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English A: Language and Literature

Course section: Part 4 Critical Study

Candidate name: Sadha Satya Lotan

Candidate number: 002115 0019

School name: Cita Hati Christian High School

Topic: Edgar Allan Poe

Title: Incident report #314159

Text type: Police report

Learning outcomes:

Explore Poes connection with the old man in the short story.

Analyze how the main character descends into madness.

Word count:

Rationale 298

Text 956

Pages 7

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Rationale
The written task will be based on The tell-tale heart written by Edgar Allan Poe in
1843 from part 4 Critical Study. It will be written in the form of a police report. This text
type is chosen because of its ability to explain the conditions of the murder and the crime site
briefly.
The persona used in the text will be one of the officers involved in the story. First
person point of view will be used in the police report because it is recommended and
commonly used to convey the information. The audience of this text will be the superior,
either the police chief or the commanding officer. The diction of the police report is formal
because it is intended for the superior. The police report will have a serious tone and mood.
The purpose of the police report is to inform the superior of the crime which happens based
on the story and explain the conditions as brief as possible which will also include the motive
of the murder. Poe has bad relationship with his father, John Allan. Therefore, this will also
be the motive of the murder.
Several literary devices are used in this written task. Alliteration is used to pass the
information in the report more effectively. Amplification and tautology are used to emphasize
some important information. Anaphora, anadiplosis and asyndeton are used to connect some
information in a more fluent way to be more understandable.
The font in the report is chosen to be suitable with the time setting. The names, city,
and case number used in the report are used only for the completion of the written task. The
case number used in this report will be #314159, therefore the suitable title for the written
task will be Incident report #314159.

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DELAWARE STATE POLICE DEPARTMENT

DELAWARE, FIORE

Incident Report #314159

Report Entered: 27/05/1840

Case Title Location

MURDER BAKER STREET NO.17

Date/Time Reported Date/Time Occurred

29/05/1843 03:49 29/05/1843 00:10

Incident
Type/Offense
MURDER/HOMICIDE (187 PC)

Reporting Officer Approving Officer

LESTRADE, GREG ANDERSON, JAMES

Person
s
Role Name Sex Age Date of Birth
VICTIM HENRY, NICHOLAS MALE 72 26/03/1771
WITNESS ALFRED, HOLMES MALE 39 19/02/1804

Offenders

Status Name Sex Age Date of Birth

SUSPECT MORIARTY, NEAL MALE 28 31/01/1812

Narrative

On Monday, May 29th 18.43, Neal Moriarty (male, 28) was placed
under arrest at Baker Street No.17, after making a confession of
committing a murder against Nicholas Henry (male, 72).

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About three hours before the arrest was executed, a neighbor,

Holmes Alfred (male, 39) called the police office and informed that he
had heard a loud shriek. Three police officers, including myself, were
deputed to search the premises and went to visit the reported address.

After arriving at the location and ringing the bell, the suspect,
Moriarty, went out and welcomed us. After entering the house, we
observed the situation, everything was surprisingly normal, nothing
seemed suspicious. The suspect first explained that the loud shriek was
because of his nightmare. After a long search and asking several
questions to the suspect, we were quite satisfied and agreed that
nothing had happened in the house. After the suspect proudly showed us
that no money had been stolen, he led us into a certain bedroom to have
some conversation. Again, nothing seemed suspicious. However, after a
while, the suspect's condition became agitated. He suddenly swung the
chair he had been sitting on. He shouted that he was the villain and he
admitted the deed. He requested us to tear up the planks beneath his
seat and we found a dismembered dead corpse. After checking the corpse,
the corpse was identified as Nicholas Henry. On that day, May 27th 1840,
Henry was found dead because of the murder done by Moriarty.

Moriartys condition when he welcomed us was far too calm, for

someone who just committed a murder; a murder, which would not have been
known if Moriarty never admitted the deed. The large house revealed
nothing wrong. All of the possible and obvious evidence was discarded
before we entered the house. This murder is classified as a planned
homicide.

