Circumstantial evidence and inductive reasoning

While investigating a murder scene, police gather evidence that includes a dead body riddled with stab sounds, fingerprints on a bloody knife found near the body, and a ticket stub from a theater several miles away from the scene. Detectives determine that the knife belongs to the victim, but matched prints on the knife to an acquaintance of the victim. When questioned, the acquaintance claims he was at the movies at the time of the murder – the same movie shown on the ticket stub at the scene. What direct physical evidence connects the acquaintance to the crime scene? What circumstantial evidence connects him to the scene? What can you conclude about the acquaintance’s involvement solely from direct physical evidence and deductive reasoning? What could you conclude considering circumstantial evidence and inductive reasoning as well?

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