36: Colin Pitchfork & DNA Profiling

In 1984 British Geneticist and lecturer at the University of Leicester, Alec Jeffreys developed a method to profile DNA whilst studying x-ray images of a DNA experiment. This was first tested publicly in an immigration case the following year -- Jeffreys developed profiles for a young British boy whose family was originally from Ghana, and profiles from the boy’s parents and compared them to prove that the boy was in fact their son.In 1986, Alec Jeffreys’ DNA profiling technique was used for the first time in a criminal case that took place just five and a half miles from the university at which Alec Jeffreys developed the profiling technique.On July 31 1986 15 year old Dawn Ashworth from Enderby, a small town near Leicester in central England, had gone to a friend’s house, her parents expected her home by 9.30 that night, and when she failed to return home they reported her missing to the police. Two days later Dawn’s body was found in a wooded area called Ten Pound Lane.The case was eerily similar to the unsolved case of Lynda Mann, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who had been assaulted and killed in the same savage and brutal manner in November 1983 in the village of Narborough, just a mile away from Enderby. Lynda had been babysitting and had taken a shortcut on her walk home, when she didn’t return home her parents and neighbours went out looking for her. The next morning she was found along a footpath called Black Pad by a local hospital worker.Semen samples were recovered from Lynda’s body and forensic scientists were able to develop a blood type and enzyme profile from the sample, but DNA profiling was still a couple of years away. The enzyme profile and blood sample matched 10% of the population of Britain, which did little to help the police find Lynda’s killer, and so, Lynda’s case went cold. Until 1986 when Dawn was murdered and the two cases were linked. Semen samples recovered from Dawn’s body and clothing matched the blood type and enzyme profile of Lynda’s killer and proved the two girls were killed by the same man. This is the story of how police found their killer.FURTHER READING:Killer BreakthroughColin PitchforkForensic FilesWhere Is Colin Pitchfork Now? The Conviction Of Dawn Ashworth & Lynda Mann's Murderer Was A World FirstThe Murders Of Dawn Ashworth & Lynda Mann Are Revisited In The BBC's Latest True Crime SeriesAlec Jeffreys-----------------------------------------------Like the show? Give us a rating and review!Follow us on social media:FacebookInstagramSquaremileofmurder.comSupport us:PatreonOther support options