Crime scene investigators with the Metro Nashville Police Department say they used a 3D scanner to process Caitlyn Kaufman’s vehicle after it was gunned down on I-440.
Officer Doug Belcher took the stand Thursday to explain to the jury how a FARO Scan helped detectives get a closer look at the bullet paths and defects that killed the Nashville nurse.
Prosecutors said six rounds were fired into Kaufman’s Mazda CX5 on I-440 between the Hillsboro Road and West End exits. One bullet passed through her lungs and heart. She died within seconds.
After photos of the crime scene were taken, a FARO Scan—or panoramic view—was performed. At the time, it was a fairly new technology for the department.
So how does it work?
Officer Belcher says a measuring device about the size of a cereal box gets a full 360-degree view of the space. It can gather millions of points of measurement from within a scene. Plots points are put on a surface that bounce back to a laser. Spheres and trajectory rods are used around the bullet defect to measure the space.
Jurors were handed a report with a point-by-point scan of the defects in Kaufman’s vehicle.
Prosecutor: Officer Belcher, if a gun had been fired from the front passenger seat of the passing vehicle, then a bullet hit Kaufman's vehicle, was anything inconsistent found from the bullet defects in the Mazda?
Belcher: No.
Before the 3D scanner, investigators would use a protractor and inclinometer to gather bullet path data from a crime scene.
MORE COVERAGE
- Suspect's friend who led detectives to murder weapon testifies in Kaufman trial
- Crime scene photos show Caitlyn Kaufman's car riddled with bullet holes
- Man charged with Nashville nurse's murder seen falling asleep during trial
- 'They did this together': Emotions run high during witness testimonies in Kaufman trial
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