Fascinating Forensic Facts – Blood Stains

There are many fascinating forensic subjects for a crime writer to research. For my crime novels I’ve researched gunshot wounds, death by crossbow, poisons, blunt force trauma, suffocation, fire and more. I am very grateful to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police, the Hampshire Fingerprint Bureau, Dr Carolyn Lovell, Crime Scene Manager and Jonathan Smith, Forensic Scientist, and others who assist me.

Here is some information on blood pattern analysis provided by Jonathan, for both my Detective Inspector Andy Horton crime novels set in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and for my Art Marvik mystery thriller series set along the South Coast of England. I hope it's not too gruesome for you! This is what a forensic scientist will advise detectives on taken from the scene of the crime.

 Blood can leave the body in many different ways, depending on the type of injury inflicted. It can flow, drip, spray, spurt, gush or just ooze from wounds. This will give the investigating detectives information on the type of wound, possible weapon used and how and where the injury was inflicted.

Bloodstains are classified into three basic types:

• passive stains,
• drops, flows
• and pools,

These typically result from gravity acting on an injured body. Again vital information giving detectives a picture of the crime.

Transfer stains result from objects coming into contact with existing bloodstains and leaving wipes, swipes or pattern transfers behind such as a bloody shoe print or a smear from a body being dragged.

Projected or impact stains result from blood projecting through the air and are usually seen as spatter, but may also include gushes, splashes and arterial spurts.