Homicide Investigator Daniel Salcedo [more]
Daniel Salcedo, Homicide Investigator
By Alice McWilliams
Investigator Daniel Salcedo is just a normal guy, except his cell phone never leaves his side. At any moment, on any day, and at any time, that phone could bring his next assignment; a homicide.
When assigned a case, Investigator Salcedo will receive a briefing on the status of the case. He gets as many details as he can. Then he will canvass the neighborhood and interview as many people as possible. He wants to get as much information about the case as he can before he interviews his subject. He will often visit the crime scene to make his own observations about what might have happened, based on evidence at the scene and what neighbors observed.
Once he has a subject to question, he conducts an in-depth interview. Over the years, Investigator Salcedo has been able to hone his own interviewing technique.
He never looks for stereotypical body language cues you hear about on TV. “Everyone’s body language is different. There is no universal facial movement to signify that someone is lying”. Because of this, he uses other techniques to look for cues that the suspect is lying.
He will ask the suspect to recount what happened the day of the crime. He has them start with what they did in the morning, how things were in their home. Usually the suspect will embellish aspects of their story if they are making it up. “If a suspect says ‘I got up, ate some breakfast, and kissed my beautiful wife good bye as I do every morning before work because I love her so very much’ I know they might be lying. Usually a person wouldn’t put that much detail into a description of leaving for work” says Investigator Salcedo.
Investigator Salcedo has been with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department since he was 20years old. Having been born and raised in Orange County, Salcedo decided to join the Orange County Sheriff’s Department as his first real job and has served in a variety of capacities since then.
He started his career as a Deputy serving 14 months in Corrections before being moved to Patrol in South County. After that, he spent some time in administrative assignments in Dana Point and headquarters before ending up in Homicide, where he has been for the last 12 years.
What first drew him to Homicide was his amazement at how quickly Homicide Investigators were able to pin down a suspect after the crime. Before he was an Investigator, he always used to wonder “how’d they do that so quickly?” He also likes the idea of figuring out the puzzle and putting all the pieces together to make a cohesive case.
The pieces of each puzzle he solves are the details. These might be considered the most important part of any investigation. As he is collecting evidence and conducting interviews he makes sure he covers all of his bases. Investigator Salcedo wants to make sure that he leaves no question unanswered. He knows how detailed a defense attorney will get in attempting to damage Salcedo’s credibility in the eyes of a jury.
Despite the rigors of the job, Investigator Salcedo does not become frustrated. “I think it's because I knew what I was getting into when I started the job,” said Salcedo.
His wife realized what she was getting into. Back when they were dating, she came to visit him one weekend and she had been in town only a few hours before he got the call for the Samantha Runnion case. She didn’t see him again for another four days.
His lifestyle changed once he became a Homicide Investigator. He generally takes a separate car wherever he goes. “That way I’m always prepared to leave for an investigation without interrupting those I’m with,” said Salcedo. But when asked if he has been emotionally affected by his line of work, he responds with a definite “no.”
Investigator Salcedo has been with the department for 24 years, and while in Homicide he has had 12 cases go to trial and has never lost a case. He has investigated over 250 death cases. One hit very close to home within the Sheriff’s Department when one of our own deputies, Brad Riches, was killed. The 10th anniversary of Brad Riches' death was June 12th, 2009.
One of the hardest parts of the job for investigator Salcedo is giving the families of victims the death notification. The most difficult one he ever had to give was most recently in the city of San Clemente when a 16-year-old boy decided to take his own life. “It’s difficult to advise a family when you have to notify them of a loved one's death" says Salcedo. “There's just no easy way to do it”.
The best part of the job? When a favorable verdict is reached.
“I feel so gratified to know that we were able to get some type of closure for the family” says Salcedo. “And to know that someone was not able to get away with causing another person's death. That's a good day”.
When he has any spare time, Investigator Salcedo enjoys golfing, baseball, and going to the beach. He also has two dogs who are his pride and joy.