
Recently a friend and colleague of ours shared a cartoon picture of a death scene on social networking. Our thanks to Tom Slovenski (Cellular Forensics - www.cellularforensics.com - SC) for sharing this thought provoking cartoon.
This depicts a gunshot wound and asking if this was murder or suicide, based on the picture. Dean's response was 'murder'; but, not because it was obviously - or likely - murder. The answer is because it should be investigated as a murder. Suicide is, in part, the exclusion of Homicide, Accident, Natural and Undetermined.
Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/is-it-homicide-or-suicide-test-your-observation-skills

FALI is offering, for a limited time, our Investigating Death & Serious Bodily Injuries Pre-Conference presentation for download. This is an opportunity to learn more about the private investigator's role in death and serious bodily investigations for civil and criminal cases, and the passion our agency has in helping other PIs, attorneys and families with our expert consultations in their cases. If that's not enough, FALI is also selling extra copies of our supplemental training manual!
Presentation Slides - www.fali.org/resource/collection/4CE1155E-BA29-4E5C-A886-4BA9120259F1/final_fali_2017_pre-conference_pdf_05032017.pdf
Supplemental Training Manual - https://fali.site-ym.com/store/ViewProduct.aspx?id=8948697
These are for a limited time! The guide is under revision and will be released this summer for $95 - save 1/3 off the price now!
"Death and Serious Bodily Injury Investigation for the Professional Investigator," by Dean & Karen Beers, and was the supplemental reference guide available for those attending the recent FALI Pre-Conference seminar by Dean.
The manual is over 200 pages and begins with the core of the Beer's distance learning course manual. It includes over 20 additional forensic, death and serious bodily injury based articles. It is now available to any FALI member for $65, including shipping and handling (retail will be $95) with 50% net proceeds going to FALI!
Our agency is prepared to offer our expert consultation services and guidance. We become your Affiliated Experts.
If you are involved in legal investigations of civil, criminal or probate litigation, this is a valuable guide.
-- "Is it Homicide or Suicide - Test Your Observation Skills"
-- UPDATE: FALI - Death Investigation Presentation and Guide limited availability
-- Update on Dean Gluth
-- Commentary from the blog archives of AFI-LLC
- Autopsy of Freddie Gray - Accident or Homicide?
- Investigating Without Playing into Drama
- Analyzing the Death and Investigation of Justice Antonin Scalia
- Special Announcement - Dean Beers Elected NCISS President 2016-2017
- NALI Editor Publisher Honorable Mention Award
-- Time is money!
-- Global Investigators Media Group (GIMG.tv) Facts & Forensics
-- Expert Affiliations
-- Tidbits From Our Profession
-- Associations and News
-- News From Our Profession
-- Legislative News You Can Use... from NCISS
-- The Quint-Essential Qualities of a Professional Investigator
-- In Closing
-- AND MORE!
Together We're Better - Together We Make the Difference!

We provide Expert Consultations and Legal Investigations of Personal Injury, Negligence & Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate litigation. We are Subject Matter Experts in Equivocal Death Investigation and Analysis, Medicolegal Investigations of Death and Serious Bodily Injury.
Based in the Rocky Mountain West, we provide expert consultations nationally. Learn details at www.DeathCaseReview.com
Here is a video explaining what we do and why - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgsvtbSk8fg

On Tuesday night April 25th, Dean was traveling home to Chicago from Indianapolis after watching his daughter coach a high school softball game. While driving through a construction zone, Dean's truck tire got caught in a groove on the road which caused him to lose control of the vehicle. The police estimate that his truck rolled at least 10 times down the hill. Indiana State Police said that it was a miracle he survived the incident.
Dean was released from the hospital and returned home on Saturday, April 29th. He continues physical therapy and hopes to return to his sole-practitioner agency and clients soon. In speaking to Dean, he was very humbled and thankful for all the support, calls, emails, visits and kind words -- and all the donations from everyone.

