The Colin Pitchfork case

Summary On November 21, 1983 and July 31, 1986 Colin Pitchfork rapped and murdered two girls in Narborough, Leicestershire. lynda Mann, who was 15 years old left her home one evening to visit her friend’s house and did not return. The next morning she was found on a deserted footpath known locally as the black pad rapped and murdered. Taken from the crime scene, semen found was later tested which shown the person had type A blood. on july 31, 1986 Dawn Ashworth, 15 years old took a shortcut instead of taking her normal route home, two days later was found in a wooded area near a footpath called ten pound lane rapped and murdered. In the same position as lynda Mann, a semen sample was taken from Dawn and tested. the modus operandi matched that of the first attack, and semen samples revealed the same blood type.

Key players Colin pitchfork- killer: Murdered both Lynda and Dawn. had prior convictions of flashing. Lynda Mann- 15 years old: killed in 1983 Dawn Ashworth- 15 years old: killed in 1986 richard buckland- revealed knowledge about the body of Dawn Ashworth 17 years old: prime suspect with learning disabilities

Colin Pitchfork Lynda Mann, 15 Dawn Ashworth, 15

Background Of Suspects Colin Pitchfork: Born in England. He was the first case to be convicted off of Dna fingerprint, and the first to be caught off of mass screening. Pitchfork raped and murdered two 15 year old girls in Narborough, Leicestershire, on November 21, 1983, and on July 31, 1986. He was arrested on September 19, 1987, confessed and was sentenced to life in prison on January 23, 1988. Richard Buckland: 17 year old with learning disabilities. richard worked at Carlton Hayes Hospital which people seen him near the crime scene and reveled unreleased knowledge about the body. Richard was later brought into questioning and confessed to the killing of Dawn ashworth but not Lynda Mann.

When and where - Both murders happened Narborough in Leicestershire - Lynda Mann: found on a near by footpath called the black pad - Dawn Ashworth: found on a path called the Ten Pound Lane

Techniques used against suspect -Dr.Jeffrey's used Dna profiling: Dna can be taken by using human skin cells found at the crime scene. ( seman from both victims) -seman found at the crim scene was taken from both victims Lynda and Dawn to determine further lead in the investigation. - after being compared to Richard Buckland’s Dna, test shown it wasn't a match - With having no lead in the case forensic science service teamed up to conduct a project in which 5,000 men were asked to give blood or saliva sample in for testing. no match

Evidence Seman: - seman found at both crime scenes matches about 10% of males that had type A blood, who lived in the area of Narborough, Leicestershire. - in 1988 police and scientist took blood and seman samples from 4,000 different men from the age of 17-38. none of them matched with the dna found at the crime scene Lead: - Ian Kelly, called in telling police about what he overheard one of his coworkers talking about. He said he heard him say that he got paid for posing as his friend who was later found to be colin pitchfork.

outcome richard buckland was first to be interview by detectives. He confessed of killing Dawn Ashworth but not Lynda Mann. After comparing Dna with Richard Buckland’s Dna, test shown it wasn't a match. Dna testing shown that this type of blood only belonged to 10% of the men who lived in the area. Police got a further lead of evidence when Ian kelly called in to say he overheard one of his co workers talking about how he was paid to pose as his friend to give in a seman sample, later police found out it was colin pictfork. on September 19th 1987, Colin Pitchfork was arrested. After getting a seman sample from his scientist compared dna and saw to be a match for both murders. Pitchfork confessed for killing both girls and concluded that it all started as just flashing them but when they would run away he would get excited. This case was the first case used in trial based off of dna evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison.

work Site: http://murderpedia.org/male.P/p/pitchfork-colin.htm http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/forenisc-cases-colin-pitchfork-first-exoneration-through-dna.html http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/colinpitchfork.shtml