Infamous Murders: Trapped By Forensics
Coming Soon
Catching criminals was revolutionized by the advent of genetic fingerprinting in the mid 1980s. Infamous Murders looks at three murder cases that were cracked by forensic science.
In 1977, 24-year-old Janie Shepherd disappeared from West London. Ten weeks later her body was found. The prime suspect was David Lashley, a sex offender who was known to have made attacks similar to the Shepherd case.
Lashley was sent to prison for other crimes, but on his release eleven years later, advances in forensic science using DNA evidence meant he was convicted for the Janie Shepherd murder.
Four women were raped and murdered in their homes in Richmond, Virginia in 1987. Acting on a hunch the police pulled in Timothy Spencer, a known burglar who broke into people's houses while they were asleep.
DNA evidence from one crime scene proved the hunch right, and Spencer was convicted of murder. He was executed seven years later.
In Britain in the 1980s, police mounted one of the biggest manhunts in history in search of 'the Railway Killer'. He was a brutal rapist and murderer who struck lone women at railway stations.
John Duffy was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders, but police were sure that he had an accomplice. Only after 15 years did the advance of forensic science allow them to arrest David Mulcahy, a friend of Duffy, who was subsequently convicted.
In 1977, 24-year-old Janie Shepherd disappeared from West London. Ten weeks later her body was found. The prime suspect was David Lashley, a sex offender who was known to have made attacks similar to the Shepherd case.
Lashley was sent to prison for other crimes, but on his release eleven years later, advances in forensic science using DNA evidence meant he was convicted for the Janie Shepherd murder.
Four women were raped and murdered in their homes in Richmond, Virginia in 1987. Acting on a hunch the police pulled in Timothy Spencer, a known burglar who broke into people's houses while they were asleep.
DNA evidence from one crime scene proved the hunch right, and Spencer was convicted of murder. He was executed seven years later.
In Britain in the 1980s, police mounted one of the biggest manhunts in history in search of 'the Railway Killer'. He was a brutal rapist and murderer who struck lone women at railway stations.
John Duffy was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders, but police were sure that he had an accomplice. Only after 15 years did the advance of forensic science allow them to arrest David Mulcahy, a friend of Duffy, who was subsequently convicted.
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