bramblett and turn him in and ask for leniency towards his sentence for embezzlement. This was far-fetched and no evidence existed that would suggest Blaine Hodges attempted to frame Earl Bramblett, yet from the tapes one can tell that Bramblett was convinced of this. This overwhelming sense of paranoia coupled with a sick attraction to little Winter provided plenty of motive for Bramblett to commit these atrocious crimes.
When the case went to court the evidence was stacked against Earl Bramblett. The picture this evidence painted for crime scene investigators and detectives was clear. Now it was time for prosecutors to paint this same gruesome picture for the jury. The combination of arson, firearm, document, and trace evidence, laid out in precise detail was insurmountable. For motive, prosecutors used Bramblett’s own chilling voice from his audiotapes. Thanks to the diligent professionals tasked with responding to and interpreting this heinous crime Earl Bramblett was sentenced to death. Then in 2003 “1,800 volts surged through Bramblett's body, causing him to go rigid and throwing him against the back of the chair. Bramblett's head and right leg were shaved to allow skintight attachments of two electrodes. During the execution, a puff of smoke rose from the electrode on his right leg. After waiting five minutes, Dr. Alvin Harris, a corrections physician, walked into the death chamber and placed his stethoscope against Bramblett's chest. "This man has expired," Harris announced” (Baskervill, 1). This was in no small part, due to the phenomenal crime scene investigators that interpreted the physical evidence in this case.
Work cited

Baskervill, Bill. "Virginia Executes Man for Family's Slaying." Associated Press (2003). Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

Glaister, Dan. "Financial Hardship Caused Man to Kill Family, Los Angeles Police Say." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

Ogle, Robert R. Crime Scene Investigation and Reconstruction: With Guidelines for Crime Scene Search and Physical Evidence Collection. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2004. Print.