www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog.html
Keep up with the current events of our agency and profession through our blog. Dating back to the fall of 2011, there are dozens of articles, tips and resources for professional investigators.
Autopsy of Freddie Gray - Accident or Homicide? (07/03/2015)
Baltimore Sun - "Autopsy of Freddie Gray shows 'high-energy' impact – death ruled Homicide"
When we see these media stories, we expect our phones and emails to buzz with questions. What does this mean. Our standard response begins with, ‘without having all the information the medical examiner had, we simply do not know.’ In medicolegal investigation, determinations are made based on the medical evidence – not legal / criminal statutes or undue influences. Also in medicolegal investigation, this determination is based on a neutral investigation by the coroner / medical examiner’s office. There are five Manners of Death: Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide and Undetermined. From Dean’s book, ‘Practical Methods for Legal Investigations’ (www.PracticalMethodsForLegalInvestigations.com); our education, training and experience; and our extensive lectures and death investigation course (www.InvestigativeCourses.com), below are the definitions of Homicide and Accident. These determinations are based on the medicolegal preponderance, not the legal findings, of one Manner of Death to the exclusion of the others. Undetermined is for those rare times in which there is not an exclusion by preponderance.
-- Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/autopsy-of-freddie-gray-accident-or-homicide
Investigating Without Playing into Drama (07/14/2015)
As investigators we are surrounded by different types of drama. It might be cheating drama, murder drama, suicide drama, trial drama; insurance fraud drama and the list could go on and on. You, as an investigator understand the picture.
What we, as level headed, fact finding, responsible investigators should strive for, is to down play the drama of clients and never create or feed into the drama. There isn’t much to watch on television now except drama filled reality shows, to include judges, investigators, police officers and just about any topic you want to name. Google reality TV and you will be provided with numerous websites for your viewing pleasure.
-- Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/investigating-without-playing-into-drama
Analyzing the Death and Investigation of Justice Antonin Scalia (02/22/2016)
With the recent death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (02/13/2016), and the questions surrounding it, a real-world understanding of death investigations is needed. Death investigation is not limited to homicide investigations, and is best conducted by trained medicolegal death investigators overseen by a forensic pathologist. What makes us qualified to evaluate the death and investigation, as reported, of Justice Antonin Scalia? Below is a summary of our experience, with a detailed experience following this article.
-- Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/analyzing-the-death-and-investigation-of-justice-antonin-scalia
Special Announcement - Dean Beers Elected NCISS President 2016-2017 (04/17/2016)
Associates in Forensic Investigations, a licensed Rocky Mountain West legal investigation and expert consultation agency, is pleased to inform you The National Council of Investigation & Security Services (www.NCISS.org) held its 40th Annual Conference and Hit the Hill event the week of April 05th in Baltimore MD and Washington DC. Annual elections were held, and we are pleased and honored to announce that Dean Beers was elected President for the 2016-2017 term.
Dean most recently served as 1st Vice President, and previously as both 2nd and 3rd Vice Presidents, as well as Secretary, Regional Director and Membership committee during his membership with NCISS.
-- Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/special-announcement-dean-beers-elected-nciss-president-2016-2017
-- UPDATE – as of March 2017 Dean’s term ended and he was elected by the new board as Board Chairman
NALI Editor Publisher Honorable Mention Award (05/12/2016)
The Legal Investigator - official journal of NALI published ‘An Expert Consultation May Save the Day’. Our agency is very proud to announce that NALI has, for the third time, honored Dean with a publisher's award.
-- Continued at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/nali-editor-publisher-honorable-mention-award

Learn how we efficiently multi-task using these tools. Visit this article on our blog at www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/time-is-money-multi-tasking-is-time-recovered!
- DropBox - http://dropbox.privateinvestigations.org
- Right Inbox for Gmail - www.rightinbox.com
- Desktop Texting - www.MySMS.com
- Ring Central Faxing - http://fax.privateinvestigations.org
- Ring Central VOIP - http://ringcentral.privateinvestigations.org
- Toll-Free Numbers - http://kall8.privateinvestigations.org (PIs - contact our office for more uses)
- Split View - www.splitview.com

Each month Dean host a podcast featuring topical information in the areas of legal investigations and forensic investigations. He is joined by his wife and business partner, Karen for 'Conversations with Karen' on special topics of interest. Dean closes each episode with a 'Special Guest' who is an expert in a forensic specialty. Tune in this, and every, month!
All shows are posted at http://gimg.tv
The latest podcast reflects on trips for NCISS and WAD, current legislation watch, our thoughts on the upcoming 'Making a Murderer - Part II' and the latest '13 Reasons Why'. Dean also has a conversation with domestic violence expert and attorney, Vicki Lutz, on conducting defense investigations.

We believe that medicolegal investigation and consultation is a team effort. Stephen Cina MD, Harold Schueler PhD, and our agency are affiliated as experts in our respective fields offering our clients comprehensive medicolegal services.
Dr. Cina, based in Colorado, is the former Chief Medical Examiner of Cook County IL. Dr. Schueler is the Chief Forensic Toxicologist of a large mid-Atlantic metropolitan area.
Contact our office to consult on medicolegal death and injury causation. The CVs of both Dr. Cina and Dr. Schueler are available by Contacting Us
We are proud of our working relationship with Dr. Cina, since 2002 and Dr. Schueler since 2010.

