SCI 1301

Learning Module 5 Assignment 9: Using Deductive Reasoning to Solve Crimes

Logic Table
An organized way to assemble your data is to put it all into a logic table. In the following table you
need to list the name of the suspects. Each time you find a fact that links that persons to the crime
place an X in that box. When you complete the chart, the person with the most Xs is you most likely
suspect.

Suspect Shoe size Hair color Has or Wears Taller Known to Wears Alibi not
Name fits matches has nylon than the wear red cologne corroborated
evidence evidence access to running victim or
a white shorts perfume
cat
Ryan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Not
corroborated
Jeff Yes Yes No No Yes No No Not
corroborated
Gary Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Corroborated
Freddie No Unknow Yes Yes Yes No Yes Not
n hair corroborated
color
(bald)
Dave Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Not
corroborated
Nancy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Corroborated
Mary Yes No No Yes Yes No No Corroborated

Analysis
In your analysis (200-word minimum, paragraph format) be sure to cover the following:
 The most likely murderer and the evidence to back it up.
 The least likely murderer. Explain.
 List which suspects were able to produce reliable alibis and what those alibis were.
 Describe the motives for each of the suspects.
 What you consider to be the most critical piece of evidence. Explain
 Explain whether you know for certain that the person you chose as your most likely murderer
did indeed commit the crime.
Motives
Nancy and Mary are both players in the team who have been used as alternatives and rarely
play, and on top of that Mary had romantic. intentions towards Joe that weren’t reciprocated.
Both Ryan and Jeff had wives on the team that had allegedly been approached by Joe in
inappropriate ways and experienced innapropiate remarks from them, they also had previously
publicly threatened Joe. Gary was upset due to his expensive racket malfunctioning after Joe had
worked on it, however Jose warned him of the consequences of the work he was asking him to do.
Dave is a tennis player who had been recently humiliated during a tournament by Joe, he had also
SCI 1301
Learning Module 5 Assignment 9: Using Deductive Reasoning to Solve Crimes
plubicly threatened him. Freddie is the father of Joes girlfiriend, Jane Green, he actively
disapproved his relationship with his daughter.
Evidence and Analyzing
I think that the suspect that is the most likely to be the murderer is Ryan, as he is the ONLY
suspect that matches all of the evidence. Ryan Jones is a bank loan officer whose wife plays on the
tennis team that Joe (the victim) coached, and he claims that he has made inappropriate remarks
and advances towards his wife in several occasions and according to evidence, has even publicly
threatened him. I think that the most important evidence is the smell of musky cologne, this
because the cologne had to have been from someone who entered the room recently, in other
words, it couldn’t have been anything that anyone was wearing previously (during practice for
example) that lingered around, that had to have been directly linked to the suspect. Aside from
that, both Jean and Robby didn’t mention anything about this smell when they had entered the
room earlier, therefore it had to have been from someone who entered the room during the
suspected time frame of the murder. I also think that the least likely to be the murderer is Mary,
this because she lacks some of the most key points of evidence that would allow us to know who
the suspect is. She has an alibi that was corroborated, she also is allergic to cats and perfume
which I believe to be a HUGE hint that it wasn’t her as this physical evidence was one of the few
things left behind at the scene, overall I don’t think it is likely that she would leave the hospital
and commit the crime regardless of her motives, it sounds unlikely. However, I DO NOT believe
that this is enough evidence to declare Ryan the perpetrator, mostly because all of this is general
evidence, there isn’t any INDIVIDUAL evidence that can help us prove that Ryan actually
committed the crime. I believe that gathering more information on the incident that occurred in
which Joe was part of (that he received scratches in his face from) and comparing the hair DNA
from the hair found to the hair of the suspects would be necessary to obtain a better formulated
hypothesis.