This is #5 and the last in the series of fantasy murder modus operandi.
The fire brigade received a fire report via the alarm system installed in the university laboratory at 9 pm on a Saturday. They made it to the scene within 12 minutes and located the fire in the chemistry laboratory on the ground floor. The flame seemed to be contained within the laboratory and caused by chemicals. The firefighters quickly put out the fire and to their dismay, a highly distorted body was found.
Upon inspection, the fire seemed to have started from the fume hood in the lab and spreaded quickly along the floors. Samples of chemicals and accelerant were sent to the forensics department. The glass in the fume hood was shattered into tiny pieces, suggesting an outward explosion. The forensics department tested the samples and found traces of acetone. The accelerants appeared to be various volatile metals and chemicals existing in the lab, spilled when the explosion occurred.
The body was sent to the pathologist’s office. It is certified a male. The body is distorted due to the impact of the explosion; broken bones in many locations of the body, particularly the ribs. Many pieces of glass were lodged in the victim’s face and upper torso, suggesting that he was standing at the fume hood when the explosion occurred. The cause of death is athe effect of the blast on his thoracic region. A bruise at the back of the head consistent with the victim hitting his head against the floor when he fell was discovered.
From the police, it was uncovered that the victim is a 41-year-old laboratory technician working for the university. It is unclear as to why he was working overtime on a Saturday on his own accord. However, no foul play was suspected as the pathologist’s report converged with the fire brigade report in concluding the death to be accidental.
Now, we all know it’s not. So what really happened?
Acetone peroxide was the real explosive. The murderer set up an oxidation process of acetone to produce acetone peroxide, which is highly explosive and decomposes to form water and carbon dioxide, so no trace was left. This murderer knocked out the victim, and using supporting stand made of ice, the victim was made to stand in front of the fume hood. The murderer knew that the explosion will cause a fire, and a chemical fire would melt the ice and remove all traces of the stand. The murderer also conveniently spilled some flammable chemicals near the fume hood to encourage burning. Setting up the apparatus needed for the oxidation process, the murderer, a good chemist in practice, reverse calculated the amount of acetone peroxide needed to created a contained blast enough to kill the victim, and left the oxidation process to run. Once the critical amount of explosive was reached, the blast occurred, killing the victim and triggering the fire alarm.
