Staged Scenes & Deceptive 911 Calls: A Homicide Expert Reveals All

When someone dials 911, we assume they want help. Retired NYPD Lt. Commander Vernon J. Geberth — author of Practical Homicide Investigation, the book detectives still call the bible of death investigation — says that is not always true.In this interview, Geberth explains how some callers stage the phone call itself to cover a crime: they report an accident, or an unknown intruder, when the death was a homicide. He walks through what investigators listen for in that first recording — the official first statement in the case — and how a staged call often lines up with a staged scene.This episode is for the public, not a how-to. It is about why first responders and detectives treat unattended deaths as possible homicides until the facts say otherwise, and why the 911 tape can make or break that investigation.