History

Many people operate under the misconception that bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is a new or relatively new discipline. However, BPA has quite a rich history, in the 1800’s, much work was done in Europe. The following will give a brief outline of the evolution of the discipline.

From a historical perspective, associating crimes with bloodstains & vice versa, is as old as the Bible, in Genesis 4:10.

Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field" And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; I am my brother's keeper?" And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

1582-1616 – Shakespeare – “MacBeth”. “What hands are here! Ha! They pluck out my eyes. Will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hands?” “Out, out damn spot!”

In 1862, Dr. John Swinburne describes the death of Minister Henry Budge’s wife and correlates her injuries with the bloodstains (or lack thereof).

1883 – Hans Gross - “System Der Kriminalistik”. While this work covers many topics, he describes the importance of protecting bloodstains and in a chapter entitled “Traces of Blood”, described basic bloodstain patterns.

1887 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle “A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes). Points out the positions of various bloodstains and ascertains that they must belong to the perpetrator.

1895 – Eduard Piotrowski – “Entstehung, Form, Richtung und Ausbreitung der Blutspuren nach Hiebwunden des Kopfes”. This was the first truly scientific study of bloodstain pattern analysis.

1936 – Charlie Chan – “Charlie Chan at the Race Track” – Chan is seen demonstrating the principle behind angle of impact.

1939 – Dr. Victor Balthazard (Piedelievre, Desolille & Derobert )– “Etude des Gouttes de Sang Projete”. Presented paper to the XXII Congress of Forensic Medicine and its purpose “was to pinpoint characteristic elements of a bloodstain which might give decisive hints as to its origin”. This group recognized the trigonometric relationship between the length and width of a bloodstain, that the dynamics of a blood-shedding event could not always be re-created under laboratory conditions and they were aware that the nature of the target surface must be taken into consideration.

1953 – Dr. Paul Kirk – “Crime Investigation”. Was a professor of Criminalistics and Biochemistry at the University of California at Berkley. In the above named book, he had a chapter entitled “Blood: Physical Investigation”. Kirk studied the effect of velocity, angle of impact and the combination of the two. In 1954, in the case of Ohio v. Sheppard (the case on which the move “The Fugitive: is based), Kirk prepared an affidavit, in which he was able to establish the relative positions of the attacker and the victim at the time of the beating.

1971 – Herbert L. MacDonell – “Flight Characteristics and Stain Patterns of Human Blood”. At the encouragement of Dr. Kirk, MacDonell applied for and received a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). It is important to note that at this time, there was no internet, and no easy way to find research that had been done halfway around the world. Once the earlier works in Europe were located, MacDonell’s work and results were remarkably similar to Balthazard’s. This demonstrates the “repeatability” of the discipline. As the discipline has evolved, this work was revised into Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation, Bloodstain Patterns which is now in its second revised edition. In 1973, MacDonell developed the Bloodstain Evidence Institute, a 40-hour basic bloodstain pattern interpretation course and, with that, began the education of many of the current educators in the field. He is widely recognized as the “father” of bloodstain pattern analysis in the Western hemisphere. MacDonell also invented the MAGNA Brush™ for fingerprint development, in addition to many other accomplishments in forensic science. As a result of his contributions to forensic science, MacDonell was awarded an honorary ScD from the University of Rhode Island in 2004.

1983 – The International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA) was formed in Corning, NY. The IABPA is a professional organization dedicated to bloodstain pattern analysts.

1983 – Drs. Deforest, Gaensslen & Lee – “Forensic Science, An Introduction to Criminalistics”. This book covers several topics and has a twelve page chapter on bloodstains.

1988 & 1989 (1st and 2nd editions respectively) – Dr. W. Eckert, Stuart James – “Interpretation of Bloodstain Evidence at Crime Scenes”

1993 – Dr. Chris Price & Adrian Emes “Blood in Slow Motion” – video showing 4,000 frames/second, illustrating the how blood behaves under various conditions.

1997, 2002, 2008 (editions 1-3) – Tom Bevel and Ross Gardner “Bloodstain Pattern Analysis with an Introduction to Crime Scene Reconstruction”

1998 – Stuart James – “Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation”. Meant to assist trial attorneys understand the use of BPA in criminal proceedings.

2002 – the Scientific Working Group on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (SWGSTAIN) formed. Chaired by the FBI, international members from the public and private sectors to create “best practices”.

2005 – Stuart James, Paul Kish, T. Paulette Sutton, “Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis – Theory and Practice”

Please note that this is NOT an all-inclusive history, list of publications or endorsement of any particular practitioner or work. It is simply meant to give a very general overview of how BPA has evolved.