We immediately placed Moriarty under arrest and brought him in for

interrogation. Moriarty stated that Henry had never wronged him,

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neither insulted him. No gold of Henry was wanted by Neal. This

explained why no gold was missing. Moriarty confessed that the main
motive was because of a pale blue eye of the victim with a film over it,
what he also called the eye of a vulture. Moriarty stated that every
time the eye fell upon him, it caused him chills; therefore Moriarty
decided to get rid of the eye forever by murdering Henry. In fact, just
by looking at it, it could be found out that the eye of the victim was a
medical abnormality. The cornea will be examined later to find the cause
of its deformed appearance. Another motive of the murder was that
Moriarty hated Henry, because Moriarty felt abandoned by Henry who he
had thought of as a father.

Moriarty confessed that he had been observing on the victim

for the last eight days. Moriarty stated that he used a lantern to look
at the victim's eye. He waited for the correct time to commit the
murder, when the victim's eye was opened. Seven days passed but he did
nothing because the eye was closed, most likely because he was sleeping.
Moriarty further mentioned that at that whole week during the day, he
was never kinder to Henry. Finally on the eighth night, Moriarty saw
that the eye was opened, thus he began the task, which was to murder the
victim, Henry. Moriarty also mentioned that before murdering Henry, he
fairly chuckled when entering Henrys room because he thought that
Henry was not suspicious at all on himself and the chuckle woke Henry
up. Moriarty waited for one hour without moving, but Henry was still
awake. Then, Moriarty rushed into the room and dragged Henry to the
floor and Moriarty pulled the heavy bed over Henry to kill him.
Apparently, the loud shriek, which was the reason why the neighbor
called us, was the last thing Henry did while being killed.

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According to Moriarty's statement, after knowing the victim was

killed by suffocation, he dismembered the victim in a tub and hastily
hid the pieces below the floor planks. The red blood was washed clean,
leaving no signs of a crime. In fact, the bathroom was clean and no
visible trace of blood could be found.

Based on Moriarty's statement, he confessed because he felt

nervous due to the sound of a beating heart, which he suddenly heard
after we arrived. The sound kept getting louder and it drove him to
paranoia until he finally admitted the deed. The crime would never have
been without his breakdown. However, I and the other two officers had
not heard any suspicious sounds like the sound of the beating heart.
Therefore, the murderer, Neal Moriarty, might have some mental disease
where he assumed to hear a sound which did not exist.

This premeditated murder should undergo further examination,

especially to find the weapon used for the dismemberment and the clear
relationship between Moriarty and Henry. Based on the background check,
Moriarty, who planned a murder and dismembered the corpse, had neither
family nor friends. There will be no defense against the judge in the
court. The neighbor, Holmes Alfred, has also approved and signed a
certified request letter to willingly go to the court as a witness to
the loud shriek.

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References

Anonymous. (2000, October 20) Ten steps to improve your written reports. Retrieved on
2015, January 20. Retrieved from http://www.policeone.com/training/articles/44385-
Ten-Steps-to-Improve-Your-Written-Reports/
Anonymous. (2009, July 23) Henry louis gates, jr. police report. Retrieved on 2015, January
21. Retrieved from http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/henry-louis-
gates-jr-police-report
Anonymous. (2011, August 30) Police dispatcher - incident types. Retrieved on 2015,
January 24. Retrieved from http://www.flashcardmachine.com/police-dispatcher-
incidenttypes.html
Foster, E. R. (2013, July 20) Police report writing. Retrieved on 2016, January 14. Retrieved
from http://www.slideshare.net/PoliceConsultant/police-report-writing
Poe, E. A. (1843) The tell-tale heart. Retrieved on 2015, January 18. Retrieved from
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/telltale.html
Shupe, B. (2014, June 25) [Logo of Delaware State Police] Retrieved on 2015, January 25.
Retrieved from https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/212.jpg