Cape officer hones crime scene skills

Every drop of blood, every shattered bone is part of a story.

Cape Girardeau detective Joe Tado can tell how many times a victim was stabbed in the same wound by reading the lines of blood spattered on a ceiling or a wall. He can determine how long a corpse has been buried in a shallow grave, what kind of bullet put the hole in a victim's skull and whether that person died there or elsewhere.

As head of the Cape Girardeau Police Department's Science Investigations Unit and lead evidence technician for the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger County Major Case Squad, Tado spent years learning these skills.

But Tado, 39, has just received the educational experience of his lifetime -- 10 weeks at the National Forensics Academy in Knoxville, Tenn. Beginning in May, he and 14 investigators from law enforcement agencies around the country studied under elite instructors in topics including arson, bombs, bone trauma and other grisly practicums.

"The mark of good crime scene investigators is to know their limitations," he said. "This course gave me resources -- if I can't handle a question, I know where to go for the answers."

Not glamorousContrary to the sexy image projected by television shows like "CSI," most crime scene investigators aren't highly paid academic types wearing designer clothing and driving decked-out Hummers.

They've risen from the ranks of the nation's police and sheriff's departments, where any training they receive is tied to the size of their agency's budget. Without good training, cases fall apart when evidence is spoiled or clues are missed.

Tado joined the Cape Girardeau police in 1994 after earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Southeast Missouri State University.

Graduating from the 400-hour forensics course on July 11 was a milestone in his career. He's the first investigator from Missouri to attend the academy, now in its second year. Others attending included detectives from major metropolitan departments, including Dallas, Seattle, New York City and Detroit. Tado already had 400 hours of previous training in crime scene and arson investigations.

Bloody evidenceLearning to take latent fingerprints from bricks, tiles and off the skin of corpses was just part of the lab work Tado completed. But one course in particular, blood spatter, engaged him more than he'd expected.

"For me, the previous training I had in that had been all smoke and mirrors," he said. "But this time it all came together. Without a doubt I came away from it and gained so much just by working with the instructor, Paullette Sutton. She's the third leading expert on the field in the country."

The academy used donated buildings where Sutton recreated crime scenes based on actual cases, said Nathan Lefebvre, program coordinator.

"That's probably our most common course that people talk about afterward, blood spatter," Lefebvre said. "That may be because it's a newer science than others."

The National Forensics Academy is a joint program of the National Institute of Justice, the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Labs and several state and local agencies. Sessions are offered three times a year -- January, May and September -- but the spots fill up fast, Lefebvre said. Classes are kept small, so students can work closely with instructors and have a more personal, hands-on experience.

'Body Farm'Tado also spent a week at the university's Forensic Anthropology Center, or the "Body Farm," as it's infamously known to those interested in death investigations.

Sifting through soil with a small trowel, Tado carefully picked out human remains planted there by instructors. At the three-acre farm, Tado also spent time with its founder, Dr. William Bass III, widely considered the nation's father of forensic anthropology.

"Going to the Body Farm is a once in a lifetime experience," Tado said. "Dr. Bass is a national treasure."

Others also see the value in Tado seeking advanced training like the academy.

"It will be a great asset to the Major Case Squad" said squad commander Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. "We encourage all our investigators to attend as many courses as they can. That's how we stay the elite."

A federal grant covered Tado's $6,500 tuition fee, he said. He's grateful for the extra financial help his department, the county commissioners and Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle provided to cover his travel expenses. Without it, he likely could not have attended, he said.

The academy experience invigorated Tado, who is more excited about his job now than when he first started as an evidence technician nearly eight years ago, he said.

"When I started out, I was given a camera and told 'You're now an evidence tech, go out and collect evidence,'" he said. "In my first case I was sweating bullets and nervous. A lot of it was trial and error."

But the last decade has brought advances to the field that have made it exhilarating, he said.

"I'm in what I believe is the most exciting discipline in law enforcement right now," he said. "It's truly cutting edge."

Tado discovered some of his classmates from larger departments did not have science units or digital cameras available to them as he does in Cape Girardeau.

"In some aspects, we are more advanced than many larger agencies in the nation," he said. "I'm really proud of our department."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160