Eastern Michigan University police officers testified in state court on Thursday that they suspected a crime had been committed as soon as they found the body of Laura Dickinson, a student who died in her dormitory room in December. One officer said he had conducted only a visual inspection of the room because he did not want to disturb a possible crime scene, according to today’s Detroit News. A lieutenant in the campus police department said he had called the Michigan State Police’s crime lab on the same day, December 15, “to process the crime scene.”

However, the following day, university officials released a written statement saying that they did not suspect foul play in Ms. Dickinson’s death. Eastern Michigan now faces a possible investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for violating the Clery Act, a federal law that requires colleges to warn students of reported crimes. The university’s Board of Regents has hired an outside lawyer to investigate the administration’s handling of the case.

The police officers testified during a preliminary hearing in the case of the man charged with Ms. Dickinson’s murder, Orange Amir Taylor III. —Sara Lipka