A retired Crime Scenes Manager, with 30 years of experience in the force, has agreed to share his memories of one night that has continued to haunt him. As you can imagine, it doesn't make comfortable reading. Please be aware of that before you begin.
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Most of the murders I have attended are preceded by a phone call in the middle of the night. I remember the phone call late on the night of 11th February 2003. A girl's body had been found in a field in East Cramlington and a 999 call had been received by a young man claiming to have accidentally killed her.
It was a bitterly cold night. The temperature was 4°C but the strong Easterly wind made it feel a whole lot colder. The scene was exposed to the elements with no shelter from the biting wind. A slope in the field led up to a ridge where there were a few sparse bushes, about 100 yards from the nearest houses. Close to the bushes is where I saw Sarah. She was 14 years old. Two SOCO's were already there and crime scene tape was being strung across the fields and a common approach path was being established. We always try to estimate where the murderer has entered and left the scene and establish our common approach path away from that area, to avoid disturbance.
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