Medicolegal Death Investigator Course
In-person 5-day course offered twice yearly at the
Oasis Hotel and Convention Center in Springfield, MO.
Expanded and Updated
Hybrid Course Consisting of Classroom and Online Training.
This course is open to Medicolegal students as well as working professionals.
April 3-7, 2023
October 9-13, 2023
Registration: $825
Enrollment Price Includes:
- 60 hours of ConEd (Continuing Education) credit POST and ABMDI (40 hours in-classroom, 20 hours online)
- Access to our National Certification Exam (optional)
- Breakfast and Lunch (Monday – Friday)
- Hospitality room for after-hours networking
- Everything in one site – hotel and training
- Hotel Shuttle from and to the airport (SGF).
Course Location
Oasis Hotel and Convention Center
2546 North Glenstone
Springfield, Missouri 65803
Phone: 417-866-5253 or 1-888-532-4338
Website: springfieldoasis.com
Airport: Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF)
Special room rate: $96.
Ask for the “Death Investigation Academy” Rate
Learn from the top experts in the field
This hybrid course is developed for the police detective, patrol officer, medicolegal and coroner investigator. Taught by skilled, accredited instructors working in the field of death investigation, this course will provide intermediate-level training in the skills required to properly work a death investigation. The format will develop confidence in the investigator and hone valuable skills.
After completing this course, the investigator will have the ability to better; understand the legal restriction of search and seizure, document a scene, locate and collect evidence, properly distinguish differing manners of death, better understand wound and injury interpretation, understand the dynamics of child death, conduct witness interviews, and properly complete reports and prepare for courtroom testimony.
This course will include several post-mortem examination photographs and video segments – as well as injury, death, and homicide scenes through photos and video of actual cases. This course is very graphic and intense.
Course Accreditation
This course is approved by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, as well as the Missouri Department of Public Safety POST commission and the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI). Participants completing this course will receive 40 hours of Missouri CLEE credits and ABMDI continuing education credits. For participants to receive credit for this training, they must be present during every hour of instruction. An additional 10 hours will be granted with the optional online portion.
Course Itinerary
Day One
- Scene Management
- Top 12 Mistakes Made at Death Scenes.
- Scene Investigation; Assessment, Evidence, and Documentation
- Building and Maintaining a Professional Image
- Ethics in Investigations
- Final Summary Report Writing for Death Cases
- Court Room Testimony
Day Two
- Understanding Cause and Manner Implications
- Determining Time of Death
- Body Examination and Wound Identification
- Gun Shot
- Stabbing and Cutting
Day Three
- Cultural Diversity in investigations
- Communication Obstacles
- Investigating Infant and Child Deaths
Day Four
- Forensic Osteology Human v. Non-Human Bone
- Practical Principles of Clandestine Grave Recovery
- Surface Skeletal Remain Recovery
- Investigating Fatal Fire Deaths
Day Five
- Investigating Suicide and Self-Harm Death
- Investigating Autoerotic Accidents
- Equivocal Death Investigations
- Staged Suicide Scenes
Resources
Every student will be given access to an online portal of resources discussed in the course as well as many other downloadable resources. Forms, eBooks, charts, scene worksheets, checklists, and much more are included.
Online Training and Optional Certification Exam
As part of this expanded course, students have access to twelve additional online courses totalling 20 continuing education credits for both Law Enforcement POST and the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators- ABMDI. This is a saving of $450.**
Further, students wishing to sit for the National Certification Exam through the Death Investigation Academy may do so as part of this program. This is a saving of $250.**
** $700 dollar of total savings included.
Online Courses Include
- Practical Report Writing
- Proper Death Notification Procedures
- Asphyxia Death – Classification and Cause
- Professional Conduct – Skill and Attributes
- Courtroom Testimony, Preparation, and Credibility
- Cultural Diversity and Anger De-Escalation
- Understanding Sciences Used in Death Investigations
- Managing Workplace Conflict
- Motor Vehicle Crash Injury
- Pedestrian v. Motor Vehicle Injury Analysis
- Preparedness Mindset for Investigators
- Chemical Suicide – First Responder Safety
Our Instructors
At Death Investigation Training Academy we believe in peer-to-peer training using the best-accredited instructors. All of our instructors and trainers are accredited in their specialized fields. Many are nationally known authors, speakers, trainers, and certified as expert witnesses. DITA instructors are either currently working in, or recently retired from, the disciplines they are instructing. It is our belief that the best instructors are hands-on and have direct knowledge of current trends, methods, and technological advances – as it applies to actual casework.
