The crime occurred decades ago, but the evidence lives on — and prepares future generations of investigators for real-world scenarios — through an exquisitely detailed and accurate model of the actual crime scene, built at 1/12th scale by Dave Mastric, Marquette resident and Northern Michigan University alumnus.

“This case is specifically interesting because the physical evidence can tell the entire story of what happened,” Mastric said. “As a teaching case, there were some interesting facts about the situation that made this a very easy case for the investigators.”

The model of the scene, referred to as a nutshell, will be used in NMU’s Criminal Justice Department to give students experience investigating crime scenes through the examination of physical evidence.

This will give students an opportunity to exercise critical thinking skills while investigating a real case in three dimensions, starting off with the same information and evidence that case’s investigators had when they began the investigation.

A bird’s eye view of the living room, kitchen and dining areas in Mastric’s nutshell representation is pictured. (Photo courtesy of Northern Michigan University)

“One of the reasons that we thought that this would be a good addition to it is because this is real science, this is an actual case,” Mastric said.

Mastric was inspired by the work of Frances Glessner Lee, an accomplished miniaturist, who built “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death,” which were highly detailed miniature reproductions based on real-life crime scenes.

“She created 19 crime scenes that were designed with law enforcement investigators’ input, as tools to train investigators,” Mastric said, noting Glessner Lee’s nutshells were “designed with truthful elements so that investigators would have real-world experience that they could draw upon as they were teaching them what to look for in a crime scene.”

Glessner Lee, who did much of her work between the 1930s and 1960s, recognized the need for tools that taught investigators how to observe and evaluate physical and indirect evidence.

“Before her work, it was either word of mouth or trial and error and that was how cases were investigated,” Mastric said.

The kitchen of Mastric’s nutshell model, complete with miniaturized kitchen supplies, is shown. The nutshell’s design lends it to exploration from all angles. (Photo courtesy of Northern Michigan University)

Mastric recognized the value of nutshells as a teaching tool and proposed creating the nutshell for use in NMU’s criminal justice program to NMU Criminal Justice Professor Bob Hanson.

NMU commissioned Mastric to create the nutshell scene, which he spent nearly a year creating, through intensive research and construction efforts.

Mastric read through reports from police, first responders, FBI investigators and other agencies who responded to the scene and investigated the crime, combing hundreds of pages for specific details about the crime scene and evidence.

He also reviewed numerous photos of the crime scene and autopsies to gather information for his three-dimensional representation — he said he tried to the best of his ability to “match the scene the way it was when first responders got there. “

Mastric took painstaking efforts to ensure accuracy down to every last detail — he worked to ensure the model’s placement of bodies, evidence and furniture was as proportionate, accurate and realistic as possible.

His extensive research and attention to minute detail are immediately apparent when viewing the nutshell — blood spatter and drop patterns were recreated and placed in the exact locations they were found, as were instances of overturned furniture, hidden weapons, a stray pair of eye glasses and numerous other minute clues that combine to tell investigators a story.

“The FBI was able, with nothing more than the (blood) spatter evidence, to piece together exactly how this series of events unfolded — who was hit first, who was moved from the place they were originally attacked and who wasn’t a part of the attack,” he said, noting he believes students will also have the ability to piece it together.

Many of the objects in the nutshell were handmade to ensure the model was as close as possible to the real-life crime scene — right down to exquisite replicas of the home’s real furniture and decorations.

The high level of detail and realism in the three-dimensional representation can help students get a feel for how to approach a real investigation and further develop critical thinking skills, he said.

“They need to know what to look for, they need to be able to walk into an environment and see that environment with a seasoned eye,” Mastric said. “What a three-dimensional representation will hopefully succeed in doing is training the eye to see these crime scenes in the dimensions that they need, so they can focus on the aspects that are going to be important when it comes time to take a case to trial.”

One significant value of working in three dimensions, rather than with photos or digital models, Mastric says, is “you can see everything in every possible dimension.”

Students can take a bird’s eye view of the scene or take photos inside the nutshell with a smartphone to get an eye-level perspective of the crime scene.

Hanson and Mastric are hoping to build an upper-division criminal investigation course based around the nutshell crime scene for the coming winter semester.

“The class would be an entire semester’s work investigation, just this crime, so they would start as inspectors walking into a crime scene and then all of these voluminous reports that have been generated would be presented as the semester goes on,” Mastric said.

Students will be tasked with piecing together all the evidence presented over the semester to determine what events unfolded, Mastric says.

This will create a unique opportunity for students, Mastric said, noting “we haven’t found any other school that’s working with miniatures.”

Mastric looks forward giving a presentation on the nutshell with Hanson at the Midwest Criminal Justice meeting in September, as well as unveiling the nutshell Wednesday during a majors fair at NMU’s University Center.

He also looks forward to creating more nutshells in the future — and already has a detailed plan for next scene he’d like to recreate — a Glessner Lee inspired scene that will show students yet another angle to the investigation of unexplained deaths.