Wedding Plans End in Tragedy in Brevard, NC: Part 2
An hour later, under the floodlights and windstorm of a search-and-rescue helicopter, Justin’s brutally murdered body was discovered in his parked car in the gravel lot off NC 151. A screaming, hysterical Anna Grace had leapt from Officer Kaminski’s vehicle and had quickly been wrestled to the ground by three officers who were trying to prevent her from approaching Justin’s car.
The next day, the medical examiner revealed that Justin had died of a single shotgun blast to the head, which had blown apart his skull and covered the interior of the vehicle in carnage. The examination of Justin’s body immediately established that the motive for this murder was not robbery. The medical examiner released Justin’s wallet and cell phone, both found on his body, to his parents – and a 1-karat diamond engagement ring, found in a satin box in his right-side jacket pocket, to Anna Grace.
The investigation quickly revealed that Justin was murdered by a marine buddy who suffered severe PTSD and is now awaiting trial. During their second tour in Iraq, Justin knew his friend had raped a fellow marine. Justin had pleaded with his friend to turn himself in, advice which his friend refused to take and which created severe tension between Justin and his friend. The victim reported the rape to her commanding officer, and Justin’s friend was dishonorably discharged and lucky to escape court martial or a civil trial. He had followed Justin to the trail that morning, awaited Justin’s return from his run, and gunned him down because he believed Justin was responsible for his military disgrace.
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A week later, after forensics finished its examination of the car, the car was towed to the home of Justin’s parents, who hired us to clean the crime scene. When we arrived, we were greeted by a stricken Anna Grace and two devastated parents. In tragic situations like this, especially when family or friends are present, our goal is to go in and return things to normal as quickly and compassionately as possible. That can be a challenge when the scene is especially grisly, like this one, and takes days or even weeks to completely remediate.
The blast from a gunshot wound to the head leaves a shocking horror scene even after the medical examiner has removed the victim’s body. The entire interior of Justin’s car – doors, ceiling, floor, and upholstery – all had copious amounts of blood and tissue on them. The shattered driver’s side window was not only sprayed with blood but also caked with dried brain tissue resulting from the blast coming from outside the passenger-side window. The floor mat and upholstered driver’s seat into to which blood had soaked over 10 hours had to be removed and discarded. The ceiling fabric also had to be replaced along with both the driver’s side and front passenger side windows. We were able to work directly with the car manufacturer to replace everything that could not be cleaned, sparing the family this terrible burden.
While we cannot clean away the memory of what happened, we can and absolutely do completely clean away the terrible evidence. We safely package, remove, and transport what can’t be cleaned and thoroughly decontaminate what can be cleaned. Advanced Bio Treatment professionals are well trained in the handling, decontaminating, and disposal of bio-hazardous materials, which comprise anything that has been contaminated with blood, urine, feces, and other bodily fluids. According to federal regulations, all bodily fluids are considered bio-hazardous because they can contain deadly pathogens that transfer Hepatitis B and C, AIDS, and a myriad of other nasty bacterial diseases to anyone who touches them. For this reason, you should always call a professional crime-scene cleanup company to help you restore an environment in which someone has died violently. But because crime-scene cleanup is an unregulated industry, you should be very careful about who you hire. Advanced Bio Treatment strictly enforces and abides by all OSHA, EPA, and state guidelines. We use only professional-grade equipment and hospital-grade chemicals to decontaminate, clean, and deodorize. Most important, we recognize what can and cannot be salvaged, and we are licensed to transport bio-hazardous waste. We take no chances with your safety or our own.
If you ever find yourself in a tragic position like our client in Brevard, North Carolina, please let us help you. If you have questions about decontaminating a scene that contains blood or other bodily fluids, about your payment options, or about what your current insurance policy covers, please don’t hesitate to give Advanced Bio Treatment a call at 800-295-1864.
