Violent crimes happen every day; sometimes leaving behind a brutal mess.

Violent crimes happen every day; sometimes leaving behind a brutal mess.

When the investigation is over, whose job is it to clean it up?

It’s not your ordinary cleaning job, nor your average clients and not for the faint of heart.

80-year-old Walter Eastwood was beaten and robbed during a frightening home invasion earlier this month. Three men broke into Eastwood’s home, beat him, tied him up and stole thousands of dollars and jewelry from his safe. The attack left blood stains on the couch and floor as painful reminders of a brutal attack.

The criminals ran off leaving Eastwood and his wife emotionally scarred and their home a bloody mess. That's where crime scene cleaners come into play.

CBS47 talked with crime scene cleaner Paul Duvivier. Duvivier said, "Blood and body fluids contain lots and lots, over 250diff bacteria and viruses."

It's gruesome work but when a violent crime occurs and someone has to clean up the blood and body fluids the right way. "Somebody untrained, the guy with a mop bucket and bottle of bleach unfortunately that doesn't do it, Duvivier said.

In the Eastwood's case, the left over blood in the carpet may seem like small stains but what lies beneath is hazardous and can be a heath risk. “We will be removing a great deal of the carpet checking out underneath the carpet and treat the cement that's underneath that,” said Duvivier.

Duvivier sees himself as more than cleaning man; he's part of the healing process, helping families get thought emotionally hard times. Duvivier said, “They have gone through something that was tragic or horrendous for them and we want the help them."

It's a tough job. Duvivier works with families that have experienced suicides, murders, and violent accident scenes… it's more than most people can handle. Duvivier said, "What a horrendous situation where a family has to be the ones cleaning up a relative."

Duvivier and his team understand a family needs help that few can provide. It's more than just clean up; it's a shoulder to cry on, or setting up a place to stay while the painful memories are washed away.

After removing and disposing all the heartbreaking signs of the attack, the Eastwood family can finally feel comfortable going back into their home, even if memories of the attack remain.

Berkeley Man’s Suicide Leads to Discovery of Body Buried Behind Wall

By Richard Brenneman

The dramatic suicide of a Berkeley man late Monday afternoon led police to a second gruesome discovery two days later, a badly decomposed male corpse walled up inside the a first floor laundry room.

A caller’s report of a loud argument brought officers to the building at 2235 Ashby Ave. Monday night, and they were directed to the apartment of Hassan Bin Ali.

Once the officers were inside the apartment, Bin Ali “pulled a handgun, put it to his head and subsequently took his own life,” said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Andrew Frankel.

The police daily bulletin for Monday lists the time of the shot as 5:55 p.m.

Mortally wounded, he was rushed to Highland Hospital by a Berkeley Fire Department ambulance, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Frankel said the dead man had lived alone, and officers don’t know who he was arguing with at the time they were called. “We haven’t heard any reports of anyone seen coming or going, so it could have been an argument over the telephone,” he said.

During the subsequent investigation, “officers on the scene found evidence that led them to believe another crime may have been committed.”

Based on that evidence, detectives obtained a search warrant and began a thorough search of the building, leading to the discovery of the body entombed behind a wall on the first floor.

“I have no idea how long the body had been there,” he said. The body was in a state of advanced decomposition, and it was only the following day that forensic examiners were able to determine that the corpse was that of a male.

While one published account cited a neighbor who had described Bin Ali as paranoid before his suicide, Frankel said he had spoken to a neighbor who had been shocked that the man had taken his own life.

The Alameda County Coroner’s office is currently conducting an examination to determine what killed the concealed corpse, and until a finding is made, Frankel said the cause is being listed as “suspicious,” rather than as a homicide.

“We’re still aggressively working the case,” he said.

In a statement to the press released Friday afternoon, Berkeley Police Sgt Mary Kusmiss said “the Alameda County Coroner completed an autopsy yesterday. Due to decomposition of the body, the coroner will have to rely on dental records to confirm and/or rule out an identity.”

Bin Ali is known to have had a son, and officers have been unable to locate him, “though we are in contact with other members of the family,” Frankel said.

He asked anyone with any information about Bin Ali and the case to call police at 981-6900.

Berkeley firefighters were called to the scene after the body was discovered to assist with biohazard containment, said Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong.

Berkeley police were responsible for retrieving the remains, which were contained in a large coffin-sized wooden box.

“We provided tools and equipment,” said Deputy Chief Dong.

Once police and firefighters had completed their phase of the removal, Arturo Sopon and his private cleanup team Morgan Environmental Service, an Oakland firm licensed by the state to handle hazardous waste and trauma scenes, arrived to finish the job, donning Tyvek suits, protective masks, boots and gloves, taping over the seams to prevent exposure.

“We clean up bodily fluids,” Sopon said, adding that work often spiked over the Christmas season and during summer months.

Custodian’s stress-disorder suit restored

Meghann M. Cuniff / Staff writer

A custodian who sued her school district after being forced to clean up the bloody scene of a student’s suicide had her lawsuit reinstated Tuesday by the Washington Court of Appeals.

Debbie Rothwell, who still works at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a lawsuit filed in May 2007 by her lawyer, William Powell, of Spokane. The 16-year-old student shot himself in the head inside the school’s main entrance in 2004. The lawsuit was dismissed in January 2008 by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt, who ruled the incident was covered by the Industrial Insurance Act.

But the Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, disagreed and reinstated the suit.

“There are people who do clean up the mess after one of these horrible murders or suicides happen,” Powell said Tuesday, referring to private professionals. “But the superintendent in this case chose not to do that. He should have known better.”

Along with former Superintendent Michael Green, now superintendent of the Woodland School District in Western Washington, the lawsuit names the Nine Miles Falls School District, Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer, two sheriff’s detectives and an unidentified man as defendants.

None was available for comment. Like most civil suits in Washington, the complaint seeks unspecified damages.

Rothwell’s complaints center around her task of cleaning up the suicide scene, then being asked to move a backpack she later learned belonged to the victim and contained a suspicious device that authorities detonated using a robot.

She stayed at work until after 4 a.m., cleaning the mess of blood, brain and bone alone, becoming “emotionally distraught and physically ill” before returning to the school less than four hours later at Green’s orders to serve cookies and coffee to grieving students and keep the media from the school, according to the suit.

At issue in the court decisions was whether Rothwell’s claim of post-traumatic stress disorder fell under the industrial injury act, which prohibits lawsuits based on industry injury or occupational disease.

Judges John A. Schultheis and Dennis J. Sweeney ruled it didn’t because it wasn’t the result of one work order. Her trauma grew over several days, according to their written opinion. Judge Teresa C. Kulik dissented.