100 preserve the fingerprints because it had rained, despite the fact that the meteorological report stated that there had been no rainfall. Furthermore, the police did not take blood samples of the victim, for which reason the respective laboratory tests were not conducted, and her clothes were not examined and the victim’s wounds were not photographed completely (supra para. 134.86). 167. The investigative procedures that were omitted are key components for an appropriate development of the judicial investigation, especially in face of a fact that has cost a person’s life.255 b) Altering and hiding the report of the police investigation 168. As was stated with respect to the proven facts, the police entrusted two of its officers, José Mérida Escobar and Julio Pérez Ixcajop, with investigating the death of Myrna Mack Chang. On September 29, 1990, said policemen submitted to the Director of the Guatemalan National Police, Colonel Julio Caballeros, the respective report, in which they reached the conclusion that Myrna Mack Chang had been murdered for political reasons and they even identified Noel de Jesús Beteta Álvarez, a specialist of the Presidential General Staff, as a suspect of the murder (supra para. 134.87). 169. The Court also has deemed it proven that, under orders from Colonel Julio Caballeros, then the Director of the National Police, the report prepared by José Mérida Escobar and Julio Pérez Ixcajop was substituted by another, more brief report dated November 4, 1990, which was forwarded to the courts. This report stated that the motive of the crime might have been robbery, and it identified no suspects (supra para. 134.88). 170. Likewise, the Court has deemed it proven that the new Director of the Police forwarded the September 29, 1990 report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office several months later, in April or May, 1991 (supra para. 134.89). 171. Likewise, Rember Larios Tobar, then the Head of the Criminological Investigations Department of the National Police of Guatemala (supra para. 127.e), stated before the Court that: I assigned homicide investigator José Miguel Mérida because he was knowledgeable, well-trained, and experienced in homicide investigations [and] he chose the other investigator [...]Julio César Pérez Ixcajop; a report was prepared, dated February 29, 1990, and it was immediately submitted to the Director of the Police, colonel Julio Caballeros. [T]he report stated that based on the witnesses’ interviews, it had been established that there was a suspect by name Noel de Jesús Beteta and also that the motive of the killing might have been that she had published a book that talked about the institutional policies toward the internally displaced population in Guatemala, which at the time was considered a very sensitive topic in Guatemala. […] I recall that there was a second report, and if I remember correctly it was dated November 4, 1990, and it was prepared under orders issued by the Director of the National Police who said that this report should be submitted and sent to the courts. I also recall that when the September 29, 1990 report was submitted the first time, he ordered that it be kept secret, that it not be sent to the court. He also warned us that 255 Cf. Juan Humberto Sánchez Case, supra note 9, para. 127 and U.N. Doc./ST/CSDHA/.12 (1991).