Breakfast

Board Buses

Buses Depart for Trip to Academy

Reading and Interpreting Bloodstain Patterns and SpatterLocation – CC218/CC220
Instructor - Crime Scene Analyst/Investigator Holly Maas and Dan Feucht

Bloodstain patterns tell a story; investigators must interpret and use the information they provide to help solve the crime. Attending participants learn the types, designs, and shapes of bloodstain patterns, and how the volume of blood, amount of force, and directionality of the force can form consistent patterns. This detailed session will help your tales zing with realism, including correcting an often misrepresented term. Is it Spatter, or Splatter? One is appropriate. The other is not.

Interview and InterrogationLocation – SC142
Instructor - Dr. Mike Knetzger, Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Retired Patrol Sergeant

In this session taught by leading expert Dr. Mike Knetzger, learn the mindset of people who attempt to deceive police investigators and how police detectives build rapport with seasoned criminals and other subjects, including murderers. Dr. Knetzger details how police utilize a subject’s vocal indications and physical actions to successfully conduct interrogations of subjects, how to separate the lies from the truth, and how to recognize and avoid false confessions.

Overdose Death InvestigationLocation – CC213
Instructors - Ryan Meader and Steve Miesner

Deaths from illicit drugs, especially fentanyl and counterfeit drugs composed mostly of fentanyl, are at historic highs.

Due to challenges with evidence and other complications, such as uncooperative witnesses and family members, overdose death cases are typically difficult to solve and prosecute.
In this fascinating session, participants learn how investigators use clues and evidence, such as items located at the scene, cell phone and other electronic search histories, social media, toxicology, witness statements and interviews, and more, to determine if the victim died by accidental overdose or at the hands of a murderer.

Using Art to Solve CrimeLocation – CC213
Instructor - Carrie Stuart Parks

One of the most interesting and unusual uses of art occurs in the forensic field. Americans are fascinated with the real-life drama and mysteries around them. The forensic artist is trained to draw composites from the memory of witnesses, sketch crime scenes for the courtroom, and reconstruct skulls of unknown homicide victims. How do they do it? Find out from the woman who trains the artists. Hands-on session for would-be artists and those who don’t think they could draw blood with a knife.

Crime Writer’s Guide to Murder InvestigationLocation – CC215
Instructor - Bruce Robert Coffin

Former detective sergeant and award-winning author Bruce Robert Coffin will share his years of experience as a supervisor of homicide and violent crime investigations. This workshop is filled to the brim with behind-the-scenes law enforcement investigation details designed to help you think and act like a homicide investigator while writing your stories.

Homicide Investigation: The Reel to Real StoryLocation – CC 210
Instructor - Michael A. Black

We all watch TV shows like Law & Order and CSI Las Vegas, but how authentic are they? This class, taught by a veteran police officer, goes over the basics of responding to and investigating a homicide and shows where the movies and cop shows go wrong. The instructor, who is a published author of 50 books and over a hundred short stories and articles, will give you tips on how to make your fiction more realistic and believable.

Use of Force Simulator (TI System)Location – SC142
Instructor - TBA

Police officers, as part of their regular duties, are faced with difficult decisions, decisions that offer no time for detailed scrutiny before reacting to the problem at hand. Often, when confronted with a potential deadly force situation, officers must perceive/identify the threat, evaluate the situation, develop a plan of action, and then set that plan in motion, all within a timeframe of less than one second. To put this scenario into perspective, a police officer’s reaction time (based on a study of 46 trained officers), when they already know the threat is there, AND, with their finger already on the trigger, is 0.365 seconds.

Still, decisions made by officers have come under increased scrutiny in recent years. This applies to not only to deadly force situations, but the apprehension of suspects, and even the decision to enter a building.

This gripping session places you, the “officer,” in a variety of interactive situations where you will have to think and react quickly to save lives and catch the suspects.

Virtual Reality – Mental Health Training SimulatorLocation – SC142
Instructor - Erik Walters

Officers are in regular contact with individuals who are undergoing a personal crisis, such as problems relating to the opioid epidemic, someone diagnosed on the autism spectrum, or one of a variety of psychiatric issues. Dealing with those situations can be challenging for law enforcement, especially when they often occur within mere seconds of arrival at a scene. There is often no time to know or research the person’s history, background, or medical diagnosis; therefore, officer responses to the situations are often reactionary to what is sometimes perceived as violent threats to their safety or the safety of others, including that of the person in crisis.

Virtual reality mental health training simulators place law enforcement officers into the shoes and minds of those suffering from an emotional disturbance or experiencing a mental health crisis. This realistic training experience helps police better comprehend what these individuals are experiencing, and to recognize and understand how to handle a subject who is undergoing psychiatric distress.

Killer Con attendees have the unique opportunity to participate in this hyper-realistic, eye-opening training experience.

Reading and Interpreting Bloodstain Patterns and SpatterSee course info above.

Interview and InterrogationSee course info above.

Overdose Death InvestigationSee course info above.

Using Art to Solve CrimeSee course info above.

Crime Writer’s Guide to Murder InvestigationSee course info above.

Homicide Investigation: The Reel to Real StorySee course info above.

Use of Force Simulator (TI System)See course info above.

Virtual Reality – Mental Health Training SimulatorSee course info above.

Lunch

Reading and Interpreting Bloodstain Patterns and SpatterSee course info above.

Interview and InterrogationSee course info above.

Overdose Death InvestigationSee course info above.

Using Art to Solve CrimeSee course info above.

Crime Writer’s Guide to Murder InvestigationSee course info above.

Homicide Investigation: The Reel to Real StorySee course info above.

Use of Force Simulator (TI System)See course info above.

Virtual Reality – Mental Health Training SimulatorSee course info above.

Crime Scene DebriefingPresenter - Dr. Katherine Ramsland

Were you, the investigator assigned to the case, able to solve the murder presented on the first day of the event, using the tools, tactics, and techniques provided by Killer Con’s expert instructors? In this wrap-up session, Dr. Ramsland reveals all the details.

Board Buses for Return Trip to Hotel

Buses Depart Campus

Bookstore and Cash Bar Open

Banquet Featuring Guest of Honor Charlaine Harris

Book signing with Charlaine Harris, special guests, presenters, and sponsorsLocation - TBA