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Criminals turning
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shows
to cover
their tracks
Canny crooks will always try to find ways to leave nothing behind which forensic teams can find later. Crime reporter DAVID OLD looks at how TV cop dramas could be making things more difficult for police investigations.
Canny crooks will always try to find ways to leave nothing behind which forensic teams can find later. Crime reporter DAVID OLD looks at how TV cop dramas could be making things more difficult for police investigations.CRIMINALS are turning to television cop shows in a bid to evade the long arm of the law.
Police say crooks are taking tips from crime dramas such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) on how to destroy forensic evidence which could link them to a crime.
One of the most blatant examples was uncovered by detectives investigating the murder of Peterborough father of three, Andrew Scanlan.
The 35-year-old had been tricked into travelling down to Surrey in November 2006, where he was taken to a former military training ground, stabbed, beaten and strangled. His head and hands were chopped off and his remains buried in two seperate woodland graves.
His body was not recovered until January, last year.
One of his killers, half-brother James Baigent (30) was a big fan of the US drama CSI – along with his wife Charlotte (28). Police uncovered stacks of tapes of the show when they raided their Surrey home.
It later emerged they had used methods seen on the programme to try to cover their tracks by getting rid of any trace of the victim.
They also used latex gloves to prevent leaving any fingerprints, and James Baigent, his brother Mark (27) and accomplice Jeff Woods (36) handcuffed Mr Scanlan so he could not leave any trace of DNA on them fighting off their murderous attack.
Detective Chief Inspector Jason Gordon, who led the murder investigation, said: “I think the most notable for me was the Baigent boys. There was no doubt Charlotte Baigent had made a concerted effort to disrupt fibres, fingerprints and DNA from the vehicle that they had transported Andrew Scanlan in.
“Finding all the CSI tapes at their home helped prove they had tried to clean up.
“I think people are becoming more forensically aware, but that has always been the way. We always have to try to keep one step ahead of them.
“I think programmes such as CSI give people a bit more of an idea, and there are a lot of cop shows on telly. But they also pick up ideas in other ways – a lot go through the system on a regular basis, so become more aware of techniques we use.
“We do see evidence being thrown away on a regular basis, trying to disrupt opportunities for us to gather evidence. But, however hard they try, the Forensic Science Service does a fantastic job. Even in that case with all the attempts made by the defendants to get rid of fibres and DNA, they still found evidence.”
Fibres expert Dr Will Hutchinson from the Forensic Science Service, based in Huntingdon, worked on the murder investigation.
He said: “I didn’t realise at first just how much into CSI they were.
“It was only when police told me that witnesses had said people were cleaning the car quite vigorously a short time after Andrew Scanlan disappeared and rolling tape on their hands to try to remove any forensic trace that would show Mr Scanlan had been in the vehicle.
“Luckily for us, there always tends to be some fibres left behind.
“They had done quite a good job. For example, I would expect to find several hundred fibres in a case like that. As it was, there were less than 10. There were significantly less then we would expect, but they were still indistinguishable from other fibres. The fibres we were looking for are less than half a millimetre to a couple of millimetres long, not something you will be able to see with the naked eye. If someone has sat in the back of a car wearing something like a fleece, the chances are that they will shed several hundred, if not thousands of fibres on to the car seat.
“But there was other evidence in that case – forensics that they couldn’t do anything about.
Dr Hutchinson, who was also involved in building the case against Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright, said:“I think criminals are becoming more forensically aware. Car thieves will perhaps wear clothing that doesn’t shed fibres, they may be learning from other criminals or television programmes.
“But I think we’re always going to have more tools available to us to detect. We’re always trying to improve or enhance current techniques, and because of that I think we’re hopefully always going to be one step ahead.
“It’s always going to be very difficult to remove every trace. Our methods are so sensitive we can usually find something.”
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