I'm sorry to hear about your bother, losing a close family member in such a violent tragedy is devastating and as a result can cause much turmoil within the victims family.
There are many emotions everyone close to the victim will go through and the time it can take between when the incident occurred and when someone is held accountable for such a horrendous act, can be very trying for all involved. This is understandable and I can only suggest that you try your best to be patient. Focus your energy on helping other family members, relatives and friends cope with the situation.
As far as your question, you may simply be looking for information surrounding your brothers death, to help in your own healing process or as a way to help deal with the tragic loss, or for a number of legitimate reasons. However, you shouldn’t expect investigators to disclose any particulars of their investigation with you at this point it time for many reasons.
First off, the investigating officers are under no legal obligation to disclose the details of the investigation to anyone at this point and for them to voluntarily provide you or anyone outside of their own team members with this information, would not be in the best interests of anyone but perhaps the perpetrator(s) of the crime. If they were to open their investigation to family members, the media or general public, it would greatly decrease any chances of seeing whoever is responsible, being convicted and held accountable for their actions.
The less information publicly known surrounding the investigation, the better the chances are that the person(s) responsible will be brought to trial and subsequently convicted.
The reasons why, are many and therefore, is partly why investigators may appear to be unwilling to discuss the case with you, refuse to answer your question, call you back or provide any further details at this early point in their investigation.
If this is indeed the situation, don’t receive their actions, or what you perceive to be their lack of action, as any indication of them dragging their feet or lacking any interest in solving the case, as it is most definitely, the exact opposite. They want whoever is responsible for this violent homicide taken off the streets, convicted and given the maximum penalty for their actions as much as you want this to happen. While you have suffered the immeasurable loss of a brother, they too will suffer the consequences of this horror in great lengths. They know more than anyone, that as long as the person(s) responsible are free to live and interact with the citizens they are sworn to protect, that everyone, including the investigators and their family members, are living with a constant threat of becoming the next victim to lose their life at the hands of such antisocial, violent individuals.
One cessation all investigators work at great extremes to avoid, is the acquittal of those responsible for homicide, as a direct result of mistakes made in their investigation. While they may have already identified the suspect from the clues you have indicated exist, they will only move to arrest a suspect(s) when they are certain they have covered every angle necessary to prove beyond reasonable doubt, that they in fact have the person responsible and the evidence to support this, to the degree of what will be required to ensure a guilty verdict for the charges filed by the DA, in jury trial.
At the same time, no one wants an innocent person to be convicted of a crime only to pay the price for the actions of the true perpetrator, who in turn manages to avoid prosecution.
Advancements in crime solving techniques as well as new scientific procedures, such as DNA, have recently been used to prove that many people serving time in prison, were in fact not guilty of the crime for which they were convicted and since, have had their convictions overturned. The alarming number of cases where an innocent person was convicted, serves to demonstrate how important it is to proceed on the side of caution, look into all aspects of a case and not jump to conclusions or make premature judgments and arrests in a case. Regardless of the pressure prompted by media, public outcry or expectations of family members to solve a case. Law enforcement must strive for vigilance to arrive at justice. This often takes time.
The reason I have made this post so long winded, is because I expect that part of the reason you are seeking information on what legal recourse you have to gain information on your brothers murder, is driven by your instinctive feelings of having to do something to help make the person(s) responsible, pay for their actions. Possibly even feelings of guilt for not being able to be there and stop such a tragedy from happening to your loved one and for this I can sympathize with you. But you have to understand that you have an emotional connection that can only serve to hamper the investigation. Detectives don’t want to deal with the possibility of a vigilante situation and they don’t want to waste valuable time having to explain their procedures to you or answer a barrage of never-ending questions from family members. They want to bring in the perpetrator(s) without having to jump the hurdles that will develop by releasing privileged information that must be kept to themselves,in order for it to serve as relevant, untainted evidence during trial.
While television may be in the habit of producing entertainment in the form of crime shows, where a family member, close friend or family pet is the hero who successfully cracks the case, it is not an accurate reflection of what goes on in real life.
Investigators have the responsibility to weigh all possibilities, check all leads and prove/disprove any suggested theories surrounding every case they try to solve, especially one of homicide. They must remain impartial and emotionally disconnected from a case, in order to analyze clues without bias. A position no family member can conceivably take on. They must also consider the possibility that a family member may have some degree of involvement in the crime, which is yet another reason to avoid discussing the case or disclosing too much information surrounding the investigation.
So your position at this early point in the investigation, should consist of a weekly phone call to touch base with them and inquire how the investigation is progressing, as a concerned family member and citizen. Even if this concern is relayed through the detective’s voicemail system. You should not be calling them three times a day to ask why they aren’t doing anything to solve the case and read them the riot act for not returning a phone call. Let them do their job. The more time they spend addressing issues brought up by the family, the less time they have available to work on solving the case.
I hope this helps....
