Murder Investigation Simulation

The scenario: an Iraq war veteran is suspected of killing his wife and child in Tennessee.

The suspect in that investigation has ties to Alabama and has come to Oak Mountain to evade capture.

But his plans to lay low are foiled when his car is identified...rather than simply abandon the vehicle...the veteran, an expert in explosives, detonates the vehicle...

While the scene is investigated other crime scenes are surfacing as the suspect makes his getaway.

Near the car a shallow grave has been discovered in the woods where small bones of a child are uncovered.

Pelham Police Chief Tommy Thomas says the grave scenario is important. "The biggest challenge is to teach people so they can recognize evidence when they see it. Does that evidence have any value...so they're not just out here picking up every pine cone they come across."

Investigators also receive a tip that the suspects camp is near and a car is reported missing from a neighbor.

That car is found a few miles away with blood, a bullet, and a possible murder weapon inside.

But this is not the end. As our suspect desperately attempt to flee an innocent man on a bike is run down and his body is dumped in the woods.

Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry says the trick now is for each of the agencies working each of the scenes to tie all the evidence together.

"The end product is what we're looking for, the quality product...the processing of evidence in the scene to take it to prosecution...and that's our main goal."