The Crime Book

294

O

n 2 August 1986, the

small English village of

Narborough was shaken

by the discovery of the body of a

15-year-old girl. Dawn Ashworth

had vanished two days earlier on

her way home from a friend’s house.

She had been assaulted, raped, and

strangled to death. Her body was

found in a field near the footpath

she had taken. Forensic analysis

was able to identify a semen

sample, which proved that the

criminal was a male with type A

blood and a rare enzyme profile.

Three years before Dawn’s

murder, on 21 November 1983,

Lynda Mann’s body had also been

found on a Narborough footpath.

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Leicestershire, UK

THEME

DNA convictions

BEFORE

1968–72 Samuel P. Evans

of Seattle is convicted for two

murders 39 years after the

crimes were committed, in the

oldest cases ever solved using

DNA evidence.

AFTER

1987 Serial rapist Tommie Lee

Andrews is the first criminal

in the US to be convicted as

a result of DNA evidence.

1988 Virginian Timothy

Wilson Spencer becomes the

first US murderer convicted as

a result of DNA testing.

2003 Steven Avery of

Wisconsin is exonerated by

DNA evidence, and released

after 18 years in prison.

A DANGER

TO YOUNG

WOMEN

COLIN PITCHFORK, 1983–86

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295

See also: The Stratton Brothers 212–15 ■ Kirk Bloodsworth 242–43

■ Harvey Glatman 274–75 DNA and forensic

evidence

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

is a molecule that stores and

carries all our biological

information. Every individual

has a different pattern. In

1981, Professor Alec Jeffreys,

a British geneticist from the

University of Leicester, was

studying hereditary diseases

in families when he discovered

the technique for genetic

fingerprinting – a crucial way

for modern criminologists to

identify individuals from

forensic evidence.

Nazi war criminal Josef

Mengele (pictured below) fled

to South America at the end of

World War II. He died in 1979,

aged 67, when he had a

swimming accident in Brazil.

However, repeated sightings

of Mengele reported around

the world led to doubts about

his death, and calls that he

be brought to justice for his

crimes. It was only when

Jeffreys compared DNA from

a thigh bone of Mengele’s

exhumed skeleton with DNA

from his son, Rolf, that the

so-called “Angel of Death”

could be conclusively

confirmed as deceased.

Like Dawn Ashworth, she was 15

years old and a victim of assault,

rape, and strangulation. Police had

never solved the crime, but a semen

sample taken at the time matched

the blood type and enzyme profile

of Dawn Ashworth’s killer.

The similarities between the

circumstances of the girls’ deaths,

as well as this genetic link, led

police investigating the murder

of Dawn Ashworth to believe that

both crimes were committed by

the same man. Headlines in local

newspapers reflected the villagers’

fear that it was only a matter of

time until the murderer claimed his

third victim: “If we don’t catch him,

it could be your daughter next.”

Genetic fingerprinting

Local police contacted the

geneticist Dr Alec Jeffreys about the

murders of the two girls. They hoped

to use his recently discovered

“genetic fingerprinting” technique

to further their investigations. They

had a suspect in custody, 17-year old

Richard Buckland, who had learning

disabilities. Buckland’s confession

confused the police. He admitted to

committing the first murder, but not

the second. However, at the time ❯❯

SERIAL KILLERS

Colin Pitchfork, depicted by a court

artist, appeals against the length of

his sentence at the Court of Appeal

in London in May 2009. His 30-year

sentence was commuted by two years.

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