A forensic scientist has revealed the stupidest mistake she has ever seen at a crime scene killer who turned it into an “idiot”.
Jo Millington is a leading British expert in blood spatter analysis and played a crucial role in capturing the blood spatter terrorists responsible for the July 7 bombing in London.
She has revealed that criminals often underestimate the power of forensic science in identifying them.
Speaking about the LadBible podcastthe expert shared an example where a murderer practically left his signature at a gruesome crime scene – and branded him an 'idiot' for making such a stupid mistake.
“I once handled a case where the perpetrator had taken his victim's blood and he wrote a really horrible word on the wall and then put an exclamation point,” Jo explained. 'And at that moment his fingerprint was in the victim's blood. And then you think to yourself: what an idiot!'
Jo uses animal blood to mimic how human body fluids would react during a seizure, reports the Daystar.
Her work may involve stabbing or bludgeoning pig bodies in a controlled environment, to study the splash patterns of blood under different conditions.
She claims that no matter how thoroughly criminals try to clean up after a murder, they invariably leave behind trails of blood. “The problem with cleaning is that we're not very good at it, especially from a blood point of view,” Jo explained.
'If I were to chop something up, I'd do it in the bath because then I can grab the shower head and hose it off. Whistle clean, or so you think.'
However, it is virtually impossible to erase all traces of a crime scene to outsmart forensic experts, says Jo. 'There is grout between the tiles in the bathroom that absorbs blood like a sponge.
“The blood gets pushed into the nooks and crannies of the bathroom. It can seep into the tiles of the floor. And so all the areas you clean may look clean, but forensically they are not clean.”
In some cases, perpetrators do not bother to clean up at all. She recounted a harrowing scene in which she initially mistook pots and pans on the stove for unwashed utensils, only to discover a pan containing partially cooked human brains.
Reflecting on her role in the investigation into the 7/7 bombings, she commented on the harrowing nature of murder investigations. “You're asking people to take bits of bodily tissue out of buildings and off buses. You're asking them to work in spaces that are simply unimaginable.”