Anita Brooks
Anita’s work in the area of PTSD and Compassion Fatigue. She has helped shape many agencies’ way of looking at their investigators' mental health and vitality. Her teaching style brings tuff topics into an easy-to-apply perspective. She is considered an expert in team building, stress management, conflict resolution, and developing interaction guidelines for dealing with the surviving family.
Anita is an award-winning author. Her titles include Amazon best-seller: Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over, Barbour Publishing, First Hired, Last Fired — How to Become Irreplaceable in Any Job Market, Leafwood Publishing, Death Defied-Life Defined: A Miracle Man’s Memoir, and contributor to The Change: Insights Into Self Empowerment Book #4. Her books are available at major and independent bookstores, Amazon, and several online retailers.
Major Mark E. Bailey
Major Mark E. Bailey recently closed out his 24- year career as the Director of the Marine Corps’ Military Police School. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science/Criminal Justice from North Carolina State University and a Master’s Degree in Military Studies from The Marine Corps University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (251st Session).
Mark has served in numerous law enforcement assignments including: Watch Commander, Operations Officer (Patrol, K-9 and SRT), Services Officer, Director of Security and Emergency Services (Police, Fire and EMS), and Chief of Police for a 600-man department.
Mark currently holds a commission as a police officer in the State of Missouri and oversees criminal and civil investigations.
Darren Dake, D-ABMDI, CCI
Darren Dake is a law enforcement professional with over 35 years of experience in criminal and medicolegal death investigations. Darren has worked in the law enforcement realm of investigations and in the role of senior investigator with the Coroner’s office for over 20 years. Darren is now the elected Coroner for the county he serves. This combined investigative experience has uniquely established Darren as an investigation expert, allowing him to consult and teach internationally on investigation practices and procedures.
Darren holds national certification as a Medicolegal Death Investigator through the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) and is a nationally certified criminal investigator and certified criminal investigations instructor.
Darren is also the director and senior instructor at the Death Investigation Training Academy.
Dr. Mark Beary PhD
Dr. Mark Beary is the consulting forensic anthropologist for the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office in Columbia, Mo. He worked as a professional archaeologist for several years before entering the field of forensic anthropology. In 2005 he received his Master’s degree in Forensic and Biological Anthropology; in 2018, he received his Ph.D. in Anthropology with a focus on bioarcheology and forensics. Over the past ten years, he has worked on numerous cases through the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office. He has also worked directly with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to recover human remains from outdoor crime scenes and clandestine graves. His professional interests include forensic archaeology and outdoor crime scene recovery; forensic taphonomy, including forensic entomology; development of biological profiles from human skeletal remains; and human skeletal trauma analysis.
Rodger Windle
Rodger has been in law enforcement for over 40 years. He has served primarily in the role of investigation, beginning in the local Sheriff’s office and then with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety for over 23 years. During that time, Rodger conducted over 1800 fire scene investigations and assisted in teaching the certification programs for Fire Investigators and Fire Inspectors. He recently retired as the supervisor of the investigators on the eastern side of the state and supervised the investigations involved in the Missouri Blasting Safety Laws. Rodger has over 42 years of experience in the fire service and over 44 years of experience in law enforcement. Rodger’s investigator and inspector certifications are approved by IFSAC and ProBoard.
Currently, Rodger is working as a special investigator for the Sheriff’s office and cold case unit.
“Five days well spent, I would recommend this course to anyone wishing to increase their knowledge in death investigation.”
“This seminar was incredibly informative and interesting I would highly recommend it to anyone in the criminal justice field.”
“Excellent training. I appreciate the structure of the class. I also appreciated the inclusion of mental health and wellness for us.”
“Awesome! One of the most informative seminars on death investigations I have been to.”