The Crime Book

243

See also: Colin Pitchfork 294–97

MURDER CASES

reports about Bloodsworth featured

widely at that time – because it

could affect their ability to recall

exactly who they had seen. They

did not listen, and both witnesses

saw Bloodsworth on television

before the line-up. Although no

direct evidence connected him

to the crime, Bloodsworth was

convicted of rape and first-degree

murder and sentenced to death.

In 1986, the Maryland Court of

Appeals overturned Bloodsworth’s

conviction, finding that the

prosecution had illegally withheld

evidence that might have cleared

him from the defence. They ordered

a retrial, but Bloodsworth was

convicted again and sentenced to

two life terms.

Working in the prison library,

Bloodsworth spent the next seven

years trying to prove his innocence.

In 1992, he read about a new

technique – DNA fingerprinting.

Hoping that DNA found at the

crime scene might rule him out

as the killer, Bloodsworth motioned

the court. His tactic worked. In

1993, test results proved that the

DNA evidence did not match

Bloodsworth’s genetic profile and

he was set free. ■

If it could happen to me, it

could happen to anybody.

Kirk Bloodsworth

July 1984 – The body of nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton is found in

a park in Rosedale, Maryland.

July 1986 – Maryland Court of Appeals overturns the conviction,

stating that prosecutors withheld evidence. They order a retrial.

May 1993 – A California lab reports that a semen stain on the

victim’s underwear could not have come from Bloodsworth.

August 1984 – Police arrest and charge Kirk Bloodsworth,

a former US marine.

April 1987 – A second jury convicts Bloodsworth of murder.

He is sentenced to two life terms in prison.

25 June 1993 – The FBI accepts that the semen found on the

underpants could not have been produced by Bloodsworth.

March 1985 – A jury convicts Kirk Bloodsworth of

Dawn Hamilton’s murder. He is sentenced to death.

April 1992 – Baltimore County prosecutors release evidence from

Bloodsworth’s trial for sophisticated new DNA testing.

28 June 1993 – Kirk Bloodsworth walks out of the

House of Correction in Jessup, a free man.

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