The Murder

When one thinks of famous serial killers our minds usually run to names like Ivan Milat, Jeffrey Dahmer or Jack the Ripper. But in the circles of forensic specialists, one name rings louder than those entrenched in popular culture… Colin Pitchfork. The first murderer ever to be caught by DNA analysis.

In July 1986, 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth was killed in Leicestershire, England after walking to visit a friend. A few years earlier, a man called Alec Jeffreys had made an interesting discovery that would serve as the path to justice for her killing. He had figured out a way to analyse patterns in some regions of an individuals’ DNA and use that to distinguish between different humans.

The Confession

To date, this method had only been employed on immigration and paternity cases, but this changed when Dawn was killed as they needed to explore new ways of exposing the accurate information in order to solve the case. At the time, the police had the man who they thought was their perpetrator. A local 17-year-old with learning difficulties by the name of Richard Buckland who had initially confessed to the murder under intense questioning. However, this confession was not convincing enough for those leading the investigation. Their hunch proved to be correct as when Jeffreys analysed the DNA evidence from the Ashworth crime scene (plus another from 1983 which they thought may be connected), Richard Buckland’s DNA was not a match.

The DNA Dragnet

In an effort to find the real killer, the police began a DNA Dragnet. The operation involved obtaining blood and urine samples from over 4000 men in the Leicestershire region aged between 17 and 34. While vigilant, this original effort was fruitless with no recorded DNA matching that of the crime scenes. Whoever the killer was, they were still out there. The police finally caught their break when a man was overheard discussing how he had been paid to pose as someone else during the DNA collection process and to provide false samples. The man trying to hide behind paid actors was Colin Pitchfork, who was located, analysed and found guilty of both Dawn Ashworth’s murder plus the earlier murder in 1983.

DNA Today

DNA profiling has become the cutting edge of Forensic Science. While today it’s not enough to secure a conviction on its own, it serves as a spotlight that shines a light on the research direction detectives should pursue. At only 35 years old, the forensic application of DNA is still very young and it’s becoming more sophisticated and advanced every year. Forensic specialists can now retrieve DNA samples from tiny remnants such as skin cells and distinguish separate DNA profiles from pieces of evidence with multiple suspects DNA.