Cassandra Trujillo.

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Intro to criminalistics
Synopsis of the Roger Severs case
The Roger Severs case, otherwise known as Murder and the Horse Chestnut Tree is a
murder case in which a paracide takes place on November 13, 1993. Roger Severs, 38, was
living with his parents who although were offering him a place to stay, refused to financially
support him. Mr and Mrs. Severs were both very wealthy and productive members of society,
unfortunately their child was not, Roger had no career and lived off of his parents his whole life.
He was their only son and would receive their fortune in the event of their demise. After a night
of drinking alcohol Roger comes home inebriated and after being denied funds from his mother
again, he attacks victim number one; his mother Eileen Severs, age 69. He beat her with a steak
mallet until she died. Not long after he kills his first victim his second one arrives home; his
father Derek Severs, age 68, who he kills the same way.
The last sightings of the Severs took place on November 13, and they were reported
missing on November 18, 1993. They hadnt contacted any friends and no one had received
word from them. They missed appointments and failed to meet friends. On visiting the Severs'
bungalow on the Hambleton peninsula the police noticed the state of the house was out of the
couple's character that was described by their friends and neighbors. They were described to be
meticulously tidy, yet the place was a mess and the carpets had been ripped up from two rooms,
Rogers effort to clean up the carnage. Everyone seemed worried about the couple's
disappearance, apart from Roger. He maintained that they were on holiday, but there was no
evidence of them having planned any trip. His parents had also made several appointments in the
village for that week. From that point on, police were suspicious of Roger.
Police then performed a forensic search of the house and found incriminating evidence.
In the bathroom, they found blood. It was spattered in the pattern of a violent attack. Roger had
made an attempt to clean it up, but failed. The forensic team found similar blood traces near the
Cassandra Trujillo.,
Intro to criminalistics
Synopsis of the Roger Severs case
garage as well. This provided evidence of two very violent attacks. During the forensic search
they also found a trail of yellow fibers along the hallway carpets in the house. The fibers
appeared to be rolled which showed they had been left by something heavy being dragged over
the carpet. The blood and fiber trails continued to the inside of the family car. The car was
muddy, inside and out. Again, this was entirely out of Mr Severs' described character, which was
that he always kept the car immaculate. It seemed the car had been driven somewhere off road,
and most likely with the bodies in the back. Police arrested Roger that day, November 23, 1993.
During the investigation that day samples of the mud were taken from the foot wells of
the car and the tires for further testing. After a geological examination of the mud, they found
that it contained quartz, calcite, ironstone, chert and coated roadstone. This suggested a dirt road
in the East Leicestershire region. The organic matter in the sample showed two dozen varieties of
plant life such as grasses, oak, moss, alder and hawthorn leaves which was common. What
wasnt common, and was a breakthrough in the case, was the amount of exceptionally rare horse
chestnut tree pollen. This allowed the geologists to locate several possible locations at which the
bodies may be buried due to the same level of pollen present in that are. After searching the areas
in Armley wood on the 1st of December in 1993 at 9:15am, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Severs
were found in a shallow grave covered in soil from the Severss garden.
Roger wrapped his mother in the yellow blanket and took them to a hollow in the woods
then took multiple trips back and forth to bring enough soil from the Mr. Severs garden to cover
them. After that he began attempting to clean up by ripping up the carpet and even burning some
of the items that were present at the time of the murder. However to the polices advantage he
did an awful job and he hadnt gotten around to cleaning the car yet. The key evidence that
contributed to his arrest and conviction were; blood, fibers, the mud, and the horse chestnut
Cassandra Trujillo.,
Intro to criminalistics
Synopsis of the Roger Severs case
pollen. The case is named after the horse chestnut pollen because its considered the most
important piece of evidence in the case due to the fact that without it the bodies may have never
been found.
Ultimately Roger confessed to murdering his parents, his defense was that he only
claimed partial responsibility due to his diminished capacity. Diminished capacity means the
defendant was less mentally capable than a normal person of having the required mental state for
the action that took place. Diminished capacity does not amount to insanity, but is rather a
condition that affects a defendant's ability to process information or to reason. However the jury
rejected his claim due to the parameters of the crime. Witnesses reported that on the 14th of
November Roger delivered raffle prizes for a charity event to the winners on behalf of his
mother. When the winners asked about his mother he told them that she was waiting in the car
for him, however when he drove away the witnesses observed that he was alone. The jury
thought him to be both a threat and an unproductive member to society. The jury found the
evidence irrefutable and only took two hours to deliberate. Roger was found guilty by the
Nottingham crown court. He was sentenced to two life sentences in prison on December 6, 1994.
He got exactly what he deserved and has made many wealthy english parents wary of allowing
their children to stick around and freeload past twenty.