Upcoming conferences and meetings from associations:
TALI - 2017 Annual Conference August 22-25, San Antonio TX - Dean is speaking on Death / Murder Investigations - www.tali.org/2017-conference
NCISS - 2017 Mid-Term Meeting September 13th, Westminster, CO. - www.NCISS.org
PPIAC - 2017 Annual Conference September 14th FTER Pre-Conference and 15th & 16h regular conference, Westminster, CO. - https://ppiac.wildapricot.org/event-2454623

Professional Private investigations Association of Colorado (www.PPIAC.org) Monthly meetings are the first Wednesday of each month, usually in the Denver metro area. PPIAC continues to hold specialized training sessions for new and veteran investigators, and also specific to the new licensing program.
PPIAC has just announced their annual fall Rocky Mountain Private Investigators Conference! September 14th to 16th.
NCISS will hold their annual Mid-Term Board Meeting the day before (09/13/2017) with a meet and greet that evening.
A special pre-conference event, earning a special certification, will be held on Thursday 09/14/2017
Rocky Mountains - Colorado Forensic Interviewing - FTER Method Certification Program, PPIAC - Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado
Pre-Conference Certification Event! September 14, 2017
The CDITC in partnership with the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado will be hosting the CDITC 8 hour Forensic Interviewing Certification course. The focus of this course is to introduce and certify the participants in FTER – Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery concepts and techniques. This course focused upon criminal defense investigation and builds upon the concepts of forensic investigative interviewing.
The full conference continues with eight high caliber speakers! Details and regisration at https://ppiac.wildapricot.org/event-2454623
National Association of Legal Investigators (www.NALI.com)
NALI is the premier association for legal investigators for civil plaintiff and criminal defense, and oversees the prestigious Certified Legal Investigator (CLI) program. Experience is required to join and all members are subject to a background check.
The current issue of NALI's official journal - The Legal Investigator - is now available online at www.nalionline.org/publications.htm
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (www.NCISS.org)
Each day we find an increasing number of problems confronting the orderly growth of our profession. These problems include, among others: overly restrictive legislation regarding training and standards, proliferation of legislation requiring local licensing, public misunderstanding and misinformation on the role and contribution of private investigators and security services, and an uninformed media. It is the role of NCISS to meet and solve these problems while seeking to uncover and recommend action on any hidden potential problems which may have an effect on our profession.
The current issue of NCISS's official journal - Your Advocate - is available online at www.nciss.org/your-advocate
Special news and alerts are at www.nciss.org/important-nciss-news
NEW!! Members Only Page - www.nciss.org/members-only
State Legislation Awareness Monitoring (SLAM), Membership Directory (PDF), Member contributed articles.
World Association of Detectives (www.WAD.net)
W.A.D. is a global alliance of investigators and security professionals with origins dating back to 1921 and formalized in 1925. W.A.D. is the longest established and largest association of its kind in the world.
Karen is the W.A.D. Administrative Manager, and Dean is the Governor of the Americas (North, Central and South America). Together we work to further the mission of W.A.D. and provide resources to clients needing assistance in these regions. The W.A.D. magazine,
The current issue of WAD's official newletter - Beyond Global - is available online at www.wad.net/newsletters-beyond-global
Additional memberships include FALI, TALI and CALI state associations, as well as specialty specific national associations (see right sidebar). If your association has news, please send it to us for inclusion in our newsletter.

Seven Things to Know About How Colorado's Open Records Law is Changing by Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition (shared by Robert Wall, Wall Investigations - CO)
The new CORA provision clarifies the public’s right to obtain digital public records in useful file formats that allow for searching or sorting. By making it easier to analyze government records, it will help Coloradans better understand how government works, how tax dollars are spent and how policies are made and implemented.
-- This will be a great benefit to investigators and attorneys, as we often receive hardcopies of public records. This will reduce time, costs and improve many investigative tasks. Thanks Bob!
Read more at http://coloradofoic.org/seven-things-know-colorado-records-law-changing
Adobe App Turns Your Phone Into a Scanner / PDF Files shared by Randy Kildow, TCI (Randy Kildow Investigations - TX)
Called Adobe Scan, the app can snap photos of paper documents and turn them into PDFs on your phone, no scanner required.
-- We tried this and it works great - one of the better scanner apps we have used, and converting to a PDF is really handy. Thanks Randy!
Read more at www.businessinsider.com/adobe-scan-free-app-pdf-scanner-2017-6

