JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man has been charged with domestic murder after detectives said he strangled a woman in October and then staged her death to look like a suicide.
Malcolm Jordan Douglas, 28, was arrested Friday on a charge of second-degree domestic murder.
According to his arrest report, Douglas called 911 on Oct. 22 because a woman at his home was not breathing. He told first responders she had hung herself.
The woman, who has not been identified by investigators, died at the hospital.
Detectives went back to the apartment with Douglas and found broken glass on the floor in the living room and kitchen and more broken shards in the trash can in the kitchen.
Detectives found fresh scratches on Douglas’ arm and noted his fingernails were bitten down to the quick. Douglas admitted to police that the woman had never made any suicidal comments.
When the Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the woman, it determined her death was a homicide and that she had been strangled.
The State Attorney’s Office hired an outside crime scene expert to examine the evidence and autopsy report and findings and the expert agreed with the Medical Examiner’s findings that the woman’s injuries were inconsistent with suicide and that she had been strangled before the scene was staged to look like a suicide.
An attorney who spoke with News4JAX said having an outside expert come in to review the evidence and autopsy report is uncommon, but added that in a case like this, where a lot of the evidence is circumstantial, the outside expert’s finding is beneficial if or when the case goes to trial.
Curtis Fallgatter, an attorney not affiliated with the case, said that Douglas steering police in the wrong direction at first looks bad on him.
Fallgatter said this is an example of a false exculpatory statement.
“When you provide an explanation of innocence and it turns out to be false, that becomes affirmative evidence for the state to use to prosecute you. It’s different than just denying it...you’ve now basically admitted the crime,” he said.
Fallgatter also said what’s unusual about the case is that after the M.E.’s office did its autopsy, the state Attorney’s Office hired an outside crime scene expert to examine the evidence and autopsy report.
However, he said this was likely done to make sure whenever this goes to court, anyone who hears the case knows without a doubt this was a homicide and not suicide.
“When the case involves circumstantial evidence of the cause of death and they want to prove it’s not by the rope...having a second opinion if you’re a jury you want that medical evidence to be as strong as possible. It’s always good to have two experts versus one,” he said.
And Fallgatter said when it comes to Douglas allegedly using a rope after the fact and claiming the victim was hung, this is also an example of tampering with evidence.