Top 10 weird ways forensics helped solve murders
In the crime-solving world, not all can be the world’s best detectives such as batman or
Sherlock Holmes. We either require forensics or kinesis to solve a case. It could be a serial
case of a sociopath who doesn’t even feel bad for the crimes being committed or it can be
an everyday Joe who wielded the shovel when his buttons were pushed.
Here are 10 niche ways forensics help solve the crime which otherwise would have never
been solved to this day.
10. The age scaled bust of John List
In 1971, a violent man who was once thought to be a nice husband and a good father
changed when he killed his entire family because he thought they were all stepping out of
the Christian family bounds. He wrote a letter explaining his reasoning and escaped his
house leaving everyone to rot. This case was solved when a forensic psychologist and a
forensic bust maker crafted a plan and made a bust with 99% accuracy and aired in an
“American Most Wanted” which helped them track and catch the killer with a help of a
former neighbour.
9. Clues by Insects
During the time span of 1985 and 1988, 18 people were raped, assaulted and some
murdered by a madman who was on the loose. Ronald Porter was the suspect for this
violent crime however the only thing they had was a body with insects growing on them. The
insects were sent to the forensic entomologist where he discovered the species, the time of
its incubation, and the age that it was found to be. Once all this was established it gave them
the exact time of death and helped them break the alibi of the suspect and put him behind
bars.
8. Diatoms Delivery
Algae are found in bodies of water and they can be found on shoes, clothes, and in vehicles
after a lovely day at the lake. On a beautiful day, a young boy in Switzerland was murdered
and sexually assaulted. There were no clues for the police however the forensic examiner
found the diatoms in the victim’s body and made sure that they were unique and once they
had a suspect they matched the diatoms in his shoes and clothes and even in his car. When
confronted the suspect caved and confessed to the murder. This would have not been
possible without the forensics help.
7. The intruder who was invisible
On a cold lonely night in 1996, a family of five was terrorized when she called 911 in a frenzy
of her children dying and stated that her family was assaulted by an invisible assailant.
However, the cops were not believing her story and they wanted to believe her version of
the story hence they passed this information to the forensic expert who analysed the blood
spatter pattern, and her version of the intruder's entry point was all disapproved and a
horrible picture of her murdering her two kids emerged and she was found guilty for the
crime.
Top 10 weird ways forensics helped solve murders
6. Burning on the Bowl
A sergeant in the Seattle police department burned his own house for the insurance money
however he said he had a different suspect with a confession however they didn’t believe
his story. During a background check, it seemed his alibi little shaky, and important
documents and bowling trophies he had were saved. Also, the confession of a different
suspect was sent to the forensic handwriting expert who found a lot of issues with the
confession and found some cleaned blood at the back of his club. Once confronted with all
the forensic evidence the sergeant confessed.
5. The holy monster
During the Nazi Germany era, there were plenty of people who were brazen of their white
supremacy belief and sent some of their ideas and appreciation to the regime. One of them
was a monster who was the leader in a gang that hurt the Jewish people. He escaped to the
United States as a refugee seeking asylum and became an archbishop in the church. When
people started realizing who he was the United States government obtained one of the
appreciation posts to the Nazis from the monster and with the help of forensic, they
retracted a print that was nearly 40 years old. With the print, they matched it to him and
arrested him for his war crimes. This was the first case where forensic was helped to solve
this case.
4. The accidental horror
On a damp day, a drunk driver hit a small girl who was being carried and killed her on the
spot. After the killing, the perpetrator escaped the scene. Using forensics by accidental
reconstruction of the scene they have found the make and model of the car. Using this
information they tracked the person and upon further investigation, they were able to
match the front of the car and the materials found on the little girl putting him on the scene
of the crime. Upon confrontation he confessed to the crime.
3. The snow tracks
When an elderly couple was robbed at their own home in a remote town and the husband
was killed during a struggle. The only proof the cops had was a shoe print on the snow. They
had a forensic constructor to retrieve the print and tracked the shoe print and the store it
was bought on and eventually tracked them down and confronted the killers.
2. The disappearance from Church
On a gloomy night outside the church, a young girl was abducted and she was taken away in
a vehicle and her body was found in a trash bin sexually assaulted and killed, and threw in
the trash. Using forensic psychology they have created a profile. With this profile, they had a
suspect and the profile helped them find the person his behaviour, his job, and his actions.
This helped them track his movement and with some solid police work, they captured the
assailant.
1. The plant DNA
Top 10 weird ways forensics helped solve murders
When finding a dead body in the middle of nowhere. Police found a suspect but he evaded
the crime by providing them with a plausible story. However, they found a pea that was
present in the car which was brushed from the plant. They took the plant and using forensics
they tried to find the DNA of the plant and made sure it was also unique. Once they made
sure it was unique they entered the evidence in the trial for the first time and they solved
the case by placing him at the scene during the murder.