Forensic Biotechnology

Graduate Level Course

 Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

Bloodstain patterns can help investigators reconstruct events in a crime scene.

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 Blood Stain Evidence

• Bloodstain patterns can help investigators reconstruct events in a crime

scene.

• Analysis of the blood stain can tell whether it is animal or human.

• Projected blood stains are called blood spatter.

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BPA uses principles of biology (composition of blood), physics
(cohesion, capillary action and velocity) and mathematics (geometry,
distance, and angle) to assist investigators in answering questions such as:
• Where did the blood come from?
• What caused the wounds?
• From what direction was the victim wounded?
• How were the victim(s) and perpetrator(s) positioned?
• What movements were made after the bloodshed?
• How many potential perpetrators were present?
• Does the bloodstain evidence support or refute witness statements?

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 Types of Blood stain patterns

• Passive Bloodstains (drops, pools, etc.)

• Transfer Bloodstains (wipe a weapon, etc.)
• Active (or “Projected”) Bloodstains (bullets, stepping in blood, etc.)

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 Passive Transfer (Swipe/Wipe)

Projected Blood-Active (through syringe) 08/10/20 | 7

 Blood Spatter

• Blood spatter analysis can approximate:

• distance from the source of the blood to the pattern
• direction from which the blood impacted
• speed the droplet was traveling
• location of the point of origin
• movement of a bleeding individual throughout the scene

• These approximations may agree or disagree with statements made by

witnesses, victims, or suspects.

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Physical Properties of Blood

Unlike water, blood is a suspension of solids and gases in a liquid.

Blood behaves differently than water when it is moving.

The viscosity of blood lowers as its shear rate increases (pumps easier
at high flow rates).

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Physical Properties of Blood

The surface tension of blood is slightly less than water.

Blood forms a spherical projectile, not a teardrop.

A large amount of blood from a small wound means that the victim
survived for a fair length of time.

Blood normally clots in 3-15 minutes.

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Physical Properties of Blood

Fluid flow is driven by a pressure difference.

Blood pressure drops with excessive blood loss and the bleeding rate
slows due to this lower pressure difference.

Upon death blood pressure falls to zero and bleeding stops.

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Biological Properties of Blood

Blood delivers nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports waste
products away from cells.

Red blood cells

carry oxygen
and carbon
dioxide.

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Biological Properties of Blood

White blood cells fight off infection and reject foreign tissue.

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Biological Properties of Blood

Platelets assist in clotting.

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Surface Tension

Surface tension acts to reduce surface area. It resists penetration and

separation.

The smallest surface area to volume ratio is a sphere, which is why

blood droplets fall in a spherical rather than teardrop shape.

This sphere of blood does not break up until impact with a solid
surface.

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Drop Sizes

The standard drop size is about 0.05 mL.

Rapid bleeding gives a slightly larger drop.

Shaking movement casts off smaller drops.

Gunshot wounds produce high velocity spatter that results in a spray of

very tiny drops.

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Free Falling Blood Droplets

Blood droplet size affects both the terminal velocity and the distance
that the droplet will fall before reaching terminal velocity.

Droplet A B C D
Volume (µL) 0.06 0.12 0.50 50
Diameter (mm) 1.10 1.32 2.12 4.60
Terminal Velocity 2.2 3.3 4.6 7.5
(m/s)
Distance (m) 0.6 0.9 2.5 5

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Free Falling Blood Droplets

• The height from which a droplet falls will affect the diameter of its
spatter.

• This can be seen in experimental data:

Droplet A B C D E F G
Height (ft) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7+
Diameter (mm) 15 17 18.5 19 20.5 21 22

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Free Falling Blood Droplets

A smooth surface will An irregular surface will

cause the spatter to create a broken edge and
spread out smoothly. more small spatter.

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Angle of Impact

The bottom of the spatter stain

will be more dense than the
top of the stain.

Measure the width and the length of the stain/spatter

Sine= width/length
Do not measure the “tail” it is a secondary force or event.
Divide the smaller number by the larger number 08/10/20 | 20
Wave Cast-Off

• When a droplet bounces off a surface the tails of the parent and wave
cast-off will point toward each other.

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Determining Directionality

• The pointed end of a bloodstain always faces its direction of travel.

• The impact angle can be determined by measuring the degree of elliptical

distortion.

• At right angles the blood drop is circular. direction of the

“tail” points in
the direction of
travel.

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 FORCE (VELOCITY) IMPACT SPATTER

Force is 5-25 Force is greater than 25 Force is greater than 100

ft/second ft/second ft/second

usually fall from an usually seen in blunt usually associated with gunshots,
open wound force, stabbings explosions, and high speed collisions

It is important to note that the term "Velocity" does not measure the speed at
which the blood is traveling, but rather is used to describe or measure amount
of force applied to the blood, to cause it to spatter.
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 SPATTER VS TRANSFER
Spatters are created when blood is acted upon by force, and travels through the air
before landing on a target surface.

Transfers occur when a blood source comes in direct contact with a target surface area.

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Trigonometry and Angle of Impact

• To determine the angle of impact:

• Measure the width and length of the blood spatter. Length must be longer than
width.
• Divide width by length.
• Take the arcsine of your result.
• This formula will not produce accurate results at extreme angles ( less than 10˚ or
greater than 60 ˚).

𝑤 𝑤
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝜃 = arcsine
𝑙 𝑙
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Area of Convergence (2d area)

• To determine the area of

convergence, investigators
calculate the direction and angle
of many blood stains.

• For each blood stain analyzed,

they place a string at the stain
which is parallel to the angle of
the blood droplet.
Area of Convergence (2d area)

After many strings have been

placed, a general area of
convergence will appear where
the strings overlap.

This can also be done on a

computer with image analysis
software.
Point of Origin (3d volume)

The procedure for generating

the point of origin is just like the
area of convergence, except the
angle of impact for each stain is
calculated.

This is a method of adding a

third dimension to the 2d area of
convergence calculation.

2d Solution – no angular data

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Point of Origin (3d volume)

The procedure for generating

the point of origin is just like
the area of convergence, except
the angle of impact for each
stain is calculated.

This is a method of adding a

third dimension to the 2d area
of convergence calculation.

3d Solution – with angular data

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Point of Origin (3d volume)

The term point of origin is really a misnomer, as the 3d intersection of

the strings creates a 3d volume rather than a single point.

This can also be done with a computer by taking careful measurements

at the scene for each blood droplet’s dimensions, location, and direction.

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Limitations of our Model

Projectiles launched at an angle do not follow a straight line.

In our previous example of calculating the point of origin, it would be

lower than calculated because the blood would follow an arc rather than
a line. This simplified model doesn’t account for gravity.

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Limitations of our Model

• At high velocities (gun shots) the linear model of projectile motion is

fairly accurate.

• The model is better suited to disproving testimony than to accurately re-

constructing the events at a crime scene.

• In a real crime scene, the investigator usually uses lasers instead of string
to allow others access to the crime scene.

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