Blood pattern analysis—a review and new findings

Abstract

Abstract Background Blood is one of the most common pieces of evidence encountered at the crime scene. Due to the viscous nature of blood, unique bloodstain patterns are formed which when studied can reveal what might have happened at the scene of the crime. Blood pattern analysis (BPA), i.e., the study of shape, size, and nature of bloodstain. The focus of this paper is to understand blood and BPA. An experimental finding to understand blood stain formation using Awlata dye was conducted within the university premises under laboratory conditions. Awlata (Alta), an Indian dye used for grooming of women, was used to create fake blood stains to understand the formation of bloodstains with respect to varying heights, and their relation with spines and satellite stains was determined. Results When the height of dropping fake blood increased, the distance of satellite stains emerging from the fake blood stains was also increasing. From the experimental finding, it was found that satellite stains were directly proportional to height of blood stain and spines were inversely proportional. Conclusion It can be concluded that blood is a vital source of information and when interpreted correctly it can be used as a source of information that can aid in investigations. Thus, a relation between formation of blood stains with relation to height was established. This finding using fake blood stains can help in carrying out future studies.

Keywords

• Awlata
• Blood
• Bloodstains
• Crime
• Evidence