CALL TO ACTION - Federal GPS Legislation
On behalf of NCISS, Lobbyit has continued to follow-up with important offices regarding the changes NCISS seeks in the Wyden/Chaffetz GPS bill. A primary focus of NCISS's 2017 Hit the Hill (HTH) advocacy day was the GPS Act. In the Senate, the bill is sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). In the House, the bill is championed by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).
The GPS Act would make it a criminal offense to track persons and property via electronic means without their consent. Please visit - https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50788/c/148/p/dia/action3/common/public/
In the month of May, Lobbyit and NCISS focused on the outlook in this session of legislation we supported in prior Congresses. In particular, we explored the environment for Senator Toomey's Security Officers Screening Improvements Act (SOSIA -- S. 2647, 114th Congress). We discussed prospects for this legislation with Senator Toomey's office, Senator Hatch's office, and with counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Last Congress, Senator Toomey introduced legislation which would have established a Federal entity where security service companies could go to obtain FBI background investigations on current and prospective employees. Currently, such background information is acquired through the various states, which have inconsistent and often incomplete records. If NCISS members might recall, we did an Advocacy Hub letter on this topic, and asked that NCISS members reach out to their Members of Congress, encouraging them to co-sponsor the bill.
First, Senator Toomey has not yet made a decision as to whether he will re-introduce SOSIA this year. Importantly, Senator Grassley (R-Ia) - Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - had reservations last year about SOSIA, in that he believed that the FBI was already too backlogged with background investigations, and felt that once any particular class or profession was granted such privileges, others would soon be petitioning for similar treatment. This objection weighs heavily in whether Toomey will reintroduce this Congress.
To move forward, Hatch's CPIA bill will need to be marked up by the committee. There do not appear to be any plans to do that any time soon. Among some significant but unanswered questions; 1) where does the Administration stand; 2) what does the FBI think, and does it have the practical ability to handle such an influx of requests; 3) would the FBI require additional funds and employees to complete such investigations; etc.
Moreover, the committee indicates that it has not received any Member requests to move forward on the bill, so it's not currently on their radar or agenda for action.
For our purposes, NCISS will now make the formal request to Senator Grassley to include security service applicants on the current Senate version of CPIA. We will do so in the very near future, in order to allow the committee to run the necessary traps with the Executive Branch, etc.

Skills Appropriate for the Assignment
Law firms and medical offices specialize - Professional Investigators also specialize. Their casework and continuing education should also be in your specialized areas.
Experience and Knowledge
Professional Investigators strive to maintain and further these. All professions have requirements of continuing education. The CLI and CCDI programs both require extensive compliance with continuing education.
Responsible and Ethical Conduct
Every component of the investigation has evidentiary considerations. Professional Investigators hold themselves to a higher standard and leaves no question as to the admissibility of their evidence. Information without ethics is not evidence.
Effective Communication
Professional Investigators maintain communication with the attorney, client, witnesses, and other key persons in the investigation. Moreover, reports are the product of an organized investigation and should reflect the work product you expect.
Keyword - 'Professional'
Honesty, Integrity & Intelligence. These define Professional Investigators and gives you the confidence that your case is in competent and skilled hands.

Specializes in the Expert Consultations and Legal Investigations of Personal Injuries, Negligence and Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate litigation.
We provide investigations and consultations of any death or serious bodily injury case nationwide with the conveniences of modern technology and assistance of our local professional friends and colleagues.
In addition, we continue to provide Individual Locates, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities for your Civil, Criminal, Probate and Domestic Relations litigation. Additional information at www.deathcasereview.com/general-services.html
Call us today, we're glad to help!
Experience the PRIDE of Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC - Professional Reliable Investigators Defining Excellence in every assignment.
Sincerely,
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI and Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI
Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC - Associates@DeathCaseReview.com
Colorado (970) 480-7793 - Dean x1 and Karen x2 - Voice / TXT

Please Be Alert!
As we all begin to enjoy our summer - remember that kids are out of school and playing, and more motorcycles and bicycles will be on the roads.
A few seconds of your eyes and attention diverted from the road and driving is dangerous. Please do not text, email or social network while driving. Use a hands free device for calls, and only when appropriate and necessary.
This could save your life, and the life of lives of others - including your loved ones!
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