What Mercury Can Show in Crime Charts
Did the suspect hold a gun or did the suspect use his bare hands? The use of hands to coax, threaten, or attack the victim typically requires less effort to determine than other factors in a crime chart (such as motive, number of locations, or if the victim is safe –to name just a few).
You can look to Mercury (MER) or Gemini (GEM) to get more information because it can represent “hand” or “hands.”
Mercury will often aspect (conjunct or within 5°) another planet. As a example, you might come across an incident where “sucker punch” is described in the assault (Mercury + Uranus or Uranus at the Mercury degree, 3). On June 10, 2020 (5:15 pm/Bronx), a woman was captured on video innocently walking on a sidewalk and a homeless man is seen punching her without provocation. It is a stunning crime involving an obviously mentally ill perpetrator. 
Mercury at 12° (fist) aspects Uranus here (shock, fast, unpredictable).
MER may also show another use for a hand – like in the case of Tammy Mahoney (see chart) who used her hand (“one finger”) to thumb a ride and would go missing after getting inside the car. In Tammy’s case, Saturn (“one”) is aspecting MER (“finger”) and it’s in the 8th house of death (she “signaled death”).
In some charts, you can also spot where the perpetrator’s “mind” was focused at the moment of the crime (MER also can be considered “mindset”). In the case of Scott Peterson, convicted of strangling his pregnant wife Laci Peterson in 2002, his MER was at 21° CAP. Or put simply, his mind felt restricted in the role of a new father (21° = SAG, “father”).
Very often Mercury will tell you how the assailant used a weapon during the crime.
Let’s take a look at some combinations that show how MER can be represented in a crime chart:
MER positioned at ARI Degree (1°, 13°, 25°) or 1st House
This can mean hand/MER is holding a knife or a gun. If conj SAT, it can mean a “black weapon.” If MER is in Scorpio at an Aries degree, it can mean “Secret Weapon.” Pisces, “hidden.”
MER positioned at TAU Degree (2°, 14°, 26°) or 2nd House
If MER is in Taurus (or 2nd house) it can mean “hands” aspecting “throat” – or strangulation – particularly at 29°.
MER positioned at GEM Degree (3°, 15°, 27°) or 3rd House
If MER is in GEM degree it can mean a car was used as a weapon; particularly if aspecting Mars.
MER positioned at CAN Degree (4°, 16°, 28°) or 4th House
If MER is in Cancer, it can mean a mother was taken hostage or harmed. See the Jamie Closs chart. In this chart, MER is aspecting MARS (used a gun) in the 4th house (“on mother” and/or “in home”).
MER positioned at LEO Degree (5°, 17°, 29°) or 5th House
If MER is representing LEO attributes (degree/house), it means “strong hands” or “pulled hair.” If URA or Mars aspecting, it can mean “punch” or “brute force.”
MER Direct, Retrograde, and “Stationing“
You will see many different crime charts with MER either showing that it’s Direct “D”, Retrograde “R” or Stationing “st”. If a crime occurs and MER is “stationing” it will likely result in something very powerful since the planet is at its strongest point (that is, the time period when MER transitions from retrograde to direct (or vice versa). It is a particularly dangerous time and not a good time for traveling, getting married, or doing anything that would be considered “new.”
In Meighan Cordie’s (see chart) case, who’s death was ruled an accident, MER indicates what happened on the fateful night she was killed. Meighan, her mother, Jennifer Weathers, and Meighan’s 3 1/2 year old daughter were attending a wedding together outside of town; but the night before, Weathers had warned her daughter that bringing her daughter to the friend’s wedding could result in an earlier departure than neither would have wanted. On the night of the wedding, just as Weathers predicted, her granddaughter got cranky and Weathers, allegedly intoxicated, fueled the fated argument between mother and daughter on the ride home. As the car traveled at high speed along the highway – the argument escalated into a physical altercation while Weathers drove. Cordie “left” the vehicle (according to the police report) at a high speed and her body struck a guard rail while Weathers continued driving the vehicle, without stopping. Later as investigators looked into the matter further, they found a clump of hair on the seat that belonged to Weathers. It seemed Cordie had pulled her mother’s hair. MER (Hands) is in LEO (Hair).
At this time, MER was stationing in LEO (mindset on “fun”) aspecting her co-ruler, Moon, in the 8th house of death. Cordie’s death was ruled an accident (URA on Ascendant) and caused by “brute force trauma.”
…for more on MER and placement in all houses, check out Forensic Astrologers upcoming MER vlog and demo.