Blood and Blood Spatter

Chapter 8

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter you will be able to
Explain the composition of blood
Describe the functions of blood cells
Describe a brief history of the use of blood and
blood-spatter analysis in forensics
Describe how to determine the blood type of a
sample of blood

INTRODUCTION
Blood typing may provide class evidence
White blood cells contain DNA (DNA profiling
used on blood left on the crime scene)
Blood-spatter evidence can also help recreate a
crime scene to validate the information provided
by a witness or suspect
Direction from which blood originated
Angle of impact
Point of origin

Blood History
Blood has been studied in one way or another
for thousands of years.
2500 B.C: Egyptians bloodletting- effort to cure
disease
500 B.C.: Greeks- distinguished between arteries
and veins
1901: Karl Landsteiner- discovered three blood
types( A, B, O)
1902: Alfred on Decastello- discovered blood type
AB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU9Rah_cP5E

Composition of Blood
Blood is a circulating tissue
consisting of three types of
cells:
Red blood cells
White blood cells
Platelets
(These are all suspended in a
liquid known as plasma)

Blood Cells
Red Blood Cells (erythrocytes)
Carry respiratory gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide)
Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein

White Blood Cells (leukocytes)

Fight disease and foreign invaders

Platelets (thrombocytes)
Aid in blood clotting and are involved in repairing
damaged blood vessels.

Red Blood Cells

Erythrocytes

White Blood Cells

Leukocytes

Platelets
Thrombocytes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRh_dAzXuoU

Blood
Blood Typing
Typing
Is less expensive and quicker than DNA
profiling
Did you know?
The adult human body contains 5.5
liters of blood. The heart pumps about
2,000 gallons of blood a day.

Discovery of Blood Types

In 1900, Karl
Landsteiner found that
blood from one person
doesnt always freely
mix with blood from
another person.
https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=xfZhb6l
mxjk

Blood Spatter
A grouping of bloodstains composes a
blood-spatter pattern
This pattern can help reconstruct the
series

Blood Spatter- History

1894- Pitoroski wrote the
earliest reference to bloodspatter analysis
1939- Victor Balthazard was
the first researcher to analyze
the meaning of the spatter
pattern
1955- blood-spatter evidence
was used by the defense in
the Sam Shephard case

Blood-Spatter Analysis
Given blood-spatter patterns
Direction the blood was traveling
Angle of impact
Point of origin of the blood

Did you ever wonder

Why blood forms droplets as it falls from a
wound?
Why does a drop of blood have a curved
surface when it lands on a flat surface instead
of spreading out flat?

Answer
Gravity
Adhesion
Cohesion
Surface tension

Blood
Blood is cohesive (stick together)
Does not separate as it falls

When a drop falls on a flat surface,

the blood drop will have a curved
surface
If blood does overcome cohesion
and separate from the main droplet
of blood, it will form secondary
droplets (satellites)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=3fqz4qWqaX0

Six Patterns
1. Blood falling directly to the floor at a 90degree angle
2. Arterial spurts
3. Splashes
4. Smears
5. Trails
6. Pools

Six Patterns
Blood falling directly to floor

Six Patterns
Arterial spurts (gushes)
Typically found on walls or ceilings
Caused by the pumping action of the heart

Six Patterns
Splashes
Shaped like explanation points

Six Patterns
Smears
Left by bleeding victim depositing blood as he/she
touches or brushes against the wall or furniture

Six Patterns
Trails of blood
The droplets are round or
smeared or even appear as
spurts

Six Patterns
Pools of blood
Around victim who is bleeding heavily and
remains in one place