Pedestrians at Wildwood Preserve Metropark encountered a crime scene Tuesday.
Yellow tape blocked off a wooded area near the southwest corner of the preserve, where a set of human “bones” was discovered hours before. Several people wearing protective forensic suits hurried to collect evidence and prevent a crowd of onlookers from interfering.
The forensic specialists at the scene, however, were not Toledo Police Department officials, but undergraduate University of Toledo students enrolled in a criminal forensics and trial course. Taught by Andrew Dier and John Schlageter, the course lets students investigate a fictitious cold case and eventually bring a suspect to trial.
Of the 16 students in the class, half carry out the initial criminal investigation, while the others play the roles of the prosecutors and defense attorneys in a mock jury trial on June 22.
Class members learned of the body at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday. As the paralegal undergraduates looked on, professors evaluated the criminal justice students on their ability to follow a methodological set of steps that involved carefully handling evidence and respecting a strict protocol for interacting with the media.
Despite the case’s make-believe nature and the heavy concentration of mosquitoes, students worked tirelessly all morning. Several said this diligence was not just for the sake of grades, but also the majority’s hope to pursue careers in criminal justice.
“I’m super stressed about this,” criminal justice senior Brianna Gebstadt said. “In the end, it could all be used against us or for us at a trial to find justice.”
This false sense of reality is exactly what Mr. Dier and Mr. Schlageter want.
When the pair last taught this course in 2016, they tasked students with examining an authentic human cadaver at the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center at UT.
“Talk about adding a real element of reverence,” Mr. Schlageter said.
This year, Mr. Dier ordered plastic bones from an artist in South Carolina. Several students and Mr. Schlageter on Tuesday were convinced they were observing genuine human bones. Mr. Dier said this false assumption might cause students to handle the evidence more carefully, and therefore, was left uncorrected.
“We don’t tell them any different,” he said.
Several UT professors also visited the crime scene, acting as suspects who will later be investigated by the class. John Shuba, a lecturer in the criminal justice program, was assigned to play a character whom several students described as the “town pervert.” Toting a bottle of hard alcohol and binoculars, he circled the crime scene and helped several students practice interviewing skills.
“I love it. I’m a frustrated actor,” he said.
Joshua Williams, a paralegal studies senior who is taking the course for the second time, said that while Mr. Dier became a more aggressive professor, Mr. Schlageter acted as a calmer but intense figure.
“He’ll lead me to decisions and let me make the decisions at my own peril,” he said.
Students will continue to investigate the fictional murder for the next month. They are scheduled to bring their chosen suspect before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gene Zmuda for an arraignment June 16.
Contact Antonia Ayres-Brown at: abrown@theblade.com or 419-724-6368.
First Published May 24, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
