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The Lancashire police forensic team is renowned as being one of the best in the UK. They recently explained how they would have used modern technology and expertise to solve some historic, unsolved murder cases. In the case of Hannah Corbridge, the killer was immediately known. After she rejected a proposal of marriage from her teenage boyfriend, Christopher Hartley, in 1795, he flew into a murderous rage and swore no other man would ever have her. He soaked a Parkin cake in poison and fed it to Hannah, but the effects were slow leading him to cut her throat. He then hid the body in a tea chest in his mother’s house. When police went to question him he was not at home, and, not wanting to disturb his mother, who was sitting on the tea chest at the time, they left. A witness later saw Hartley burying a body, but when police returned to his house he had left and was never seen again. By today’s standards, this was a very shoddy way to handle a suspect. Police today would mount a full investigation to confirm Hartley as the killer and a nationwide manhunt would be launched to find him. Kath Mashiter, a scientific support manager with the Lancashire police said that, “A crime scene would be established at the burial site and we would perform an archaeological dig – going in from the side so as not to disturb any evidence. You never know, you might get lucky and he could have dropped his wallet. “We might find fibres from his clothing on the body, or DNA. We could check this against DNA samples taken from personal items like a razor at his home. “If someone’s throat has been cut there would be a plenty of blood. "This may have disappeared from the original murder site because it was outdoors but there would be traces where he had hidden the body and on what every he had used to transport the body. “Toxicology reports would be carried out on the body and we might find a link to poison in his house or if it is unusual we might be able to find out where he bought it.” As well as forensic evidence, modern methods of police work include the use of CCTV footage. Head of Imaging, Kevin Kearley explained that, “You can’t go too far in modern society without being watched and recorded on CCTV. “Hartley would be marked as wanted on the national police database. “If he had a car then cameras with automatic number plate recognition could be used to track him. If he tried to flee the area calls on his mobile would track him by ‘pinging’ off mobile masts along his route. “You cannot stay lost for too long in this day and age.” easyDNA provide answers to all your forensic DNA testing questions. For more information, contact us directly via email or phone. April 2009 |
